For the Love of God-Don Carson (January 10)
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Out in front of us is the drama of men and of nations, seething, struggling, laboring, dying. Upon this tragic drama in these days our eyes are all set in anxious watchfulness and in prayer. But within the silences of the souls of men an eternal drama is ever being enacted, in these days as well as in others.
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As we celebrate the Reason for the season, think of the shepherds and the kings at that holy birth. They didn't come just to see Jesus; they came to worship. They came to encounter their King Jesus, Messiah, Holy God, Light of the World in awe and wonder. It was a holy moment. I love the name of Jesus, Holy Child, in some translations in Acts 4:27 and 30, when the believers are gathered together to pray. They capture the full fruition of the Christmas story as they pray for God to stretch forth his hand to heal and do signs and wonders by the name of his Holy Child Jesus. Some translations use the word servant rather than child, but in the Greek the relationship of child is the first meaning, followed by servant. Both relationships portray the beauty of the gospel in just one word. At Christmas we celebrate the Holy Child who came as a Servant to become the sacrifice for us all.
For those of us who grew up celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Christmas story can become too familiar. It easily slips from a story of awe to simple facts of history. We rattle off these events, such as Mary gave birth to Jesus and the shepherds and wise men came to see him, with the same ease that we describe what we did last weekend.
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