In this season in which we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior, through a holiday known as Christ-mas, we might take a moment or two to reflect upon one aspect of His birth that isn't often mentioned.
I am referring to the fact that Jesus left heavenly places filled with heavenly comforts to come to this sin-filled, and mostly pain-filled, world to endure, along with us, His creation, the things which we suffer because of our own sin and that of Adam's.
And yet, this Christ-child's suffering would prove to be even greater than our own.
Let's consider the suffering of a child who is born in poverty and lives in a village where all are equally poor never having viewed anyone with any riches. Even though this child suffers, still, he probably accepts his life as being "normal" and remains for the most part unaware of what he lacks. That doesn't mean his life is happy and filled with comfort (he is definitely suffering the ill-effects of poverty),but, true to the saying, there is some amount of "bliss" in not knowing exactly what it is that you are missing. This child didn't choose to live this way; it just is what it is by virtue of his parents and birthplace and a host of other factors.
But this was not how Jesus Christ came to be born.
Consider the suffering of the people who lived for 40 years under communism behind the wall in East Germany. For those 40 years their lives ceased to progress or prosper in any way because of communism. Once the "wall" between East Germany and West Germany came down and the East Germans saw how the west had progressed and prospered so far above them, they were stunned and became embittered at the knowledge of all that had been denied them. If the wall had stayed up they would not have known what progress was taking place just next door. Even though they were not "blissfully ignorant" of things lost (for many freedoms were lost to them when communism came in) still, they had no knowledge of how much further life in general could progress without communism, until the wall came down. At that point, they understood completely all that had been lost to them. They didn't choose this for themselves; it was forced upon them.
But this is not how Jesus Christ came to endure suffering.
There is what is known as a "mystery" concerning the personage of Jesus Christ; not a "mystery" because no one understands how it came to be (for the Word of God has declared the truth of it to us), but a "mystery" in the sense that our finite minds cannot fathom something so infinitely beyond our capacity to understand "logically"...and oh how we insist on "logic." And yet, to God, in His infinite wisdom and understanding which is on an infinitely higher plane than ours, it is completely logical and it is true.
And that "mystery" is this: that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came from God, and was God, and is God. As the very Word of God declares:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." (John 1:1-5)
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Mathew 1:23)
"...the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21)
"Father, I [Jesus] will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." (John 17:24)
The "mystery" is that God is three persons in one, one of whom is Jesus Christ.
God the Father is God, God the Son whom we call Jesus Christ is also God, and there are other scriptures to support that the Holy Ghost Himself also is God. Thus we have the theological doctrine that man has put in place to try to handle the "mystery" that our minds cannot compute known as "the Trinity." The term "trinity" is not in the Bible, to my knowledge. But the concept behind the term is completely scriptural. It is the truth of God, mysterious but TRUE. There is only one God, yet He is comprised of three personages.
As God, then, whose riches we cannot even imagine, and who possesses all understanding and knowledge, Jesus knew what He chose to leave behind for our sakes. And yet He chose it anyway; He chose to give up all the riches of heaven to come live here in pain and discomfort and with "no place to lay His head." (Matthew 8:20)
This didn't happen because of any environmental factors of His birth.
This wasn't forced upon Him by some dictating political system.
He did it willingly. He chose to do so of His own extremely free will.
And He didn't do it somehow unaware of all that He possessed. It was with full understanding of what He was giving up that He came into this world in the flesh, denying His own pleasures and comforts; and all because He was seeking something that meant even more to Him than all the glory of heaven, something of much greater value to Him than riches and comfort.
He was seeking US!
"He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:10-13)
In this season of celebration, there are many who have no comforts, who are not blessed with even a roof over their heads. There are many more who have all the comforts they need, but might be in the process of losing them due to this economy. And there are always a few, who willingly choose to give up comforts for something of much greater value.
PEACE. Especially peace with God.
"And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offering made by fire unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him." (Lev. 4:35)
"These things I have spoken unto you that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)
Peace with God the Father, through the Prince of Peace, God the Son: Jesus Christ.
To all who have come to trust in Jesus, to all who look to Him alone for comfort rather than to this world, I pray that He blesses you greatly during this Christmas season with the riches of HIS peace...that which no amount of money, fame, comforts, or material possessions can provide.
I am referring to the fact that Jesus left heavenly places filled with heavenly comforts to come to this sin-filled, and mostly pain-filled, world to endure, along with us, His creation, the things which we suffer because of our own sin and that of Adam's.
And yet, this Christ-child's suffering would prove to be even greater than our own.
Let's consider the suffering of a child who is born in poverty and lives in a village where all are equally poor never having viewed anyone with any riches. Even though this child suffers, still, he probably accepts his life as being "normal" and remains for the most part unaware of what he lacks. That doesn't mean his life is happy and filled with comfort (he is definitely suffering the ill-effects of poverty),but, true to the saying, there is some amount of "bliss" in not knowing exactly what it is that you are missing. This child didn't choose to live this way; it just is what it is by virtue of his parents and birthplace and a host of other factors.
But this was not how Jesus Christ came to be born.
Consider the suffering of the people who lived for 40 years under communism behind the wall in East Germany. For those 40 years their lives ceased to progress or prosper in any way because of communism. Once the "wall" between East Germany and West Germany came down and the East Germans saw how the west had progressed and prospered so far above them, they were stunned and became embittered at the knowledge of all that had been denied them. If the wall had stayed up they would not have known what progress was taking place just next door. Even though they were not "blissfully ignorant" of things lost (for many freedoms were lost to them when communism came in) still, they had no knowledge of how much further life in general could progress without communism, until the wall came down. At that point, they understood completely all that had been lost to them. They didn't choose this for themselves; it was forced upon them.
But this is not how Jesus Christ came to endure suffering.
There is what is known as a "mystery" concerning the personage of Jesus Christ; not a "mystery" because no one understands how it came to be (for the Word of God has declared the truth of it to us), but a "mystery" in the sense that our finite minds cannot fathom something so infinitely beyond our capacity to understand "logically"...and oh how we insist on "logic." And yet, to God, in His infinite wisdom and understanding which is on an infinitely higher plane than ours, it is completely logical and it is true.
And that "mystery" is this: that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came from God, and was God, and is God. As the very Word of God declares:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." (John 1:1-5)
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Mathew 1:23)
"...the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21)
"Father, I [Jesus] will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." (John 17:24)
The "mystery" is that God is three persons in one, one of whom is Jesus Christ.
God the Father is God, God the Son whom we call Jesus Christ is also God, and there are other scriptures to support that the Holy Ghost Himself also is God. Thus we have the theological doctrine that man has put in place to try to handle the "mystery" that our minds cannot compute known as "the Trinity." The term "trinity" is not in the Bible, to my knowledge. But the concept behind the term is completely scriptural. It is the truth of God, mysterious but TRUE. There is only one God, yet He is comprised of three personages.
As God, then, whose riches we cannot even imagine, and who possesses all understanding and knowledge, Jesus knew what He chose to leave behind for our sakes. And yet He chose it anyway; He chose to give up all the riches of heaven to come live here in pain and discomfort and with "no place to lay His head." (Matthew 8:20)
This didn't happen because of any environmental factors of His birth.
This wasn't forced upon Him by some dictating political system.
He did it willingly. He chose to do so of His own extremely free will.
And He didn't do it somehow unaware of all that He possessed. It was with full understanding of what He was giving up that He came into this world in the flesh, denying His own pleasures and comforts; and all because He was seeking something that meant even more to Him than all the glory of heaven, something of much greater value to Him than riches and comfort.
He was seeking US!
"He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:10-13)
In this season of celebration, there are many who have no comforts, who are not blessed with even a roof over their heads. There are many more who have all the comforts they need, but might be in the process of losing them due to this economy. And there are always a few, who willingly choose to give up comforts for something of much greater value.
PEACE. Especially peace with God.
"And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offering made by fire unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him." (Lev. 4:35)
"These things I have spoken unto you that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)
Peace with God the Father, through the Prince of Peace, God the Son: Jesus Christ.
To all who have come to trust in Jesus, to all who look to Him alone for comfort rather than to this world, I pray that He blesses you greatly during this Christmas season with the riches of HIS peace...that which no amount of money, fame, comforts, or material possessions can provide.
