The Blessings of Easter at Christmas
‘When Jesus was born.’ (Matthew 2:1)
John 1:12-14; Isa. 7:14 and 9:6; John 10:30, 37, 38 and 18:37; Acts 10:39-41; I Tim. 3:16
What Is God Saying?
Yesterday, we noted that Jesus was born at a certain point in history: in the days of Herod. Today, we ask ourselves again, ‘What effect does that fact in history have on the facts of our lives right now?’ He was born then, but does it make any difference now? For the Christian, the answer is a resounding yes. The Christ of yesterday's history is the Christ of today's faith. ‘Jesus was born.’ He brought to us the human face of God. He bridged the gap which philosophies and religions have tried vainly to cross through the centuries and throughout the world. ‘He was in the form of God, but he emptied himself ... and was born in the likeness of men’ (Phil. 4:6). That is why we may know, love, and almost understand Him. What a great gift God gives us in Jesus. It is His birthday but we get the present!
Typically, birth is a reason to rej0ice. With pride and thankfulness, parents and friends rush out for a greeting card to inform the world. Jesus' birth was no exception. ‘A multitude of the heavenly host praising God, saying: Glory to God in the highest.’ It was like a display of Northern Lights with the soundtrack added, ‘Joy to the world, the Lord has come, let earth receive her King.’
How Does This Apply To Us?
That joyful song continues, ‘Let every heart prepare him room.’ Jesus, born then, wants us to know that He is more than a fact of history. He wants to be born in us today, once in that great moment when through faith we receive salvation, then born every day in our hearts, in our business, in our leisure, in our happiness, in our sorrows, in our triumphs, and our failures. May God give us all the joy of saying and meaning, ‘Today Jesus is born in me.’ He was born in Bethlehem then, but each day He would be and should be born anew in our hearts. His birth in us each day is the end of the night and the beginning of the day. When Jesus was born, it was the greatest Gift of God. Each morning, Jesus wants to be and can be born in us again. This thought is expressed so well in Harriet Beecher Stowe's words:
‘Still, still with Thee-when purple morning breaketh, when the bird waketh and the shadows flee; Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight dawns the sweet consci0usness, I am with Thee.’
Pray With Me
O God, here Your love is expressed in terms I can understand. The son of God, who inhabits eternity, spoke with the Word of His power, and all the universes came into existence. I cannot grasp the meaning of infinity. Nor can I understand the One who is above and beyond infinity. I worship Him, I adore Him, I prostrate myself before His holiness and power, but I could never say that I comprehend Him. Yet this very Jesus, the Lord of creation, was born. He was born in Bethlehem. He was clothed in human flesh. He was to experience the same hunger and wants as I do. He was and surely is God, yet ‘he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.’ That is why I may know, love, and almost understand Him. That is why I know He understands me.
When Jesus was born, the heavens rang with a joyous song. It happened, and it is a blessed fact of history. It is joy to me, joy unspeakable and full of glory. The wonder of it all makes my heart beat faster.
Still, I want to have the greater joy which comes from knowing with absolute assurance that each new day may find Christ born in me anew. Let this day and every day become another opportunity for Him to live through me and another opportunity for me to live through Him. As certainly as He was born in Bethlehem, let the presence, the power and the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.
For the sake of His glory. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
Especially in Advent, but in every season and for every reason, our joy, confidence, and hope return because Jesus was born and now lives. He understands. He cares. He knows when we have tried and failed. He knows when we have failed to try, and still, He cares. He wants to live in us, and He wants to live through us. Let this historical fact, this eternal truth, and this present reality filter through all our praying. In its truest sense and its finest moments, prayer is letting Christ be formed in us.
