He quoted this verse regarding Jesus:
"Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'" Matthew 1:23
Whoa, wait a minute, what? Put yourself for a second in the context of that day.
The fact that God was coming to earth could be terrifying if you believe in a God that is a punishing God, a God that is just waiting for you to make a mistake so he can give you the spanking you deserve. Maybe he was just coming bring down fire from heaven on those of us that didn't go to church or those that didn't pray before every meal.
Maybe your view of God is somewhat similar to Santa Claus and you hope maybe that you did enough good things to be on the "Nice" list instead of the "Naughty" list. Maybe he was coming to distribute blessings to those who were "worthy humans."
It could mean nothing, if you believe that God is a distant entity that doesn't care much to get involved in the human affairs of Earth. Maybe he just was coming as a tourist? To people watch? Get a closer look?
Isn't that crazy to think about? What is God like? He is coming to earth! How can I prepare for Him? What will I say to Him? How can I undo my past mess-ups, erase my ugliness, get my act together?
The good news is that the one thing God was coming to earth to accomplish was to show us His unfailing love. No hidden agenda, not to preach yet another condemning message, or remind us how we are all going to hell, but to show us how much He loves us. The kind of love a Father or Mother has for her children. Actually, an even bigger and depper love than that.
Amidst the mess of a selfish humanity, despite our hate for one another, while people were killing one another in anger, God came down. He didn't wait for things to be perfect because he just couldn't deal with our mess, instead he came down amidst the mess. He came to show us his love, a love so big that He died on the cross to carry all of our dirt away, as far as the east is from the west. No matter what the size of your selfish nature is, he forgave it all. He personally paid for it all. All my mistakes, gone.
Incredible.
And it all started at Christmas.
I am so glad you came down - Immanuel, God with us. Thank you God. Mold me to be better reflection of you, teach me to put down my weapons, show me how to love. Thank you for forgiving my mess-ups and mistakes.
