Monday, December 30, 2013
Sixth Christmas Day
John 1:1-3, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
HE CAME DOWN TO EARTH FROM HEAVEN
What simple words the Evangelist John uses to describe truths actually beyond the ability of the human mind to grasp! The Creator of all things became part of His creation when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. There the eternal Lord broke into time, into human history. God became man.
Over 17 centuries later, Fanny Humphries, a young Irish Sunday school teacher, wanted her class of little ones to know what the Bible teaches about Jesus' birth. Like John, she used simple words to describe the miracle of Christmas -- simple words in the form of the song: Once In Royal David's City.
With the first stanza she tells of Jesus' humble birth in "a lowly cattle shed", where Mary "laid her Baby in a manger for a bed."
The second stanza begins:
"He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all."
Notice how in this couplet every word but one is a single syllable. With the simplest of words the writer relates to little children a miracle beyond the understanding of the most brilliant of adults.
There is a sense of awe that fills this simple children's song, yet it is not an awe that the all-wise God has done the impossible. Rather, it is the love of God for lost sinners that shines through the words. We show our love for one another by "being there" for those we care about deeply. At Bethlehem our Lord demonstrates His unfathomable love for us. He literally becomes Immanuel -- "God with us."
