Paul David Tripp, “The glory of the birth of Jesus becomes even more glorious when it is seen through the humbling lens of the desperate condition that was the reason for His coming.”
2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
The Jews never expected their Messiah to come the way He did. In their arrogant thinking and pride of place and authority, they thought their Savior would come as a mighty hero to rescue them from the oppression of the Romans. They were stymied and refused to accept that the young man from an obscure village and questionable birth would be the one to redeem them and set them free. They couldn’t see the Messiah when He came because they were looking for strength and power and glory for themselves. They missed the tiny baby and the humble servant as a grown man because it didn’t fit their narrative.
God’s ways are always the opposite of what the world thinks. When the world sees a confident businesswoman, God sees a struggling woman, trying desperately to balance all the demands on her life. When the world sees a happy-go-lucky person, God sees a lost and hurting soul in need of rescue. The world is concerned with whatever we can conjure up on the outside, but God sees man’s need for the salvation Christ alone offers. It is only when we see ourselves the way God sees us that we can fully appreciate Christmas and the coming of the Christ-child.
Paul David Tripp, “Ponder the fact that God was willing to control the events of world history to bring this world to the place where conditions were right for Jesus to come, simply because we had no power whatsoever to help ourselves out of our desperate state. Humanity was so incredibly messed up that there was only one solution for us: God Himself!”
The bad news is that we are completely lost and condemned and unable to save ourselves. The Good News is that God did something about it when He sent Jesus to be a tiny human. What we could not do, God did for us because of His great love and mercy. Not because we had proven ourselves worthy. Quite the contrary, we prove ourselves only capable of more and more messes and depravity and hopelessness every day.
Christmas is only hopeful when we realize that we need what Christmas brings: the answer to our hopelessness. A Hope so full of promise and power that it redeems us from being “so incredibly messed up” and gives us the Son of God – Emmanuel – GOD IS WITH US!
Ephesians 2: 1-10, “And you were dead in your offenses to God and sin. . . BUT GOD being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us . . . made us alive together with Christ . . . SO THAT He might show the boundless riches of His grace . . . it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not of your own doing, it is the gift of God.”
Rejoice this Christmas that you are no longer without hope but that you are with Christ! Sing with the angels of His glory and your rescue. Celebrate your Savior and Messiah, who did what you could not do for yourself and did it willingly because of His great love just for you!
Anne McDaniel (a. k.a. Leah) is married to Patrick and has 4 grown children: Meredith, Shelley, Allison, and Christian. A graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary with a degree in marriage and family therapy, she has worked in ministry in Florida, Utah, and California. Since moving back to the Atlanta area, she has managed her home and a DMV office – if that doesn’t prepare you for life, nothing will! Anne is convinced that God’s word is the be-all and end-all of her existence and is eager to see others fall in love with the Bible and the God who gave it to us. Sipping tea in the mornings, watching the birds at the feeders, and experiencing life vicariously through her children are favorite pastimes. You can find more of her writings on a variety of subjects on a Facebook page called, Well, if you ask Me.
