God's Gift of Christmas

A few days ago, I had asked my hubby if he had any books at work that specifically looked at the Christmas story. The Incarnation. I knew that in the midst of all that was and is going on...it would be very easy to lose sight of the true celebration this month. The greatest gift I could ever receive. The coming of the One Who sealed my adoption and made a way for me to be apart of the family of God and have a forever home. The One Who took my sin upon Himself and, in return gave me His righteousness. I can barely grasp the awesome weight of all that His death conquered and I look forward to an eternity of having those beautiful truths revealed!

Okay...so back to the book!:) Bryan brought home a little blue book called, "God's Gift of Christmas" by John MacArthur. I cannot say enough good things about it. If you have it, read it before Christmas (it won't take you long)...if you don't, put it on your list of books to order! This will become a book I read yearly in December and pray that the truths found therein would be truths that I would meditate on all year long. The chapters focus on everything from the incarnation to the wise men to Mary and Elizabeth's relationship. It touched on everything and yet was not shallow in any way. Let me share with you a brief excerpt from one of the last chapters:

"The important issue of Christmas is not so much that Jesus came, but why He came. There was no salvation in His birth. Nor did the sinless way He lived His life have any redemptive force of its own. His example, flawless as it was, could not rescue us from our sins. Even His teaching, the greatest truth ever revealed, could not save us. There was a price to be paid for our sins. Someone had to die. Only Jesus could do that.....

Here's a side to the Christmas story that isn't often told. Those soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb, were made so that nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day walk up a dusty hill to be nailed to a cross. That sweet infant's head with sparkling eyes and eager mouth was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it. That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling cloths, would one day be ripped open by a spear.

Jesus was born to die."

The excerpt from the book reminded me of a verse that I read last night in the book of Revelations. John was talking about believers and said in chapter 12 verse 11:

"And they have conquered him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."

We, too, were born to die...not for the sins of the world...but to die to self and sin (1 Peter 2:24) that Christ might reign supreme and that those around us might see Christ. We are simply clay jars...vessels that could have been used for honor or for dishonor...it was Christ who reached down, picked up the broken vessel of our lives, and put HIMSELF inside. And, somehow, though it seems almost unfathomable, He is on display in our lives!

"Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift! I Cor. 9:15