When he was at table with them, he took the bread. He blessed the bread, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him!(Luke 24:13-35)

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

The greatness and nearness of God is at the heart of Christmas!

 


The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.  (Isaiah 9:2)

Ancient astronomers were in awe of the greatness of the stars and planets but now with our telescopes we’re overwhelmed by the size of the cosmos!  Today’s astronomers aided by all of their state-of-the-art instruments, have looked into the depths of the astonishing greatness of the universe.  This really gives us an extra jolt to our understanding of the Almighty “Who fills heaven and earth”! (Jeremiah 23:24).  There are more than 200 billion galaxies in the universe.  To get to the closest one (Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy) which is only 25, 000 light years away, it would take (at our present Voyager’s speed at 35,000 MPH) approximately 749 million years!

To fully appreciate the great feast of the Nativity we have to reflect on the shocking truth that God cares so much about us that He would send His Only Begotten Son to share our humanity (John 3:16).   Despite their wonderful understanding of God none of the early prophets or seers had a clear depiction of the incarnation that the Lord, “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:7)

Christmas is a startling reality that so great a God, Creator of the universe, would “empty” Himself to get close to us!   “What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care (“visit”) for him?” (Psalm 8:4).  Until we realize how incredibly great God is, we’ll never really comprehend how mind-boggling Jesus’s incarnation really is.

Can we really grasp at all how tremendous God is?   “O Lord my God, you are very great;” (Ps 104:1).  Such an amazing God would scare most of us to death.  That’s why He came to us “born of a woman” (Matthew 11:11).  He’s as human as any of us except sin without the slightest diminishment of His Divinity (Hebrews 4:15).  Jesus called Himself the “Son of Man” over 80 times in the New Testament!  He wanted to befriend us and be utterly close to us!  He even shared our grief and suffering!  Even now and forever His glorious body carries the wounds of the cross.  He is truly one of us.

No comments: