Attitude 3

John 3:17

The other night I had to drop our son off at a worship practice on my way to a church meeting. When we got to the church where our son was supposed to practice no one was there. We had to wait about thirty minutes until someone finally arrived and let him in, which made me about forty-five minutes late for my meeting.

While we were waiting I could see that our son was feeling uncomfortable. He said that he didn’t want me to be late for my meeting. I think he feared that I would be angry and upset, which I wasn’t. What was going on with him was far more important.

When we consider our relationship with our Almighty God we can feel a bit intimidated. While on one hand we may long to stand in the very presence of our God to experience His wonderful glory, on the other hand we are likely to be aware of how undeserving we are of God’s love. The thought of being before our Lord may make us fear His wrath and anger.

The celebration of Christmas is the celebration that God sent Himself to live among us. Those who came to honor the newborn king and those who followed him as he taught and preached were all in the very presence of God. Aware of this they may have realized how unworthy they were. They may have feared the Lord’s judgment.

But John indirectly has something to say about the birth of Jesus. What was NOT the purpose of Jesus’ coming? What did Jesus come to do?

Such knowledge, such information, such awareness may be something quite unexpected. Many people, ourselves included, may expect judgment from God. The announcement of the birth of Christ may have been cause for alarm. But the truth was that the birth of the baby in Bethlehem was an unexpected gift of mercy and love. It was an act of grace from God – grace being that undeserved love from the Lord.

As we enter into this holiday season let us not forget that we are honoring the gift of salvation. We are remembering and celebrating the forgiving love of God. We have been given the unexpected – and undeserved – forgiveness of our sins through the birth of a little baby.

DAILY CHALLENGE: This Christmas, what can you do to remind yourself of why Jesus came?