Christmas is the time of year during which we celebrate God's coming to Earth in human form. How amazing is it that a holy, righteous, and infinite God should choose to come to this Earth that has been tainted by our sin, and come in the form of a finite human being. Not just any human being at that; He began His life on Earth as a helpless newborn. He needed His earthly mother and father to provide for all His needs. He lived life, experienced hardship and sorrow to a degree much greater than any that we will go through.
A couple of Sundays ago, Eric preached a great sermon titled "God With Us". You can find and listen to that sermon here (and I highly recommend it). One of things that stuck out to me the most in this sermon was when he said that part of the reason that Jesus came to Earth as a man was so that when we are going through hardship and trial He can say "I know, and I'm here".
In Hebrews 4:15-16, it says "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. "
The last recorded words of Jesus while He was here on this Earth are, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b).
This Christmas; enjoy the time spent with family, enjoy exchanging gifts, singing Christmas carols, and whatever other traditions you may have. Don't forget to remember and ponder on the amazingly, wonderful, all-to easy to take for granted fact that Jesus is Emmanuel. GOD WITH US!
