God with us +++ God's Word

What a gift God has given us. In addition to the gift of life that He gave us, He loved His created children so much that He decided to get much more up close and personal with us by sending His Son to talk with us.  In Isaiah 9:6 we hear: "For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Don't you love it when God's plan comes together? Isaiah was foretold through God’s Spirit of the coming of the one who would be "God with us." The angel of the Lord was busy getting Mary and Joseph on board and then going out to give the shepherds the "good news of great joy." In Luke 2:1-20 we hear: "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord." This was followed by a multitude of the heavenly host saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

The event of the birth of Jesus is amazing. Who would have thought that for us, all eternity would be impacted by the birth of this helpless child? What were the chances of this child living past child birth, not to mention growing up to become the, "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Rev. 19:16)? The chances were great because it was God Himself coming to us through His only Son who was Himself without sin. His life taught us and gave us the great example to follow. His death atoned for our sin and gave us the hope of salvation.

How should we respond to these miraculous things? For me the answer is easy. The doing of it is a little more difficult. Inside each of us is the potential to mirror the life of Jesus by turning to God in and for all things. If we open ourselves to Him, He will show Himself to us and through us to those we contact. Our goal is not to be God on earth; Jesus fulfilled that role once for all. But we must seek to offer ourselves to God, to be used as a conduit for His love.

There are some that view our world as a “Battlefield”.  Given the history of man, one might agree with this view. We are imperfect people, but God still expects us to live in peace and love. He could have made us loving robots from the beginning, but He wanted us to understand life as a beautiful gift on our own. By coming to us through His Word in Christ Jesus, He shows us all the ways that our world does not have to be a battlefield. We are called by Him to bring peace, joy and love to the world as His messengers in Christ.

A child has been given to us who is Christ the Lord. He was sent by the Father to help us better understand our importance in God's Kingdom. We are meant to be part of God's plan for His creation. Our lives are miracles as well. God has done much work to create us in His image. As we celebrate the event of God being with us through the life of Christ, let us commit to loving one another as He has loved us. Let us mirror Him to each other. God's plan is ongoing and is eternal. Let us do our part to keep it coming together. Let a child be born in us today.

John cements the coming of the Jesus, the messiah, in Chapter 1:1-5: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”