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G is for GIFT.
One of the most joyful parts of Christmas is giving gifts. Seeing someone’s face light up when they open the present you picked for them is so rewarding! It’s also fun to get gifts, isn’t it?
James 1:17 talks about gifts. It says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
God's greatest gift to us was the gift of His Son, who came to bring peace to a broken world. The peace He came to bring wasn't the kind of "world peace" we might think of; He came to establish peace between God and sinners. That is an incredible gift!
What gift are you most excited about giving this year?
H is for HEAVENLY HOST.
Remember when we talked about the angel appearing to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus? Well, there’s more! After the angel delivered the message to them, the Bible says that “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.’”
What a sight that must have been! It’s not unusual to announce a baby’s birth, but most of the time it’s just by telling friends and family, or maybe sending out a card. Of course, Jesus wasn’t just any baby, was He? He was certainly worthy of an announcement delivered by the heavenly host!
One of my favorite carols begins with this verse:
Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
I is for INCARNATE.
When Jesus was born, it was unlike any other birth. He wasn’t just a human being born into the world, the Bible says He was fully God AND fully man. This means that when Jesus was born, He was God incarnate - which is just another way of saying that He was a human.
In the first chapter of John, John refers to Jesus as “the Word.” He says, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” At Christmas time, it’s good to stop and consider what it meant for Jesus to leave the glories of Heaven to come and live on earth!
The second verse of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" ends with this line about the incarnation of Jesus:
"Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
'Glory to the newborn King!'"
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Today, I'm thanking God that He gave us the gift of His Son in the form of a man. Isaiah describes Him in this way, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem."
It's hard to imagine that God, knowing that this would be the reception His beloved Son would receive, would still send Him into our broken, sin-sick world for the sake of those who would look to Him in salvation. That requires a perfect love, doesn't it?
As we are all so reminded of the gift that our children are to us, it's an especially tough time to imagine God giving up His own Son for us, and then welcoming, covering and forgiving us - the very people who sinned against Him - into His kingdom. What a picture of His grace and faithfulness! This Christmas, I want to celebrate the unspeakable gift of God's Son, and the eternal life that is ours because He was willing to become fully man and pay the penalty for our sins. Remember today to be thankful for Bethlehem, the place where He entered the world as flesh, and Calvary, the place where He uttered the redeeming words, "It is finished!"
Letters A and B
Letters C and D
Letters E and F
Letters J and K
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