Christmas

We are well & truly in the run up to Christmas, and no doubt most of us are planning for it in one way or another. But how much thought do we give to the heart of Christmas. Yes, we all acknowledge that it is far more than what present we will buy for so-and-so, or where we will spend Christmas Day. But how about thinking about the significance of Christmas so far as God us concerned? 

For me the outstanding element of Christmas is the 'incarnate Christ'. This simply means the Christ who became fleshly man. This was prophesied by Isaiah (7:14), and affirmed at the time of his birth by the angel (Matt 1:23). Jesus was born! And he was born of a virgin! Jesus had to become a man - otherwise he could not have died for our sins. Jesus had to become a man otherwise he could never have been tempted in every way as we are. He had to fully identify with us to become an effectual sacrifice. Jesus was fully man, and yet he was without sin. Christmas should focus our thoughts upon this. If we can truly grasp this then we can understand more fully the depths of his agony in Gethsemane, when he cried out to God, and sweat great drops of blood. Then just think of how vulnerable he made himself. He had to pass through the birth channel as we all did. He had to be nursed, and have his nappy changed. He had to be taken away from the threat of death as a few days old infant. This incarnation was no picnic for the creator of the universe!

What a Saviour!