No new post next week for Christmas break. See you in 2012! :)
I wrote this last year with a lot on the mind and heart. I hope you enjoy it. :)
This year, I wanted to take in Christmas with a new perspective, with a new appreciation for the shocking truth that Jesus – God – was born. Shocking, you say? Yes. The more I thought about it, the more amazing I found Jesus’ birth. So many contradictions arise with Jesus taking the step down from His heavenly throne to be born. Here, I list a few of the truths about God’s nature and what He became in Jesus. The main passage focused on is Philippians 2:6-11.
Jesus is God. [Philippians 2:6]
When we realize this fact, it’s there that these shocking truths about what God gave up to come to earth can begin to be grasped. Take that in a moment – what it means for God to be who He is. Now see what He became in Jesus, in becoming human.
God is omnipresent. [Psalm 139:7-10; Isaiah 6:3]
In Jesus, God placed his ubiquitous being in the wrappings of human skin. He went from being able to be everywhere at once to being inside a tiny baby, within the womb of a young woman. As an adult, he moved from place to place like any other human, as opposed to the ability He as God had to be unrestrained in where He was. He went from being everywhere to occupying a small space and only that small space. [Philippians 2:7]
God is omnipotent. [II Chronicles 20:6; Psalm 47:7; Psalm 147:4-5; Isaiah 40:10, 17, 28; I Timothy 6:15]
In Jesus, God placed His powerful nature in a human, subjected to government, priests, and other people. He also subjected Himself to physical and spiritual pain. Although He still had His power over those people, over creation, sickness, and death, God, who is powerful over all creation and life, humbled Himself to nothing, that He could be with us on earth, that we might live. [Philippians 2:8]
God is infinite and eternal. [Job 36:26; Isaiah 26:4; Jeremiah 10:10; I Timothy 6:16; Revelation 1:8, 22:13]
In Jesus, God placed His infinite nature in a time frame – from endless years to a time of about 33 years. From not having beginning or a creation to being born – to having a beginning and, if you will, a sort of creation. From never to have an end to having a death. [Philippians 2:8]
“Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [Philippians 2:9-10]
Shocking? Yes. But beautiful. Christ is born!
Merry Christmas!
Life Has Meaning 