O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ (Matthew 23:37-39, NKJV)
I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;
Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels (Isaiah 65:2-4)
God yearns after His children. God loves all of us with a love that is infinite and awesome - and yet, He is too holy and perfect to tolerate sin in His presence. His beloved children were separated from Him by the infinite gulf of sin and rebellion; our transgressions were far beyond our ability to pay. We had no power within ourselves to reach up to God and grasp the beauty of Heaven, and so our gracious Father reached down to us.
Today we celebrate the birth of God our Savior; God, who came down from Heaven to do for us what we could not. God came down from Heaven to live with us and show us His love. God came down from Heaven to live a prefect, sinless life. God came down from Heaven to accept the penalty for our sins. God came down from Heaven to pay our punishment in full. God came down from Heaven to die and to conquer Death. God came down from Heaven to raise Himself up as eternal proof of His love and forgiveness.
How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.
God did all of this because He yearns for us to come to Him, to seek and find the unfathomable depths of love and grace and kindness and mercy and strength He has for us.
Come. Come to the Manger Throne, and bow in worship and adoration. Come to the Stable, and give all of yourself into His embrace. Come and kneel before Emmanuel, and come Home at last.
Come!
Come to the waters, you who thirst and you'll thirst no more.
Come to the father, you who work and you'll work no more.
And all you who labor in vain and to the broken and shamed:
Love is here.
Love is now.
Love is pouring from
His hands, from his brows.
Love is near, it satisfies.
Streams of mercy flowing from his side.
Cuz love is here.
Come to the treasure, you who search and you'll search no more.
Come to the lover you who want and you'll want no more, no.
And all you who labor in vain and to the broken and shamed,
Love is here.
Love is now.
Love is pouring from his hands, from his brows.
Love is near, it satisfies.
Streams of mercy flowing from his side.
The Alphabet of Christmas: previous post... next post (Yes, I am going all the way to "z"! If you haven't guessed it already, the Birth is not the end of the Story!)
