Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

Who could ever have dreamed up something as incredible as the birth and meaning of Jesus? Only the Creator of the universe! Truth is always much more interesting than fiction.

Everything about the gospel message is fantastic. The creator dying for the created. The judge paying the penalty for the guilty. The God of the universe laying aside his royalty, being born in human form in a lowly stable to not only become the servant, but to suffer and die on a cross in the most humiliating way, as the perfect sacrifice for the redemption of mankind. Who could think up something like this? Only God. Only he could make it believable - because it was truth. All of the pagan religions would only be shallow copies of God's mind from the beginning of creation, only deceptive imitations.

It was not that simple. There were great concepts that had to be played out. The Messiah could not be born with a sin nature, thus a virgin birth. Stranger than fiction, certainly. Both Joseph and Mary were visited by angels in order to prepare them for their roles.

There were many angel visitations surrounding this amazing arrival of God's only begotten Son. First, the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, who were terrified. And then a great host of angels appeared praising God and bringing the gospel news.

The angels themselves are very interesting. They are very involved in all the affairs here on earth and many are here for the express purpose of ministering to us and for us, the heirs of salvation. They are continually warring with the fallen angels and assisting us in spiritual warfare.

The angels were extremely interested in God's plans for mankind, especially in Jesus' role on earth and the plan of redemption, human beings and how this salvation would play itself out. I believe they were thrilled to be seeing it begin to unfold. The Bible tells us that the angels wondered at all of this, and in our own roles as humans in this, since the angels are not redeemed from sin as we are through Christ's sacrifice. We are never to worship angels but we can be very thankful for them as God's ministering agents to us in our earthly life. They surround us.

Jesus. The Messiah. Fully God, fully human. Sinless. Emmanuel: "God with us."

Amazing story. Amazing truth. Amazing grace.

The complexities in the gospel story can never be exhausted by our human minds and understanding. We should never let this event become trite through annual celebration. There are vast depths to be mined, more than we can understand in our lifetimes. We should finder deeper meaning, deeper praise each year.



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Peace on Earth?

I don't think so, some would say to the title of this post.

Things look pretty bad on earth. But when you think about it, things have always looked pretty bad on earth. We just haven't been around to see it. All we see is our own little world. Nothing has changed, though. Things are just the same as they've always been, since the Year One. God had barely got Adam and Eve created and dried off before they were up to mischief. Disobeying. And it's been that way ever since. So when will peace come?

We have good news! We have been given a gift for the world. That gift is peace. Well, what a silly thing to say . . . just look around you. Where is this peace?

A couple of thousand years ago some average folks were just sitting around doing their everyday chores when they were shocked and afraid to hear voices in the sky and to see angels who told them about a baby being born, and that he was bringing "peace on earth, goodwill to men". And so they did what the angels told them and found the baby in a place that felt completely familiar to them: a stable. They brought gifts and worshipped their Savior, who had come to them in a setting they understood. They believed. They obeyed. They had peace.

It really seems too simple, doesn't it? So simple that a child could understand it. A little child with a simple faith, who believes the baby Jesus came to save us from our sins and has brought us peace on earth, good will to men. So simple that we don't need an education, a degree, expertise in a field. In fact, maybe those things get in our way. We want to argue with it...and about it. And complicate it up. We're a little more sophisticated than that, after all. The plain fact is that we can't believe it. But it's the truth.

It is simple enough for anybody. The simple fact is that peace came to earth that night. Anybody can have that peace. It's free. Jesus comes to you right where you are, where you feel comfortable. All you need to do is ask Him to save you from yourself (your sinful condition), to be the Lord of your life and to tell you what to do from now on. Every day. And you obey (that's the hard part). And you will have peace.

Yes, Virginia, there is peace on earth.

Accept the gift of peace this Christmas.