~ Four Cs Summarize It ~
CHRISTMAS
~ Almost everyone knows “The
Christmas Story” but not many fully understand “the rest of the story.” It can be summarized with four C words.
He Created ~ The historical account of creation.
“We look at
this Son [of God – Jesus Christ] and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original
purpose in everything created. For
everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank
after rank after rank of angels — everything got started in Him and finds
its purpose in Him. He was there
before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this
moment. And when it comes to the church,
He organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body” (Colossians
1:15-18a msg).
He Came
~ The historical account of the birth of Jesus
Christ – the first Christmas.
“Watch for
this — a virgin will get pregnant and bear a Son; they will name Him Emmanuel
(Hebrew for “God is with us”).
“About that
time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was
governor of Syria. Everyone had to
travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So, Joseph went from the Galilean town of
Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go
there. He went with Mary, his fiancée,
who was pregnant.
“While they
were there, the time came for her to give birth. Mary gave birth to a Son, her firstborn. She wrapped Him in a blanket and laid Him in
a manger, because there was no room in the hostel” (Matthew 1:23 & Luke
2:1-7 msg).
He Conquered ~ The historical Cross of Calvary account.
“When they
crucified Him, the Roman soldiers took His clothes and divided them up four
ways, to each soldier a fourth. But His
robe was seamless, a single piece of weaving, so they said to each other,
“Let's not tear it up. Let’s throw dice
to see who gets it.” This confirmed the
Scripture that said, “They divided up My clothes among them and threw dice for
My coat.” [Note that the soldiers
validated the Scriptures!]
“While the
soldiers were looking after themselves, Jesus’ mother, His aunt, Mary the wife
of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene stood at the foot of the Cross. Jesus saw His mother and the disciple He
loved standing near her. He said to His
mother, ‘Woman, here is your Son.’ Then
to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’
From that moment the disciple accepted her as his own mother.
“Jesus,
seeing that everything had been completed so that the Scripture record might
also be complete, then said, ‘I’m thirsty.’
“A jug of
sour wine was standing by. Someone put a
sponge soaked with the wine on a javelin and lifted it to His mouth. After He took the wine, Jesus said, ‘It’s
done… complete.’ Bowing His head, He offered up His spirit” (John
19:23-30 msg).
He’s Coming
~ The most important promised conclusion to the
end of human history. This is the critically important “rest of the story! –
the climax of human life on earth as we know it.”
“Jesus said,
‘Don't let this throw you. You trust
God, don’t you? Trust Me. There is plenty of room for you in My
Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would
I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on My way to get your room
ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live.’
“Jesus also
said, ‘For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses
his own soul? Or what will a man give in
exchange for his soul? For the Son of
Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will
reward each according to his works’” (John 14:1-3 msg & Matthew
16:26-27 nkjv).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.
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