The Madness of Christmas!
Once everyone has eaten their yearly quota of turkey and a month-long shopping spree begins, starting with long lines waiting for the best bargains in wee morning hours of Black Friday, we can officially say the Christmas holidays are upon us. Nevertheless, the craziness of buying and giving gifts along with grown men dressed in Santa suits is not the madness of Christmas. The completely and totally craziest thing about Christmas is that Jesus, God the Son, left heaven and put on flesh like you and me. That is the madness of Christmas.
Although often forgotten, the Christmas celebration is about God the Father sending his only begotten Son to earth as a baby with the mission of dying for our sins. This act of grace the skeptics think impossible and total madness. However, the believer knows the birth of Jesus is the unquestionable act of love by a righteous God.
The wonder of God’s plan to redeem mankind from their sins is so tremendous, that even the angels are struck with awe. The arrival of a Savior and a Redeemer as Emmanuel (God with us) appeared as madness to the religious leads on that first Christmas day. Yet, there he was, a babe born to a virgin, the Lamb of God.
The only answer to such madness is love! God loves us with an outrageous love – a love that goes beyond measure! The birth of Jesus is a sign of God’s passionate love for us. The death Jesus is proof of that love for us, and the resurrection is the result of God’s love! Rejoice in the madness of Christmas!
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 (ESV)
Once everyone has eaten their yearly quota of turkey and a month-long shopping spree begins, starting with long lines waiting for the best bargains in wee morning hours of Black Friday, we can officially say the Christmas holidays are upon us. Nevertheless, the craziness of buying and giving gifts along with grown men dressed in Santa suits is not the madness of Christmas. The completely and totally craziest thing about Christmas is that Jesus, God the Son, left heaven and put on flesh like you and me. That is the madness of Christmas.
Although often forgotten, the Christmas celebration is about God the Father sending his only begotten Son to earth as a baby with the mission of dying for our sins. This act of grace the skeptics think impossible and total madness. However, the believer knows the birth of Jesus is the unquestionable act of love by a righteous God.
The wonder of God’s plan to redeem mankind from their sins is so tremendous, that even the angels are struck with awe. The arrival of a Savior and a Redeemer as Emmanuel (God with us) appeared as madness to the religious leads on that first Christmas day. Yet, there he was, a babe born to a virgin, the Lamb of God.
The only answer to such madness is love! God loves us with an outrageous love – a love that goes beyond measure! The birth of Jesus is a sign of God’s passionate love for us. The death Jesus is proof of that love for us, and the resurrection is the result of God’s love! Rejoice in the madness of Christmas!
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 (ESV)
