Christmas - What Happened?

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.  When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.   And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.  But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

     "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
            and they shall call his name Immanuel"

(which means, God with us).  When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son.  And she called his name Jesus.

Christmas is about the supernatural.  It is about freaky things happening.  It is about the world being shaken by the birth of God himself, wrapped in human flesh.  It is about the God who has come to be with us.  It is about Immanuel!

Life today can slip into the mundane so easily.  It is so natural to cloak ourselves in a habit of going about business as usual.  It is so natural to slip into doing things the nice common-sense way.  We forget the supernatural world that rests in every corner of this one, just beyond our eyesight.  Angels and demons are battling around us, the Holy Spirit indwells us and surrounds us; there is more to this world than meets the eye.

Joseph was a nice man, an upright man, and he was trying to do the nice common-sense thing by quietly divorcing the pregnant Mary.  But unlike every other birth in the history of the world, this one was different.  The child conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit!  Miracles do happen.  Let that sink in.  We live in a world in which miracles, though not common, do actually happen.  The supernatural does break in.  The Holy Spirit does have power.

It is easy to miss the supernatural because it is far easier to rely on our own natural abilities. When we are strong, we tend to miss God.  We meet him most often when we find that we need him.

Christmas is a call to believe in the God who is there, invisible yet powerful, loving enough to send a Savior, his own Son.  Christmas calls us, not really to cloak ourselves in comfortable traditions, but to a radical trust in the supernatural God who breaks into bleak situations to do the miraculous, whether that is something uncommon like a virgin birth, or something more common but no less miraculous - inclining a sinner's dead heart to faith.  Grace to the humble, power to the weak, healing to the hurting, forgiveness for the sinner... it's what he does!  Praise be to him!  Merry Christmas!

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Some scripture to think on...

 

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  (Romans 8:18)

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Things to check out...

Tomatoes and Cup -  What in the world?!  A short magic show at the 2012 Beijing Magic Competition. 

Obama and the Recent Tragedy - Some thoughts on the distinctively Christian message the President offered in response to the school shooting.

Doug Wilson on the Tragedy -  Doug Wilson on how Christians should react to the school shooting.  Should we be using the shooting as an opportunity to point out the tragedy of abortion...?

Mary Did You Know -  Cee Lo.  He does it well.  Enjoy.

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Suggestions for Global Prayer...

Pray for Vietnam.  Long, narrow country occupying the entire eastern and southern coastline of Indochina.  Population: 89,028,741.  There are 114 peoples, 56% unreached.  52% of the population is Buddhist.   Many people worship ancestors.  Pray for distribution of Bibles, wisdom of missionaries, and the willingness of the peoples to see Christ as greater than generational bonds.