This Christmas, I’m hoping for an
iPod, maybe season tickets to the Nebraska Cornhuskers Football games, or maybe a new car! (Takes out present and shakes it) Football tickets? (Opens up a pair of black socks.) Wow . . .
I love them honey. Thanks.
Have you ever
hoped for something that never happened?
Have you ever had dreams that didn’t come true? Have you ever had unfulfilled expectations?
Saint
Paul wrote in Romans that “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And hope does not disappoint us, because God
has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given
us.” Why then do we still so often
experience disappointment in our lives even at Christmas time? I think it’s because we’ve forgotten what we
are really hoping for. Amongst all the
presents and parties and dinners and decorations. Why
was Jesus born?
Perhaps
it’s too late to remember what Christmas is about, but I hope not. Why was Jesus born? Why did He come? There is still a moment to remember what
Christmas Day is really about before we slip away into disappointment, before
we start wondering what all the fuss was really about?
Why
was Jesus born? What hope did He really
bring? “God so loved the world that he
gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not perish but may have
eternal life.” Christmas started the
road to the cross to save sinners from eternal destruction. Rather than letting one more day pass by for
the Devil to terrorize God’s people, our Father God stepped up and put himself
out there in the Devil’s face saying, “Here I am. On Earth.
In the flesh. And even from this
manger bed, I’m gonna take you down!” 1st
John 3: 8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s
work.” That’s what baby Jesus was born
to do.
God said that we
would be able to rejoice even as we suffer in this world because, once Jesus
was born, we’d know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that what we see and
experience in this old world is not our final reward. We may lose our greatest treasures on earth,
but there will be greater treasure in heaven.
We may suffer defeat, embarrassment and heartbreak in our lives, but on
the last day we will see God’s final victory.
And it will be our victory over all that may have hurt us in the past. We will all die, but God’s says, “Though you
die, yet shall you live.” Hope in that
and you will have the peace on earth that the Christmas songs talk about. YOU, you will have peace even on Earth.
That’s
why Saint Paul says that we can rejoice in our sufferings because we know that
suffering is just the long treacherous climb up a mountain before you reach the
awesome peak. Suffering produces
perseverance, perseverance, character; and character hope. “In a little blood stained book found on a
dead G.I. was written this statement: America shall win the war. Therefore, I will work, I will save,
sacrifice and endure. I will fight
cheerfully and do my utmost as if the whole issue of the struggle depended on
me alone.” That’s the kind of hope every
Christian was given with the birth of Jesus Christ. We may not be able to defeat evil on our own,
but God is in this battle now and if He is for us, who can be against us! God has decided to stand by our side, to fight
next to us like a brother and to lead us in the charge against the forces of
evil.
Why was Jesus
born? He was born to be our champion. Revelation 19 says, “I saw heaven standing
open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and
True. With justice he judges and makes
war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and
on his head are many crowns. He has a
name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and
his name is the Word of God. The armies
of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen,
white and clean. Out of his mouth comes
a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the
wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and
on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is coming.
That’s what Jesus was born to do.
Hope does not
disappoint when your hope is in Jesus.
Faith in Him makes you a part of His army. Have you ever hoped to battle
forces of evil? To ride beside Jesus
Christ in a fight against suffering and injustice? To make the world a better place? Jesus was born, so that he might return one
day, carrying those very hopes in the strength of his hands and the world’s freedom
on the power of his lips. Jesus says, “I
will make all things new!” No matter
what this old world may bring you this Christmas, hope in that promise, enlist
in God’s army, and you will never be disappointed for though God has asked you to
fight with Him in battle, the victory has already been won!
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