THE Christmas story, as told by many generations preceding, is timeless and, like wine, gets better in awe, magnificence and splendor each year, as God by His Spirit reveals Christ to us with every passing day. This story began way before time itself and is one of pure love, that is so complete, consuming and unfailing that you would have to be a ‘Pharisee’ to reject it.
So God, the God who had created the worlds and everything in it, the God of heaven came to us, to where we were because He knew we could not come to Him. After Israel’s confidence in their own strength at Mount Sinai, ‘to do all that the Lord had spoken’, regardless of all that God had done for them by His own might, God commanded Moses to set bounds around the mountain, that neither man nor beast was allowed to come near the mountain and if they did they would be either stoned or shot through with an arrow. God knew that there was no way for us in our own efforts and inventions, to draw near to Him – so He came to us.
God’s divine plan for the salvation of mankind began to unfold, when the King delivered His sermon on the Mount, where He presented His Kingdom to the people, and Matthew tells us that when He came down the mount, the people followed Him and there at the foot of the mountain was a leper waiting for Him, desiring for Jesus to heal him of his leprosy and Jesus touched him and healed him. This was a new day in salvation history, the Gospel of the kingdom had come and as Jesus Himself declared, “Repent (which means change your mind), for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand (has drawn near)”. Matthew 4:17. This is the new and living way – Jesus, the Christ.
God made it known from His birth that He was born to die for us, when the angel presented Him to the shepherds abiding in the field, as a Saviour born to them –not to Mary and Joseph, but “to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” and heralded, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men”. Do you see it? This is the picture of the cross.
As one preacher puts it, the first question in the book of Genesis, is when God called out to Adam and asked him, “Where are you?’ but the first question in the book of Matthew comes from the wise men who asked, “Where is He?” So where are you? The leper was in his leprosy at the foot of the mountain and he was healed. You can take comfort this Christmas knowing that regardless of where you are, that you are within His reach to touch you and to restore you as He has drawn near to you. “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean and Jesus answered, “I am willing”.
The leper never doubted that Jesus could heal him, he just doubted Jesus’ willingness to heal him. So the message to you this Christmas is, He is willing, receive Him. Have a blessed Christmas and let me leave you with this message from DC talk, “So take the Gift from the Father above, enjoy some of this Christmas love”. Jesus is the reason for the season.
Take care and have a prosperous new year.
ISAIAH ch 9 vs 1 & 2
Where are you?
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
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