PBPC Advent Devotional, Week 4 - Christmas Day
Christmas
John 1:1-2, 14
1 Before the beginning began to begin, the Word already was, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning….14 And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (personal translation)
Since before time began, since pre-eternity, the Word, that is Jesus the Son of God, was always with God. And yet he released that pre-eminence, that majesty, that power, and limited himself to become as fully human as we are. He knew birth, and growth, and loss, and love, and grief, and purpose, and abandonment, and joy. It is truly a mystery that Almighty God, the One and Only, could and would limit himself so much. And it is a gift (grace) to us that he did so.
Before you open your various Christmas gifts, pause for a moment and reflect on the gift of the incarnation – the becoming human – of Jesus. Thank him. Offer him the gift of your heart and love.
Daily Practice
Get out your Advent stone and hold it. Turn it over in your palm. Reflect that Jesus' birth into humanity is the answer to a hope for which humankind had been yearning since Eden days. Thank God for his faithfulness to his promises. Pray for him to faithfully fulfill the rest of his promises by praying the Lord's Prayer: 'Thy kingdom come; thy will be done.'
