It's so easy this time of year to enjoy the beauty of the holiday season and our cute ceramic nativity sets so much that we forget how real the story of the manger was. We all know the story by heart; an angel came to Mary, she and Joseph made the trip to a little town called Bethlehem, and sweet baby Jesus was born and placed in a perfect manger with soft hay and smiling animals to guard him. It's a cute version of an incredibly raw phenomenon that only God could have created.
I love that version of the Nativity, in some ways. It's sweet, it doesn't distort the actual events that happened. But it simplifies and romanticizes them so much that we often miss one of the most key components to the story: pain.
I know a several of you have had the chance to actually watch the birth of a younger sibling. And while it's a beautiful thing to see a child come into the world, you know that what characterizes those hours of labor is the intense amount of pain it creates. The Bible draws this theme out several times, saying that all creation is groaning in the pains of labor awaiting redemption. More than that, the pain of childbirth is a direct result of original sin; it was part of the punishment in Genesis 3. The agony of childbirth was one of the first visible repercussions of the fall.
And it was through that venue that the uncreated, timeless God of the universe came to earth.
It was more than just the physical pain of labor; it was what it represented. The punishment of sin played a role in the coming of the Messiah.
This was not an ordinary birth, however. Jesus was born into apparent adultery. He lived his entire life as a seemingly illegitimate child, born to a woman who was shunned as an adulterer and cared for by a father who was not his own.
And the birth took place in a cave, barely fit for animals. Because out of all the places in the world He came to rescue, not one door would open to Him.
Jesus was the Living Water from God. Water is such an intriguing concept, from a Biblical standpoint. It quenches the insatiable desire of thirst. It gives life, and without it nothing can live. And it flows downward, to the lowest place.
It's amazing to think about how the Christmas story sets Christianity apart from any other religion. Nowhere else, in all the history of ancient or modern gods, will you find one who loves His people, enough to walk among them as a human, born into humiliation and pain, bearing the shame of the world on His shoulders, and ultimately laying down His life to save them. No other god took the lowest place in that way.
God understands pain, on a level more deeply than anyone. He entered into it, and felt it. And He did it, not through chariots and fireworks, but through the most humble situations imaginable. He created a plan to redeem the world not with armies, but with individuals. He chose a teenage girl and a doubting man to be the key vessels in His plan for redemption.
This is the God we follow. Thank you, Jesus!!!
How many kings stepped down from their thrones,
How many Lords have abandoned their homes,
How many greats would become the least of these?
How many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart
How many Fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only One did that for me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Worship Song:
"How Many Kings",
by Downhere
"How Many Kings",
by Downhere
No comments:
Post a Comment