It’s Friday…We Were Made For Glory

Christmas is here. Have you ever pondered its meaning? Was it God’s attempt to give us a good example to show us the way to live? Was it simply the birth of a great teacher, as some have labeled Jesus Christ to be? Did the innocent little bundle of flesh and blood in the feeding trough really hold the answer for us all?

We can never fully understand the depths of all of God’s mysteries, but we can understand a lot. He has revealed His purposes to us, so we know why Jesus was sent to this broken planet. As much as our proud society hates the idea of an atoning sacrifice, Jesus Christ was sent into this world to die. Like the cattle around Him at His birth, the baby of Bethlehem was born for slaughter. He bore the brunt of a fallen world so we could escape its tragic direction. He descended deep so we could ascend high. He gave us a way out of the horrible implications of the rebellion we were born into.

“For what the Law was powerless to do . . . God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.” (Romans 8:3)

God demonstrated for centuries before Christ’s arrival to earth, that the human condition couldn’t be fixed by humans. It couldn’t even be repaired by the external work of God. No, there had to be a sacrifice to pay the price; there had to be a person to live the life, and it had to be perfect on both counts. Only God could do that. Only God did that. He clothed Himself in human flesh to die, He was raised to life, and He puts His Spirit within every person who believes and embraces this truth. He doesn’t just give us life. He is our life. He lives through us, so we could live like Him and know the joy of living.

In the Garden of Eden, God created us in His image. We didn’t know what exactly that meant; the image shattered and we weren’t able to see clearly. But in Jesus, we now see the Spirit dwelling in the image of God – yes, you and me – and we now know: We Were Made For Glory. You see, the glory revealed in Jesus is offered to us freely – in Him. The earthen vessels that once walked with God in the Garden are now filled with the very God who made them. All because of Jesus.

Christmas is our assurance; Jesus came in our likeness to die our death, and He came in God’s likeness to live our life. In Him the image of God and the image of man meet. And now He lets them meet in us. That’s the message and the meaning of Christmas. God with us, in us.

Have a glorious weekend. Make it a priority to worship The LORD with those who know that their primary purpose for living is to let Jesus live through them so that others may see Him, and give Him glory.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)