12/12/19 – Pastor Brian’s Blog
On Sunday mornings during the month of December at our church, we are looking at the baby in the manager. This baby is unlike any baby that has ever been born. This baby that entered our world, 100% man and 100% God. And the reason we are taking time to look at the baby is because God says, what you think, determines who you are… For as he thinks within himself, so he is. Proverbs 23:7
In other words, “He thinks; he is.”
With all the glitter, the lights, the giving and receiving of gifts, as well as the wonderful activities that surround Christmas, you would think that our world would be full of joy, excitement, contentment and peace. Yet… it doesn’t seem to be working. Could it be, that we think our joy, our contentment, and our peace will come from places other than this manger? Are we thinking that my need to belong, my need to feel fulfilled, my need to feel like my life has meant something, will be met apart from this baby in the manger?
Though you may be standing in the middle of the glitter, the lights, the joy of family, and all the excitement that Christmas brings, we can still feel alone. People can still feel isolated and unfulfilled in the midst of a crowded and busy life.
If this describes you this Christmas season, can I ask you for just a moment, to look at the baby in the manger. This baby, who gave up all that heaven had to offer, to come to a world that offered him… a stinking stable! This baby who came from heaven, where everyone worshiped Him, where everyone listened to every word He spoke, to come to a world that would ignore Him, and even had a King that tried to kill Him.
Yet this baby, came to earth for one reason: YOU! Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15
So if you are a sinner (and we all are!) and you are a bit down this Christmas; if you feel like no cares about you; if you find yourself separated from family; if you have lost the joy of the season; if 2018 has been one of the most difficult years of your life; if you are disillusioned and wonder “Why am I even here?” I would ask you to consider this baby in the manager. Consider this baby, Jesus, who came into this world to save sinners. Remember, when you accept His gift of salvation, everything changes!!
This gift instantly moves you from being an enemy of God’s because of your sin, to becoming righteous before a Holy God… Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19
When you accept His gift, God immediately sets up residency in you… Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
God will call you His friend… I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15
God sees you as family… Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12
God does not see you as a failure and a sinner, but as someone that has been redeemed, and forgiven… For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14
When you and I accept God’s gift of this baby in the manager, that loneliness, those questions of ‘Why am I even here?’, that feeling of living in regret, can dissipate… See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 2:8-10
When you accept God’s gift to mankind, you move from being a resident of a troublesome and dying earth, to a citizen of heaven… But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20-21
If you have been rejected by your family, no worries, because God makes you a part of His… God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5
Have a hard time keeping loyal and faithful friends, accept God’s gift and you have a friend that is with you no matter what… God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
If you have never checked out this gift from God, acquaint yourself with it, because if you accept it, it changes everything… Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17
Not enjoying this season? Finding it hard to be joyful? Come to the stable, accept God’s Christmas gift, the gift of His Son. And if you have already received His gift, rehearse all the benefits that come with this gift. Rehearse it, believe it, because… For as he thinks within himself, so he is. Proverbs 23:7 In other words, “He thinks; he is.”
It is Christmas, let us come and adore Him!!
