Joy to the World - Pt 22

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30–31

It is interesting to me that so many people who have grown up in church and who can recite the great doctrines of their faith in their sleep and who yawn through the Apostles Creed, that something must be done to help them once more feel the awe, the fear, the astonishment, the wonder of the Son of God, begotten by the Father from all eternity, reflecting all the glory of God, being the very image of his person, through whom all things were created, upholding the universe by the word of his power. It is incredible that we can read every fairy tale that was ever written, every mystery thriller, every ghost story, and still never find anything so shocking, so strange, so weird and so spellbinding as the story of the incarnation of the Son of God. Religion has increased, and with it, so has the deadness of the faith of so many. It has led to a callous and unfeeling existence in relation to His glory and His story! There have been those occasions when I have I had to repent and say, “God, I am sorry that the stories men have made up stir my emotions, my awe and wonder and admiration and joy, more than your own true story.” When Jesus said, “For this I have come into the world,” he said something as crazy and weird and strange and eerie as any statement in science fiction that you have ever read (v. 37). My real hope is that the Holy Spirit would break on us this Christmas. We should be terrified to a point where we would be awakened to the unimaginable reality of God. After all, one of these days lightning is going to fill the sky from the rising of the sun to its setting, and there is going to appear in the clouds one like a son of man with his mighty angels in flaming fire. And we will see him clearly. And whether from terror or sheer excitement, we will tremble and we will wonder how, how we ever lived so long with such a domesticated, harmless Christ. These things are written that you might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came into the world. Really believe. When that happens our lives are transformed, our attention is redirected, and our priorities in life are renewed. This is a busy time of the year with many things vying for our attention. Somehow we must recognize that nothing is as important as Jesus in our Christmas celebration!