– A Christmas Reminder –
by Ted Kalivoda
Who can understand the nature of a Supreme Being who is without beginning and end? The concept is mind-boggling. Everything must have a start and a finish, we insist - a judgment based on human birth, death, as well as a number of other events we witness on earth.
We find it hard to conceive of God being alpha and omega, without beginning and end. We are stunned by his divine attributes, such as total knowledge of all things, ability to communicate with billions of individuals one at a time, and hearing and responding to prayers of countless numbers of people simultaneously. How can that be? we wonder in our limited capacity to understand such heady matters. We are merely creatures brought into being by a Creator so superior that no comparison exists between him and us.
If we were to get even a minute notion of comparison it might be that our intellect resembles a single drop of water as compared to God's wisdom that we might measure by combining the waters of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and streams. Yet even that comparison would fall short. Trying to understand it is futile. Let's face it; we are mere mortals without the capacity to understand everything.
Amidst all the Creator's greatness and grandeur we would expect him to be stern, demanding and unapproachable. Yet the opposite is true - he communicates tenderness, compassion and love. The first sign of it is through the appearance of his son, Jesus, who restores us to a relationship with the Creator through his appearance on earth. Old Testament scripture, written hundreds of years BC, tells us of this earth-shaking event.
It's the Christmas story that we all cherish - God announcing to Mary that she is to bear a son she is to call Jesus, meaning Savior, "because he will save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1: 21). His created ones have gone astray, but the benevolent Creator sees our plight and takes measures to restore us.
"They will call him Immanuel - which means, God with us" (Matt. 1:23), a pronouncement taken from OT prophecy (Isa. 7:14) written some 700 years BC. How about that? God with us? And told hundreds of years beforehand? He has not abandoned us.
God is described further in that familiar Christmas passage:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given . . . and he will
be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).
In my skepticism I used to explain away these ancient prophecies that lend credence to the Christ story. The New Testament writers merely copied the passages from the Old Testament, I reasoned. And you can throw in the crucifixion account in Psalm 22. I finally came to my senses to understand their true intent. Those apostles were absolutely convinced of the truth they preached, so much so that they were willing, as history records, to suffer martyrdom for Jesus. And why wouldn't they? For three years they traveled with him, listening to his teaching, observing his behavior, seeing him cure the infirm and raise the dead, and even experiencing power to perform miracles themselves. They were convinced that their Master was the prophesied Messiah.
The Christmas story is not a hoax. Nor is our belief of it in vain. It has endured scrutiny for 2,000 years. Jesus lives (another Old Testament prophecy - Ps. 16:10), and he resides in his followers as a reminder that we are his sons and daughters. It is the Christmas story unfolded. A mighty God showing his love for his creation. No wonder the Bible proclaims,
You believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible
and gloriious joy" (1 Peter 1:8)
So we sing, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King." And why not? Jesus brings about an astonishing happening - he reunites us with the Creator, thereby giving us "an inexpressible and glorious joy."
