Christmas. It’s one of the most joyous holidays because we remember the birth of Christ our savior, Jesus Christ more intently. Christmas is a time to share our blessings with one another, and to be surrounded by the people we love. It is a time for giving, and a time for forgiving. Most importantly, it is a reminder of how much God loves us. One of the kids asked me one night after our youth meeting, “If God knew that His son Jesus was going to die, why did He go ahead and send Him?” To which I replied, “Good question!” Then I said, “In fact, Jesus wasn’t just going to die, He was going to be made fun of, beaten, tortured, and then sentenced to die a slow, painful death by crucifixion. And all at the hands of the very ones He had come to save! It’s funny to me, that we as Christians, we like to remember the good times in the life of Jesus. We love to tell the Nativity story, we love to tell of all the miracles and the good things that He did for others, but we forget that shortly after His birth Christ had to run from Herod’s army. We tell about His wisdom, His love, and His healing, but we forget about His suffering. We forget the price He paid, for our sins. We forget the lengths that God went to show us how much He loved us. To think that God knew these things would happen to His son but still sent Him….but WHY??? It’s a question, that oftentimes leaves me dumbfounded, because God knew what would happen to His Son, but He still sent Jesus to die for us all. And God knew that His creation, Mankind, would crucify Jesus for trying to save us from ourselves. And yet, He still came, went through pain, suffering and humiliation for us…. Because He loved us. The God of ALL power, humbled Himself lower than the angels, to die at the sinful, hateful hands He created. God knew this would happen ahead of time, and yet He loved us so immensely that He sent His Son, the third person of the Trinity, to suffer a painful death, so that we could spend eternity with our Heavenly Father (John 3:16). That’s the story of love. That is the story of Christmas.
