Christmas is a story about God. It is also a story about you.
While the Christmas story may bring up warm feelings of good will towards humanity, for many of us the story gets lost within the business of a season of gifts, family, and obligations. It is so easy to lose sight of the meaning.
As we we come together to remember what Christmas means, for a lot of us Christmas may simply be an archaic cultural tribute to something that happened long ago. But the Christmas story is not just about an event in history but a story of THE event of history. Let me explain.
The reason this story is such a big deal is because God came toward us. Throughout history humankind has searched for greater meaning in life and perhaps even to get a glimpse of the eternal. We can search, ponder, and even philosophize of the intention or existence of God. But this story implies that we no longer have to wonder. God came to be with us. And the way God came to us reveals more about who He is than we could imagine.
The story of Christmas is not the story of a god who came with a flashy show demanding adoration. In fact, the story is the complete opposite. Those who were supposed to be the ones to notice the signs of His arrival were nowhere to be found while those you wouldn’t expect to be there found God in a very unexpected way. The Christmas story itself reveals just how God came to answer the cry of His people to not only bring the solution to humanity’s predicament but to be the solution. The birth of Jesus was the statement of the Father to us.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” – John 3:16-17
Finding God is about letting God find you. Being found is risking to say that this story is actually for us. The Christmas story is about God finding us to save us. And God didn’t so much come to save us from something but saves us to Himself.
God came to be with us so that we could be with Him. So it is a story about you, because you are the reason He came. It is a statement of love. It is a statement for you.
Hi, Matt. What a wonderful Christmas message revealing the important truths that God himself came to us that first Christmas and,yes, we are the very reason He did so. He was in no way compelled to come, he came for love’s sake. So often in the blind bustle of life we forget that. Thanks for the reminder. God bless your ministry.