If I Wrote The Christmas Story... 

12/25/11 By Brad

I was wondering what Christmas would look like if I wrote the Christmas story.  If I was God coming to earth, how would I script my entrance?  I know that I would do it totally different than the way that God did it.  First of all, I would do it between the years of 2008 through 2011.  Why those years?  Well, there are so many inventions that would really help my story.  24 hour news networks, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Ustream and many more mediums that I could use to proclaim my message.  I mean, how fast could it go viral that God was coming to earth if it was proclaimed on Twitter!  And wouldn't it be great if someone with an iPhone took video of the angels proclaiming that God was coming to earth?  How many hits would that get?  And speaking of the angels, I wouldn't have sent them to shepherds in the middle of nowhere.  I would send them to important people, like presidents and prime ministers and other famous world leaders.  Or maybe, I would even send them to the United Nations!  That way all the nations of the world would hear my story!  All of the rich and powerful people, the famous people, that is who I would announce to.

And what about my actual coming?  I wouldn't script it to be in a stable.  No, I would descend out of the sky with a billion angels and there would be lightning and thunder and music.  It would happen over New York City, so that everyone could see, and those not there could see it on TV and the Internet.  I would announce my plan to all the world so that  all would know.  It would be grand, spectacular and amazing.  It would be breathtaking and beautiful!

I wouldn't come as a baby.  I wouldn't come in a small town.  I wouldn't come in a quiet way.

But I'm not God.

Everything about the story of Jesus coming to earth is absolutely mind blowing.  Think of the name "Emmanuel" - which means "God is with us"!  The thought of Almighty, Creator God becoming the thing that He created is something beyond comprehension!  God came to earth in a still, quiet way.  Announced to lowly shepherds. Parented by a young woman and her husband-to-be.  Think of that.  Creator God submitting to and obeying parents that He created!  As for the timing of it, He came at the exact right time.  It was the moment that He set before the foundations of the world to come.  

He didn't come with fanfare. He came with humility.  He didn't come to the wealthy, the famous, the self-righteous.  He came to the poor, the forgotten, the sinners.

And that is exactly who He still comes to.  His message is the message of mercy, grace and forgiveness.  His coming was a gift.  The greatest gift ever to be given.  For He emptied Himself to come to this earth He created so that He could die one of the most horrible deaths mankind ever invented.  So that I could live.  So that you could live.  What kind of God would do such a thing?  What kind of God, knowing that mankind would reject Him and that He would be the only escape, would even create us?  A God who loves us all more than we can realize in this lifetime.  The God who, knowing the future, still created us because He loves us so intensely and so ferociously that He was willing to come and to die to take the penalty for all mankind's sins!  The kind of God who turned His back on Himself because He could not bear to look at the sin that was on Jesus, and for the first and only time in history we had God separated from God!  He did that for you and He did that for me!  As the old chorus says, "He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay, I needed someone to wash my sins away."

Jesus came not to be crowned with gold, but with thorns.  He came not to be served, but to serve.  He came not in glory, but in humility.  He came not for Himself, but for you and for me.

We give gifts at Christmas as a remembrance of the amazing, sacrificial gift that God gave us that first Christmas.  You've probably heard that it is better to give than to receive, and for the most part, that is true.  But this Christmas, it would be much better for you to receive this one great gift from God, than anything else.  

Receive the gift of God's forgiveness.  

Receive eternal life.  

You see, Jesus is God in human flesh.  He came for one reason, and that is to die on the cross to pay for the sins of all mankind.  But on the third day, Jesus rose out of the grave proving that He is God, and that He has power over sin, death and Satan.  And He is offering forgiveness of all sins and eternal life for all who would believe in Him.  Romans 10:9-13 says, "If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him.  For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

It's that easy.  Confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord!" Believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead!  Because everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved from eternity separated from God!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate Christmas than to receive the gift God is offering to you!

Merry Christmas

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