God's Mystery

So today I was driving home from Christ Community thinking about how excited I was for Josiah's birth- how great it would be to announce that he was here, and something cool and profound occurred to me. This is the thought- that God was excited to announce the birth of his Son, Jesus as well. We all are familiar with the story of the Nativity. We gloss over it... baby Jesus born in a manger, Mary and Joseph hanging out in a stable - yada yada yada. We tend to move on and oversimplify the magnitude of what God had actually prepared for humanity.

The apostle Paul spoke in the New Testament about the unveiling of the "mystery" of the gospel. We know that the angelic host proclaimed the birth of the Savior, but the significance of His birth was still yet to be comprehended not only by men, but by the angelic hosts as well. Hundreds and even thousands of years, the prophets foretold the coming of the Son of David, they prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem, of the increase of His government and peace there would be no end. It was easy to see how Israel might have mistaken that the Messiah would restore the glory of Israel and set up a new government and an earthly kingdom. Clearly, Satan didn't understand the total significance of the Son of God coming, otherwise he wouldn't have motivated men to crucify Him, for it would prove to be his undoing.

The great significance of Jesus' birth, was only understood by a few at first. No wonder the heavenly host exclaimed "Peace on earth, goodwill to men!" There was no earthly peace being dispensed to mankind- we think of peace as end to war, an end to oppression, an end to conflict or a cessation of pain- emotional or otherwise. No, the peace that the Prince of Peace was bringing was so much more substantial, so much more real than anyone of us can grasp... Because Jesus came to give mankind the Peace that existed within the relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Perfect peace. No hindrances. He perfectly restored our potential to have fellowship with the Heavenly Father through His sacrifice and death for our sin. He laid aside His glory to bestow it upon us. He took our nature so we could take up His.

No wonder they sang his name- EMMANUEL... God with us.

He was the perfect solution for not only the chasm that sin wrought between God and man, but He also was and forever is the restoration of our original design. We can have unhindered, close relationship with God again. We don't have to question God's intentions toward us anymore. The Son of God secured goodwill and Peace, heavenly Peace, for those on earth. I hope and pray that this inspires you to sing with fresh conviction this Christmas season: "Hark the herald angels sing- glory to the newborn King- Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and Sinner reconciled... Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth! Hark the herald angels sing... glory to the newborn King!"