Mari Isaacson

What an incredible Christmas season my first Christmas in Alberta is proving to be.  Attending Handels Messiah or the Nutcracker have been on my “wish list” for years and in the last few weeks I have been to both! Then there were the concerts including a brass concert, going to Candy Cane lane to see all the Christmas lights, decorating 9 Christmas trees (no, not all mine!!), going to or having a few Christmas parties and more. My folks are already on their way here to spend Christmas with me, I am singing at my church on Christmas eve and plan to go to a German Christmas Concert on Christmas day. That is definitely more excitement than I have had in a long time.

As special as all these things are, they would mean absolutely nothing if the true meaning of Christmas was forgotten or even taken for granted.

Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us. Matthew 1,23

This year, more than any other I have pondered the fact that GOD Himself became man! The GOD of the Universe! The Creator. The Sustainer. The Almighty. The Holy One. The King of kings and Lord of lords! GOD! And He did it all for love!

The last clubs of the year at Mundare School I told the children a Christmas story from Austria. It was about a boy who discovered that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday and wanted to know why everyone else got the gifts instead of Jesus. Anyway, he thought of the best gift to give Jesus for His birthday… himself. Included in the story was also a mention of the cross and why Jesus had to die. The children had heard that many times before, but that day it hit a few of them in a way that they had never comprehended before.

After the story we played charades. The children were informed that each charade had something to do with Christmas. The kids did a great job acting and guessing. Well, the last charade was the cross. After that was guessed correctly, a girl raised her hand and asked, “what does the cross have to do with Christmas?”

“The cross has everything to do with Christmas. That was the reason why Jesus came. He came to die. His death was no surprise. It was His sole purpose for coming. He came to die for your sins and mine!”

Several children made startling comments but I will never forget the look on that young girl’s face… Astonishment. Understanding. It was priceless.

One pastor defined sin thus: sin sums up our need for Christ in the Cradle.

Phil 2, 5-11 says: Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God came…

God spoke…

God died…

GOD became man! Do we give Him the glory He deserves?

Christmas is just a few days away. Take some time out of the hustle and bustle to really dwell on the fact that God became man for you. What have you given Him for His birthday this year?

Blessings and Merry Christmas!

mari