Reflecting the Christ of Christmas

[intro]As we enter the Christmas season, we all have various experiences and emotions that are attached to this time of year. As a child, I grew to love this season – probably mostly because of the presents I received! But I also caught the spirit of it as I got older, and I grew into enjoying the giving and sacrificial aspect so much more.[/intro]

As Christ followers, the Christmas season is an opportunity we have to celebrate the birth of the One who lived – so He could die – for our benefit. Jesus indeed was more than generous towards us.

This one event in all of history has set in motion a series of events that have impacted the world like none other: Jesus’ birth, His life on earth as God-Man, His sacrificial death for the sins of the world, and His resurrection that demonstrated His victory over sin and death for us all. It is simply incredible how one life and one death has changed the course of our lives, not only on this earth as we know it, but for all eternity.

As a dad of four kids and eight grandkids, the Christmas season holds significant joy for me. It provides an opportunity to connect and reconnect with my family and friends. Perhaps, through giving gifts to those I love, it allows me to express love in ways that I may not have been so good at showing the entire year. I don’t know. What I know for sure is that this Christmas season prompts me to refocus my life once again toward what is really important and the eternal value and purpose God has provided for us all. It challenges and encourages me to be generous – like God is with each of us – with all that He has so unselfishly given to me.

Being able to pastor a church family like Riv reminds me of the incredible sacrifice one baby made over 2,000 years ago. The privilege God has provided me in my short stay on earth – to be able to serve Him through my personality, giftedness, strengths, and weaknesses – is something that I don’t ever want to take for granted. In fact, the opportunity we all have as members of God’s earthly and eternal family – to be able to show the love of Jesus to others – is only possible because of the birth of One baby born in Bethlehem.

The truth is, I love gifts. I love to give them to others. I even like receiving them. I’m sure we all have received a certain gift from someone, and when asked how we like it, we really didn’t know how to respond. “You know, that was REALLY unique!” (Short and PC for: ”That was really weird!”) Or, “Wow – I don’t have anything like that!” (Short for: “There is a reason I don’t have anything like that in my house!”)

But Jesus’ gift to us was perfect. And like any gift someone gives us, it is only a gift when we receive it and open it. The gift that Jesus gave us was Himself.

If I could encourage us in one thought this Christmas season, it would be this: Have we personally received and opened the gift of eternal life that God gave us through Jesus? And as a result of this undeserved gift, are we generous toward God and others in the same way God has been so generous towards us? Christmas is a reminder of God’s generosity. We have the awesome privilege of reflecting His generosity, not only during this season but throughout the coming year. May the truth of 1 John 4:10 be the reflection of the gospel being lived out through our lives this season:

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. – 1 John 4:10

 

Photo credit: David Shane