12-26-22 The Dog Days of Christmas

The Dog Days of Christmas - by Bill Perkins - https://compass.org/the-dog-days-of-christmas/ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Gen. 1:1 Our adversary must really hate Christmas. After all, the entire world shuts down to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Can’t let that happen. So he’s been working hard for 6000 years to do everything possible to degrade and dilute the meaning of Christmas. So let’s step back a bit and think about what we’re really celebrating, what the devil is really upset about. Our human existence all began over six 24-hour days, when God created everything in the universe—the earth, the heavens, the fish, the animals, the stars and you and me—by speaking them into existence. By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. Psa. 33:6 God is one huge God. There was nothing and then in six 24-hour days everything we see was spoken into existence via God's mouth. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. Heb. 11:3 That’s almost impossible to understand from our human mind’s perspective. But simply put: God thought, spoke and ta-da, everything in the universe was immediately in place. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. Gen. 1:31 After this unimaginably creative creation there was no sin and no death occurring as all was perfect. But we all know what happened next. God had so graciously given us “choice” and we chose poorly. Sin infected the entire human race through Adam and Eve’s transgression. For as in Adam all die... 1Cor. 15:22a Because this sin was passed down in the DNA of every human ever born (your DNA was in Adam), we were destined to die apart from God. Our intolerable sin separated us from the perfect Creator God… forever. But God loved us humans who were the pinnacle of His creation. So He provided a way of escape for us. …in Christ all will be made alive. 1Cor. 15:22b “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 So the Lord worked it out for us to be redeemed. The cost of that redemption is also hard to fathom. The Creator of the universe had to come from heaven, become flesh, live sinlessly, shed His blood and die in our place. And then defeat death by rising from the dead. Pastor Jon Courson tells the story of a dream he had where he's flying through the universe with God. God tells him, "See that small planet? I want you to go to that planet and bring peace to the inhabitants." I looked down at this planet and then told Him, "But, God, that planet is full of large, angry, vicious dogs. They will tear me apart; they will kill me." God replied, "Yes, Jon, I know. And, by the way, you will go to the planet as a chihuahua." God then told me, "Oh, and one other thing -- you will remain a chihuahua forever." Jesus becoming a human was actually worse than any of us becoming a dog, but Courson's point is well made. Jesus had to majorly humble Himself for our sake. The Creator God loved us so much that He was willing to come to this planet, become a human, die a horrible death... and remain a human forever. Today, Jesus sits on the throne with arms and legs, ears and eyes, a mouth with expressions, just like you and me. God did it this way so we would be able to relate to Him. So as you celebrate the birth of Jesus this year, remember the steep price Jesus had to pay for you and me to be saved. He truly loved us beyond what we can comprehend. For me that puts a lot more oomph in the meaning of “Merry Christmas.” CQLJ! BP And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us... John 1:14a