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 Religion
Born to Bleed By Pastor Phillip Howle web posted December 23, 2009 RELIGION – A.W. Tozer writes “What comes to mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.” What Tozer is saying is that your perception of God will affect every part of your life. Now the same is true for the son of God, Jesus. See our perception and understanding of Christ will affect whether we bend our knee to Jesus as Savior and Lord or whether we dismiss Him and reject Him. For many people, Jesus remains the tiny baby lying in a manger. While this conception is not wrong, it is incomplete. Imagine doing a jig-saw puzzle and only having a few pieces put together. What you have may be pretty, but it is at best, very incomplete. All kinds of people celebrate Christmas, but why? People who don’t reverence Christ at all in the upcoming year even celebrate Christmas. Why do most people seem to love the little baby Jesus? I think because Jesus as a baby can place no demands on your life. Now believe me, I have a four month old, I know that babies do demand a lot of time and money. However, when people’s conception of Jesus is that of a small child and not the risen Lord of the universe, their willingness to bend their knee in respect, submission, and admiration greatly decreases and their devotion to Him is anemic. To them, little baby Jesus appears as a story that happened a long time ago, in a land far far away. However, our celebration of Christmas is not the yearly reenacting of a fairly tale, but the celebration of a real historical birth: the most important birth ever recorded. Jesus is alive today because He conquered the grave. The resurrection is true because nothing else can explain the failure of the Jewish authorities to produce His body, the radical change in the disciples, and the post-cross appearances to hundreds of witnesses. Scripture also says that He is currently upholding our entire universe by His power (Col 1:13-22). To some people Jesus as a baby is cute and cuddly wrapped up in swaddling clothes. The classic song “Away in a Manager” boldly asserts that Jesus did not cry the night of His birth. I have serious doubts about that. Now Jesus was probably a cute baby, as all babies are, but Jesus’ most important moment came when He looked His worst. It is the image of the bloody Savior that people don’t like to dwell on or think about. When the movie”The Passion of Christ” was released many said it was too graphic. We have to face this painful and graphic reality when we see that baby who was born to bleed. John MacArthur writes “Those soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb, were made so that nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day walk up a dusty hill to be nailed to a cross. That sweet infant's head with sparkling eyes and eager mouth was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it. That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling clothes, would one day be ripped open by a spear. Jesus was born to die.”( God With Us, p. 116) Your enjoyment of Christmas is all because of Jesus every facet and aspect of His life: Virgin Birth, Sinlessness, Brutal Cross, Resurrection, Ascension to heaven and His promised coming again. Keep a fully developed picture of Jesus in your mind this Christmas. Have a great Christmas, Pastor Philip © Copyright 2009
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