Christmas celebrates the Word made flesh — Immanuel, God with us — the fulfillment of the promise that was first made to Abraham and Sarah, and then the Patriarchs and the Matriarchs, and renewed with succeeding generations of God’s faithful (and unfaithful) people Israel, who were bound to God in solemn covenant.
Again and again, the covenant was shamelessly broken, from the people’s side, and the loving God who made the world and who called the people brought them under judgment for a time, while continuing the grand story of redemption in every age, through a remnant.
All was preface to the grand unveiling of God’s plan, in the fullness of time, in the birth of a baby, in an out-of-the-way place, without notice and without immediate consequence. The timing and the circumstances of the birth bear witness to the ingenuity and the persistent love of a gracious God who gently approaches God’s people in many ways, seeks them out, gathers them in, moves them together as a flock, keeping close eye and counsel — an altogether amazing way of dealing with the situation of the Fall for the all-knowing, all-powerful, sovereign Creator and Redeemer of the world.
But God’s ways are not our ways, as the prophet says, and who are we to question the ways of God?
So, if the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is the sign of God’s ultimate redemptive act, what can we learn about the nature of the God who redeems the lost, the God who personally comes to save and the God whose purposes will not be ultimately thwarted by any power or principality, for all are subject to Almighty God?
What we learn is that God is a promise-making, covenant-keeping God; that God’s faithfulness and love is from everlasting to everlasting; that those who have known that God and have accepted that God’s free grace, have a certainty about their ultimate destiny and that of the world, which is well nigh unshakeable.
In the meantime, however, there is much uncertainty. It’s like a lengthy, complex war, at the beginning of which the outcome cannot be known, except as an object of faith and hope. There are many theaters of activity; thousands of local commanders, each of whom has his or her own ideas about what should and should not be done, poor communications; field hospitals that often fail to save the wounded who are dying; and a great mist over the battlefields that obscures vision severely.
Therefore each one, each church, each commander must in large part live by faith, and not by sight. We realize that the plan which began in the humble stable in Bethlehem — really from all eternity — is being played out largely beyond our field of sight. Therefore, we must rely on the communications we receive, and an inner confidence and trust placed in the heart by the Holy Spirit. We must believe that not a leaf falls to the ground without somehow being part of the unfolding plan for reclamation of a world that is lost, but which God resolutely determines to save at all costs.
Is God really present? Yes, God is really present, in every place, at every time, in us, with us, beyond us.
If we believe with all our heart that the triune God who creates and saves God’s people and the world is truly present, then we will be filled with faith in that God, hope in that God’s wonderful plans, and love which is the instrument through which God’s purpose is always worked out.
That is the true meaning of Christmas!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
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