A long time ago, back when there was no time at all, (and scientists tell us such a non-time existed, – though nobody can really get their minds around it), God had a vision. Or better said; He had a plan. You see, God always was…hanging out… the three of Him, totally sufficient, existing in LOVE…because He actually consisted of LOVE. In fact, there was so much Love, (infinite, you know), that if He wasn’t God, you could say: “He has so much LOVE, that he doesn’t know what to do with it all”. But actually, He was God, – so He did…(know what to do with it all).
With all that LOVE, He decided to create a race of beings to enjoy all this LOVE. He would lavish His LOVE upon that race. He would give them lots of stuff, – fulfill their every need. And they, along with all of His creation could celebrate all that LOVE, and that creation. In the process they would bring honor and glory to God; The very Being that created it all, made it all possible, – and without whom nothing would exist. God, for His part, would show them the perfect way to live. He gave them a moral order, laws written on their very hearts – so they wouldn’t mess up and hurt themselves. God would LOVE them, – and they would love Him back. That was the plan!
But just to make it a little better, – to make that LOVE mean more, – He gave them free will. They could choose to love Him or not. That’s what makes the LOVE real. God put it this way, “Let us make Man in our image”. That ability to choose love, was one of the essentials of the “in our image” thing. The problem was those beings used that free will to choose to rebel against God. (Don’t worry, God wasn’t surprised.) Now God, being perfect, cannot live wherever sin and rebellion exists. Not even one little sin. Not even for one moment. So that was a problem. God created these beings to celebrate and LOVE, – and they rejected Him and His LOVE. The moral order was such that all sin must be paid for. Because God is perfect, we could never fully pay for our sins – We would be condemned to be apart from Him forever. – So there would be no one on which God could lavish all of His LOVE.
God had a plan to fix that too. He sent Himself, in the form of His only Son, to pay for that sin and rebellion; – to make things right again, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That’s pretty simple. Believing in His Son;…but not just in our head, – but with our whole heart, – trusting Him. That’s what Christmas is all about; – that gift of His Son, – available to all that will receive Him.
But remember that free will thing. God won’t ever force us to be saved. Still, there is God, doing the whole thing. At the dawn of time, He made it all. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things were made through Him.” On that first Christmas, He came as the God/Man to save us. His very name, Jesus, means ‘Jehovah Saves’. At the Cross he paid the price for our sin, – to all who would believe and put their trust in Him. There is no other way. We cannot pay that debt on our own. And on Easter, He rose up, and declared the victory over sin and death. God did it all!
Here’s the whole thing in a nutshell. God made His perfect, sinless Son Jesus, “ to be sin for us,” and punished Him “that we might become the righteousness of God”. Such a deal! But still, we must accept God’s offer. Yet, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” It’s always our choice!
And that’s what I’m writing about; Your choice, to be specific. God is calling to you! He died for you! He wants to spend eternity with you! It’s pretty absurd, – but it’s true. God LOVES you! Come to Him this Christmas. Commit your life to Him. It is the only real thing. He will take you just the way you are. In fact you can’t clean yourself up to make yourself worthy. You couldn’t do it if you tried. That’s why He came, – to save sinners. You can’t do it your way, (there is only one Way – His Way). He is looking for those who will worship the Father “in spirit and in truth.” Choose the only real thing. Choose life! That’s the Christmas thing!
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