Beautifully Incomprehensible

This was the moment. The moment the world had been waiting for. All of History had been scripted for this one moment. Every prior event was played to set the stage, to build and lead to the climax of this beautiful story. Though through the ages, many wonderful stories have been crafted and retold, none can compare with the beauty of this story—the Advent of the Savior.


"Though he was in the form of God, [He] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,"
Jesus—the infinite, eternal God—did not hold on to His heavenly, glorious position as God. Although He didn't become less of God, He gave up all of heaven's glories to come down to earth.

"but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."
I will never conceive how much Jesus gave up when He became a man. It is too great to fathom. He was the Creator of the universe, yet He lowered Himself to become a human. Truly beautiful.

"And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
Not only did Jesus give up all of heaven, He gave up His life. He willingly traded His righteousness for our filthiness. A beautiful exchange, indeed.

"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
God valued His glorious, righteous name so much that He was willing to kill His own Son to justify sinners. Jesus' birth and death is more than our salvation—it's God's declaration to the world that He Is Righteous.


We hear this story every year. And in the midst of the rush, the hustle, the bustle of the season, it's easy not to hear it at all. I don't ever want this story to become too familiar to me. This story is the beauty of the gospel and the glory of God. It may be incomprenehensible to our small minds, but it is beautiful.


The most beautiful story was written by God Himself.

Philippians 2:6-11


.

He. Gave. It. All.

Before the dawn of time was The Word. The Word was God. The Creator. The I AM... Yet, The Word (God) became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1, 14). That's the entire Christmas story summed up in just one sentence! This miraculous act we call the "Incarnation" -- Christ became completely human while remaining completely God. Our tiny human minds can't understand it, but it was absolutely necessary for these two reasons:

1} Christ had to be completely God to take the punishment of sin. Only God is holy and sinless and only He could pay the penalty.
2} Christ had to be completely human in order to be your substitute, my substitute. Because He was a man, Christ was our representative on the cross!

Pretty much, it boggles my brain how Jesus could be 100% God and 100% man. I love C. S. Lewis's analogy of this: Like an author writing himself into the script of a play, so the Word - the Author of creation - wrote Himself into the story of our world! Jesus is the author, but He also became a character for us!

Do you realize just how much Jesus gave up by becoming a man? I will never fully understand it (in this life), but Philippians 2 gives a good picture. Jesus, who was fully God, "did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped" (2:6). In other words, Jesus didn't hold on to His position and privileges as God. Although He never stopped being God, He gave up those rights when He came to earth.

When He "emptied Himself" (2:7) HE GAVE UP EVERYTHING.

He set aside the glories of heaven; He surrendered His independent authority and became obedient to His Father; He let go of His eternal riches and lived a life of poverty. But most of all, Christ bore the wrath of God as He took the sins of the whole world on Himself. He was separated from His Father. For me. For you. This, the greatest gift, was also the greatest sacrifice ever made!

You know the rest of the story. Jesus conquered death and now God has "highly exalted Him" (2:9). Have you, in the business of this season, taken the time to exalt the Lord? Have you thanked Him for His indescribable gift? The gift that cost Him His life, gave us ours.

"For God so loved this world

Though He knew what love would cost

He made a way in a manger

To make a way to the cross"

Please be careful putting up your Christmas decorations



Can you believe Christmas is less than one week away? Since I'm in a silly mood right now, I thought I'd just share some funny facts about Christmas that I've found.



What on earth are Yuletide carols?
"Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas."

You know that song, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"?
Well the song became so popular, that a campaign was organized to actually give the singer, Gayla Peevey, a real live hippopotamus for Christmas! But... she donated it to the zoo.

Does Santa Clause scare you?
One Government website has warned parents that a visit to see Father Christmas could be 'terrifying' for small children.

Hungry?
Christmas trees are edible. The needles of pines, spruces, and firs are actually a good source of Vitamin C, and the pine cones happen to be quite nutritious (if you can chew them).

Who wasn't originally on Santa's reindeer team?
"Rudolph" was created by Montgomery Ward in the late 1930's for a holiday promotion.


Talk about lots of wrapping!
If you received all of the gifts listed in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song, you would receive 364 presents.

How does Santa do it?
Click HERE to read how scientists have proved that Santa has an impossible job.



*Gasp!* Christmas is in December this year????

Oh. my.

December has come WAY too fast! It's already time to break out the Christmas music. There's so many Christmas songs that I love. What have you been listening to? Not only do I like to listen to them, but they're pretty fun to sing... really loudly... in German accents. Haha. Anyyyywayyy...

I now have a new favorite Christmas song: "While You Were Sleeping" by Casting Crowns. Have you heard it? It's a beautiful and touching song about the city Jesus was born in, yet it ends with a powerful challenge to America. You'll just have to hear it....

America, what will we miss while we are sleeping?
Will Jesus come again,

And leave us slumbering where we lay;

America, will we go down in history,

As a nation with no room for its King;

Will we be sleeping?



 

What do you want to be doing when Jesus calls His Church home? Will you be ready? This Christmas, let's not be sleeping, caught up in all the holiday hustle and bustle. It's time to wake up. God has given you a purpose in this life. What are you going to do with the time that He has given you?

 

This time of the year is a HUGE opportunity to reach out to the hurting and show the love of Christ. If you're thinking about how you can make an impact this Christmas, I'd encourage you to check out the blogs I have on my sidebar:

 

Wake Up Stand Up, Teens for Orphans, Do: Living Water.

 

Each of those projects were started by young people who made the effort to reach out and make a difference to people in third world countries. Even if it's just following their blogs and praying for their projects, you could be part of the change. Of course, there are so many other ways to make this Christmas an impactful one. But I challenge you to do something if you're not already.

 

I've already read some posts from fellow bloggers about what they're doing to make a difference this Christmas. Are you doing something? I'd love to hear all the different ways that you all are reaching out this year! What are you doing to make a difference this Christmas?