Amazing

If you are a member of East Memorial Baptist Church and you were present this past Sunday evening for our choir and orchestra's performance then you were blessed as much as I was. It was an amazing performance, probably the best I have heard in the 5 years that we have been at EMBC. The music and atmosphere of worship gave me chill bumps...literally. And Hannah Kintner has a phenomenal voice. That girl will have a contemporary Christian CD on the market one day and I will be the first one in line to get a copy. Amazing!

The music truly put me in the spirit. The words of each song were so powerful and they caused me to reflect on the season and what it is that we are celebrating, the birth of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever stopped and really wondered why Jesus came to this earth? Why did God become Man?

Think back to the days of Adam and Eve. God created man because He wanted friendship and intimacy. The relationship was perfect until man sinned, choosing disobedience. Sin became an insurmountable barrier between the Creator and his creatures. The gulf between them grew and grew. His children knew they were lost and yearned to be made right again, but how....? God was so pure and they were so stained. How could they aspire to the perfection that would make them worthy once again?

The Father's heart broke for his children, his greatest joy. Even though they failed him time and time again, his affection for them was undiminished.

The Father yearned through the centuries and the rise and fall of civilizations, never ceasing to reach out to his prodigal family. He did this in every possible way...through the glories of his creation...through the immeasurable gifts that he gave them...through the words of his prophets and teachers...He cried out to them in ten thousand ways saying, "Come home! You are loved now and forever! Return to me."

So to reach his children, he composed a plan. God himself decided to make the journey. The king left his throne. Amazing. He decided to pour his Godhood into flesh and blood and visit the earth as a man himself. He would walk among them, a king in disguise, the Lord of the Universe in human scale, the Creator among his creatures.

The nature of God would be clear. People on earth would see what God was like. They would see his perfect love, faithfulness, and unbounded devotion even to those who were sick or small or dark hearted.

This was the beginning of a plan to reconcile God and humanity. The Lord of the Universe invaded this world entering through a doorway called Bethlehem.

(some thoughts taken from Why the Nativity by David Jeremiah)

I know I have used the word "Amazing" many times, but it is isn't it? Truly amazing that God loves us that much. The entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the story of a very holy and loving God in pursuit of his children. I am so thankful for that pursuit.

Be intentional this Christmas season to really think about the purpose of that precious baby being born on that first Christmas morning. Be thankful. Be joyful. Spread the good news.

John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."