Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas is Real

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. (1Tim 3:16 ESV)

Yes, great indeed is the mystery of the incarnation, the Second Person of the Trinity voluntarily emptying Himself of His eternal glory and coming to earth to seek and save the lost.

In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (Jn 1:1-3,14)

Yet, as much as it is a mystery, it is every bit as real. AW Tozer writes:

The birth of Christ was a divine declaration, an eternal statement to a race of fallen men and women. The Advent of Christ clearly established:

First, that God is real. The heavens were opened and another world than this came into view.

Second, that human life is essentially spiritual. With the emergence into human flesh of the Eternal Word of the Father, the fact of man's divine origin is confirmed.

Third, that God indeed had spoken by the prophets. The coming of the Messiah-Savior into the world confirmed the veracity of the Old Testament Scripture.

Fourth, that man is lost but not abandoned. Had men not been lost no Savior would have been required. Had they been abandoned no Savior would have come.

Finally, that this world is not the end. We are made for two worlds and as surely as we now inhabit the one we shall also inhabit the other!

How can it be otherwise when twentieth-century Christians refuse to acknowledge the sharp moral antithesis that God Himself has set between the Church, as the Body of Christ, and this present world with its own human systems?

The differences between the churchly world and the followers of the Lamb are so basic that they can never be reconciled or negotiated. God has never promised His believing people that they would become a popular majority in this earthly scene.

I wonder how many believers would join me in a clear-cut manifesto to our times? I want it to be a declaration of our intentions to restore Christ to the place that is rightfully His in our family situations and in the fellowship of the churches that bear His name.

Are we willing to demonstrate the standards of godliness and biblical holiness as a rebuke to this wicked and perverse generation?

So many people are searching for meaning, for reality in these turbulent times. It is sad that the answer lies clearly in the true meaning of Christmas. Yet, inserted in the Apostle John's introduction to his beloved gospel is a haunting statement.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (Jn 1:9-11)

Just as most of the people in Bethlehem that day were oblivious to the divine event occurring in their midst, most people today are equally unaware. We must take up Pastor Tozer's challenge to be shining examples for unbelievers, while we continue to pray and share the Good News.