More Than a Manger
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. John 1:10-11
Here we are again at that time of year when we as Christians joyfully celebrate the birth of our Lord. Few in the world know the great significance of this particular birth. You know how people say so easily that if there is a God then why does He allow such terrible things to happen? People remain bitter and estranged from God because they are believing the lie that He doesn’t care. I used to think that way when my life took a dangerous turn to destruction, and I had no resources left. I needed help and I cried out to God. God heard my cries, and He delivered me even though it felt like it took a long while. I’ve had people tell me that they think that “religion” is a crutch that doesn’t hold you up for very long. In my case, it doesn’t bother me when people want to think that because I know it isn’t true because it is much much more than a wobbly crutch. The faith I’ve been given and the relationship with Jesus as my Lord and Savior is a FIRM FOUNDATION.
Maybe when people see the fragile baby in the manger who we call Jesus, they don’t realize He was the Son of God and He gave up His royal life in heaven for our sake and for the end result of offering up Himself to pay for our sins, something we could never do or would ever deserve. He came to this earth partly because of all the evil that is going on and so He could be with us up-close and personal, and help us get through all the difficult days we will go through. When people say God doesn’t care or there wouldn’t be so much evil in the world, the truth is that the world is broken and people’s lives are broken, so they commit atrocities like drinking and driving, robbing people, and killing for drugs to name a few. Is this God’s doing? Absolutely not. He does not cause evil or ever condone any of it. It’s the devil who orchestrates all things that are evil leading to destruction and death. He plants these ideas into people’s heads and like a puppet, they obey the subtle evil voices. But praise God, the devil has been defeated by Jesus when He came to this earth. This is what Scripture says in I John 3:8-10:
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (8). Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (9). In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. (10)
Now where is the finger pointing? At the devil, and sinful man who follows the devils ways, and unregenerate souls cannot do right or be righteous because they are sinners by birth. We are all born that way. It isn’t until Jesus replaces our sinful heart with a new clean one that we can become righteous, and this happens only through what Jesus did for us on the cross.
The most beautiful thing about our Savior Jesus is this - His love knows no bounds to those who reach out to Him. You want to make it your number one goal in life to reach out to Jesus and get to know Jesus because He loves you and He will always fight for you and be on your side. Not so with unbelievers. Although He isn’t responsible for any of the evil in this world, we still have to do our part to invite Jesus into our life once He starts calling us. We can NEVER say that God is responsible for what happens in this world that is ungodly and unrighteous. He has done everything He can when He sent His only Son to die in our place to pay for our unrighteous sins, and now it is up to us to receive that atonement, and then go out and make a difference in this dark world as the Father bids. So, remember when you see the manger scenes with Jesus that he is the sacrificial lamb that came to take away the sins of the whole world, including yours and mine.
I hope you will have a wonderful God-filled blessed Christmas and let your light shine bright in the darkness. You never know who is needing to see the light of the Gospel.
