Christmas Thoughts

Christmas is not Coming, it has Come! / Sinclair Ferguson.

When I was a child, Christmas seemed to die every year by bedtime on December 25th. I know now why that was true for me, just as it is for every child. It was because the true meaning of Christmas eluded me. In the true sense, Christmas never did really ‘happen.’ I was looking in the wrong direction for the wrong things instead of in the right direction for Jesus. The truth is, Christmas is not coming. It has come. The Word already has been made flesh. He already has lived, bled, died, and risen again for us. All that remains is to receive Him. For Jesus Christ Himself is the meaning of Christmas.

The Discovery of Christmas / G.K. Chesterton

“The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it; and some day suddenly wake up and discover why.”

King Jesus is the Greatest Gift of Christmas

King Jesus, you are The Gift above all possible gifts.
The gift given by God the Father;
the Son who is begotten not created.
You are my Redeemer, my Representative, and my Substitute.
Nothing compares with you.

And this is the wonder of all possible Wonders:
that you came down to raise me up,
that your movement from heaven to earth is incomprehensible,
that your everlasting love is beyond my understanding,
that you were born like me so that I might become like you.

This is the wonder of your Love:
that when I am unable to rise up to meet you,
you draw near to me on the wings of grace,
and raise me up to your heart.

This is the wonder of your Power:
that when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart,
you united them in your incarnation –
being fully human and fully God.
You united this humble creature with my glorious Creator,
so that I am now in unbreakable Union with you.

This is the wonder of your Wisdom:
that when I was completely without hope,
with no will to move toward you in affection,
with no intellect to realize my doom,
you came as God-incarnate,
to save me completely, totally, and eternally.
You came as the perfect man:
to live the life that I could never live, and
to die the death that I deserved to die,
to shed the blood required to pay for my sins,
and to attribute your perfect righteousness to me,
so that your Father would delight in me,
even as he now delights in you.

Spirit of God, set me ablaze with holy imagination
That I may see the true Gift of Christmas.

Help me to imagine
that I am with the watchful shepherds;
that I might hear the good tidings of your great joy,
so that I may:
believe in Christ,
rejoice in Christ,
give praise to Christ,
and ever adore my King.

Place me in the stable of my King’s birth,
along with the lowly animals;
that I might gaze with them and look into the gracious face of Jesus,
and through your merciful eyes be lifted from my shame.

Let me sing at the side of Old Simeon,
who held King Jesus as a baby in his arms;
that I might also hold Him near to my heart,
and sing with delight that I am His and He is mine.

Precious King Jesus,
You are the true gift of Christmas, and
the greatest of all possible Gifts.
All the trinkets of earth, and
All the treasures of heaven,
could never offer me –
a greater prize than you.

Amen