Advent: Amazement

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:32-35
 
We often worry about the coming year and how we will provide for ourselves and our families practically. One consequence of Jesus coming to save his people – is that He takes on the role of ultimate provider. He wants us to know in our hearts that when we put our trust in him – he will come through for us. Yet that is not the end of the matter. He wants us to see beyond the bread that he will provide and to look into his face and enjoy his presence. Yes he came to give us our daily bread – but he came mainly to be bread. He wants us to go to him and rest in his finished work of salvation – he is the bread of life.
 
This Christmas – be more amazed at the giver than any of his wonderful and jaw-dropping gifts. He is the bread of life.

Advent: Stars

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. Matthew 2:1-4
 
When Jesus appears on the scene – even the stars declare he has arrived. Wise men, who probably know nothing of who Jesus is, travel from the distant east to come and see and worship him. The great city of Jerusalem is turned upside down with rumours of another king. Yet God chooses not a great city or a palace as the place of the birth of Jesus, but a tiny village called Bethlehem. He is born not in pomp and power, but out of sight in a farm shed.
 
This Christmas, though you may be distant from God like the wise men, draw near to worship the Saviour of the world. Don’t be so busy listening to the rumours, clamour and noise going on about the seemingly important issues of the day. Maybe go out from all the noise and drama and find time to once again fall in love with the one who gave himself for you. We were made to worship him and only really find true joy when we do just that. All other pursuits have a hollowness about them and their glow very soon fades. 

Advent: My People

They shall be my people, and I will be their God. Jeremiah 32:38

One of the most quoted phrases in the bible – and one that God wants his people throughout all of salvation history to know and be absolutely sure and assured of. We belong to God, we are his and he is ours.

Christmas is the beginning of the ultimate fulfilment of that great statement. Let the truth that you are not alone, flood your heart and mind.

Advent: The New Covenant

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34

Christmas means that a new Covenant is effective and established, unbreakable and firm underneath us. The rock solid guarantee of Almighty God that he will perform the impossible – change our hearts to desire him and know him. Instead of trying our best, hoping for the best, whistling in the wind, or trying to earn his love, God loves us with an everlasting and unbreakable love – just because he loves us and we are his. 

We can be forgiven. The mercy of God is revealed to our hearts and we can with confidence approach the very throne of God – because God does not bring our sin to mind. Instead we have the righteousness of Christ. What greater truth do you have this Christmas but that you are in the hands of God for now and into eternity, safe, forgiven, purchased, set free to be all that God has for you. Let the joy of this mind-blowing truth sink deep into your heart. He has made an unbreakable covenant of peace. He is the always faithful husband who gives his life for his people, who he loves.

Advent: Gifts and Giving

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:10-11

God does not need anything from us, nor did he need the gifts from the magi. So what were these three items for?

They did not come to bribe God, or to get something from him. No, they were an expression of an overflow of their joy in God.

When we give anything to God, or fast or pray it is not to earn his favour – we are already dearly loved – but more an expression that to us, from our heart, our deepest and most true desires – we love him and treasure him.

To give up something and lay hold of something far greater – someone of infinite worth is not a trivial transaction. When you lay down things and embrace the Saviour – those things have no say in your life anymore. You declare who your treasure is. Those magi were so full of joy at the coming king that they gladly laid down their wealth and gifts just to be with and see the wonder of God’s great salvation plan.

Let Christmas not be about what you get, or what you have given others to try to earn their love or to prove your love, no – let it be an expression of your joy in the completed work of God. Seek his face and rejoice in him as you fall down in worship before the only reality that matters for all eternity.

Advent: Wonderful Promises

“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” Exodus 19:4-6

There are echoes of the New Covenant throughout the Old Testament. One of these is the deliverance of the nation of Israel through dramatic scenes with God humiliating the false gods of ancient Egypt along with Pharaoh who considered himself to be a god. This is mirrored by the once-and-for-all deliverance of Christ on the cross of all who call on his name and bank on his saving grace. 

Back then, God wanted the people of Israel to know that he had born their burdens and brought the nation not just out of slavery but ultimately and most significantly – to himself. They were to be his most treasured possession. Elsewhere he calls them ‘the apple of his eye’. God’s great plan was always to bring forth a treasured people to be his own and for them to all become priests and a holy nation. It was God’s plan, his strength that carried them and he was to be the final destination.

This Christmas consider the wonderful promises which form the foundation of the grace which so abundantly floods the lives of those who are Christ’s. Consider the wonderful news that you are God’s treasured possession, if you are ‘In Christ’. The price God paid for you was Jesus. There is no greater price that could possibly be paid. If you are still considering and thinking about the claims and teachings of Jesus, may you encounter God this Christmas.