Imagine a world where there is no sin, no sadness, no guilt. Where the sun never rises to a day filled with pain and never sets with the dark clutches of death. Where love fills everyone's hearts and motivates every action. Where God Himself walks and talks with human beings, sharing the great mysteries of eternity. Where loved ones never have to say goodbye, and friends are never parted.
This was how our world was at the beginning. It was created to be a paradise for our enjoyment! But then sin entered. It began in heaven and spread to earth. Suddenly, love turned to hate, selflessness turned to selfishness, and God became an enemy to be feared and hated. But God knew what would happen, so long before He created this earth, He had a plan. And in the Garden of Eden, talking to Satan, God promised a Redeemer! He said “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”* Oh glorious promise! God promised to send a second Adam, to reclaim what the first Adam had forfeited! And so, from the moment Adam tasted of the forbidden fruit, the Plan of Salvation swung into action.
During the darkest days of Israel's history, God gave some of the most precious promises of a coming Redeemer. Isaiah prophesied “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.... For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”*
Finally, at a time when the world was at its darkest point, when Rome's tyranny was at its strongest, God Himself, wrapped in human flesh, came into our world as a helpless baby! "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."* That's what Christmas is all about! God Himself, coming to die for our sins! A verse in the song Welcome to Our World says it so well: "Fragile finger sent to heal us, tender brow prepared for thorn, tiny heart whose blood will save us, unto us is born."
Why did God do this? There's a song that Danny Shelton sings that asks the same question. The answer? "Heaven is not Heaven when loved ones are not there." God wants us, His children, there so bad, that He was willing to give His only son to rescue us. What love is that!
33 years later, on a hill outside of Jerusalem, a cross was raised with the Prince of Life hanging from it. As He hung there, a world was in the balance. When He was sealed in the tomb, Satan sent his most powerful forces to guard the body, and keep Christ buried forever. But praise God! An angel came speeding from heaven to earth, clothed with the panoply of heaven. At the sound of his approach, all the demons fled in terror. Chills go up and down my spine as I imagine the angel raising his arm to heaven, and saying with a commanding, trumpet-like voice, "Son of God! Your Father calls You!" The earth shakes as the Prince of Life steps out of the rocky tomb, and with a voice that sounded like the sweetest music, proclaiming "I am the resurrection and the life!" At that moment, Satan knew he was defeated. It was finished! Heaven had won!
Christ soon ascended into heaven, to prepare a place for His children. Soon, very soon now, He will be returning to take us home. Ellen White gives a vivid description of the moment when the two Adams meet. “As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the City of God, there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adoration. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive the father of our race – the being whom He created, who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Savior’s form. As Adam discerns the prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at His feet, crying: “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been exiled.”* This is the moment which God has been looking forward to for so long. This is why He sent His only son into our world! This is the story of Christmas. “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”* This is why we celebrate. We are celebrating a major mile-stone in the great conflict between Christ and Satan. Sometimes the story gets lost in all the tinsel and we stick Jesus in His manger under the Christmas tree and forget about them, but this is the true story of Christmas. Because of this, because of the great love God has for us, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”* This is the story of Christmas. Will you join me in commiting to spread the news of a crucified and risen Saviour who is coming back soon to take us home?
Merry Christmas!
Joel
*Genesis 3:15
*Isaiah 7:14 & 9:6
*John 3:16
*The Great Controversy, page 647
*John 3:17
*Hebrews 12:1 & 2
This was how our world was at the beginning. It was created to be a paradise for our enjoyment! But then sin entered. It began in heaven and spread to earth. Suddenly, love turned to hate, selflessness turned to selfishness, and God became an enemy to be feared and hated. But God knew what would happen, so long before He created this earth, He had a plan. And in the Garden of Eden, talking to Satan, God promised a Redeemer! He said “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”* Oh glorious promise! God promised to send a second Adam, to reclaim what the first Adam had forfeited! And so, from the moment Adam tasted of the forbidden fruit, the Plan of Salvation swung into action.
During the darkest days of Israel's history, God gave some of the most precious promises of a coming Redeemer. Isaiah prophesied “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.... For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”*
Finally, at a time when the world was at its darkest point, when Rome's tyranny was at its strongest, God Himself, wrapped in human flesh, came into our world as a helpless baby! "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."* That's what Christmas is all about! God Himself, coming to die for our sins! A verse in the song Welcome to Our World says it so well: "Fragile finger sent to heal us, tender brow prepared for thorn, tiny heart whose blood will save us, unto us is born."
Why did God do this? There's a song that Danny Shelton sings that asks the same question. The answer? "Heaven is not Heaven when loved ones are not there." God wants us, His children, there so bad, that He was willing to give His only son to rescue us. What love is that!
33 years later, on a hill outside of Jerusalem, a cross was raised with the Prince of Life hanging from it. As He hung there, a world was in the balance. When He was sealed in the tomb, Satan sent his most powerful forces to guard the body, and keep Christ buried forever. But praise God! An angel came speeding from heaven to earth, clothed with the panoply of heaven. At the sound of his approach, all the demons fled in terror. Chills go up and down my spine as I imagine the angel raising his arm to heaven, and saying with a commanding, trumpet-like voice, "Son of God! Your Father calls You!" The earth shakes as the Prince of Life steps out of the rocky tomb, and with a voice that sounded like the sweetest music, proclaiming "I am the resurrection and the life!" At that moment, Satan knew he was defeated. It was finished! Heaven had won!
Christ soon ascended into heaven, to prepare a place for His children. Soon, very soon now, He will be returning to take us home. Ellen White gives a vivid description of the moment when the two Adams meet. “As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the City of God, there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adoration. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive the father of our race – the being whom He created, who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Savior’s form. As Adam discerns the prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at His feet, crying: “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been exiled.”* This is the moment which God has been looking forward to for so long. This is why He sent His only son into our world! This is the story of Christmas. “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”* This is why we celebrate. We are celebrating a major mile-stone in the great conflict between Christ and Satan. Sometimes the story gets lost in all the tinsel and we stick Jesus in His manger under the Christmas tree and forget about them, but this is the true story of Christmas. Because of this, because of the great love God has for us, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”* This is the story of Christmas. Will you join me in commiting to spread the news of a crucified and risen Saviour who is coming back soon to take us home?
Merry Christmas!
Joel
*Genesis 3:15
*Isaiah 7:14 & 9:6
*John 3:16
*The Great Controversy, page 647
*John 3:17
*Hebrews 12:1 & 2
