Isn’t it wonderful that the old saying, “Great things come in small packages,” still holds true, especially at Christmas. That small bundle wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger was an incredible gift. It wasn’t very big and it wasn’t wrapped in anything more than the simple beauty of God’s love and a mother’s love. This was the greatest gift the world has ever seen and a gift that changed the world.
Christmas is more than presents under the tree and all the parties. Christmas is the day the promises of God are fulfilled. Christmas is the day that God put on skin and bones, and stepped into a stable in Bethlehem to be born of Mary and laid in a manger. This is the day that the Word and the loving grace of God was wrapped in the ordinary. The creative, loving God of all mercy came in the tiniest, most fragile package ever given, the Christ Child. The Gospel of John reminds us, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us!” With the excitement of a child who has seen the sleigh and reindeer on Christmas Eve, we saw Jesus!
It wasn’t a dream. Jesus was right here with us. We walked and talked with Him. Jesus touched us, led us and fed us. We beheld His glory! Jesus truly is the Son of God! There is a great difference between letters and phone calls. Anybody who has ever been away from home for a long time knows what I mean. Phone calls are great. They have the advantage of immediacy, you instantly hear the person's voice and know their mood, but once you hang up the experience is over. There’s a lingering memory but not much else.
A letter, on the other hand, is tangible. You can see it, feel it, touch it and read it over and over again. Letters are physical, a message to hold and to grasp. A message to clutch to your heart or wave in the air. In this babe of Bethlehem, in Christ Jesus, God sent us a personal letter, a tangible, physical, personal love letter. The message of God’s love became the messenger. The messenger came special delivery and was laid in a manger in Bethlehem. Since the birth of Jesus, the world has never been the same.
God so loved the world that God became one of us. That is the glorious message of Christmas! “Great things come in small packages,” God came, not wrapped in glitz and glitter. God arrived as a tiny baby in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes; just to show us how much we are loved. That’s the gift of Christmas!
Christmas is more than presents under the tree and all the parties. Christmas is the day the promises of God are fulfilled. Christmas is the day that God put on skin and bones, and stepped into a stable in Bethlehem to be born of Mary and laid in a manger. This is the day that the Word and the loving grace of God was wrapped in the ordinary. The creative, loving God of all mercy came in the tiniest, most fragile package ever given, the Christ Child. The Gospel of John reminds us, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us!” With the excitement of a child who has seen the sleigh and reindeer on Christmas Eve, we saw Jesus!
It wasn’t a dream. Jesus was right here with us. We walked and talked with Him. Jesus touched us, led us and fed us. We beheld His glory! Jesus truly is the Son of God! There is a great difference between letters and phone calls. Anybody who has ever been away from home for a long time knows what I mean. Phone calls are great. They have the advantage of immediacy, you instantly hear the person's voice and know their mood, but once you hang up the experience is over. There’s a lingering memory but not much else.
A letter, on the other hand, is tangible. You can see it, feel it, touch it and read it over and over again. Letters are physical, a message to hold and to grasp. A message to clutch to your heart or wave in the air. In this babe of Bethlehem, in Christ Jesus, God sent us a personal letter, a tangible, physical, personal love letter. The message of God’s love became the messenger. The messenger came special delivery and was laid in a manger in Bethlehem. Since the birth of Jesus, the world has never been the same.
God so loved the world that God became one of us. That is the glorious message of Christmas! “Great things come in small packages,” God came, not wrapped in glitz and glitter. God arrived as a tiny baby in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes; just to show us how much we are loved. That’s the gift of Christmas!
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