Last week a group of friends gathered around our dining table to enjoy a feast. After a busy day at the Redeemed Girl office, I rushed home to prep the appetizers, heat the apple cider, check the Crockpot and stand guard over my favorite dinner-party staple… mushroom risotto.
Have I mentioned that food is my love language?
When the guests finally arrived and the food passed around, we sat around the table stuffed like stockings on Christmas morning and delighted in the rich blessing of friendship. The question of the evening was this:
When did Christmas become real to you?
From one man’s wartime deployment, to the wake-up call that comes with parenting a child, most shared times when life circumstances cornered them and they felt pressed to examine life’s big questions:
Why are we here?
Is there really a God?
If so…what is He really like?
By examining these “big questions” each person’s journey led them to faith in Jesus Christ who scripture reveals as “The fullness of deity in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:9)
As faith stories dished out over slices of pecan pie, many in our group shared a similar confession:
If truly honest, we can’t fully comprehend the mystery of Christmas.
The incarnation, the great marvel that God became a man, will forever cause us to stand amazed. We flat-out marvel that God, who spoke the world into existence, became one of us.
"Only of Christ can it be said that His birth did not signal the beginning of His existence. Prior to His birth, he had existed for all eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit...Christ created the universe in all its vastness, continually sustained it by His own intrinsic power, made many pre- incarnate appearances to Old Testament saints, helped His people in time of need, and much, much more. In fact, the scriptural testimony is that Christ was exceedingly active prior to His becoming a man in the Incarnation"—[Ron Rhodes, Christ Before The Manger, pp. 35]
In today’s devotional we stop to ponder the question: Mary, Did You Know Your Baby Boy Walked Where Angels Trod? This question strikes to the heart of the mystery that is the incarnation. Before Jesus was a baby in a manger, He existed eternally in Heaven. Before angels declared to shepherds the birth of the newborn King, they first worshipped Him as God in the throne room of Heaven.
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Heralded by angels…
Worshipped by shepherds…
Swaddled in humanity…
Surrounded by livestock…
Sought by wise men…
This Savior King left the splendor, glory and majesty of Heaven for a stable. The One who walked where angles trod, became one of us.
Questions to Ponder
- When did Christmas become real to you?
- What was the “good news” the angel of the Lord declared to the shepherds?
- How does the mystery of the incarnation lead you to worship the Christ of Christmas?
