Saturday, December 12, 2009
Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
JESUS, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD (6)
The dawn of Jesus' coming means for us that the battle against sin, death, and Satan has been won. We are told in 1 John 3:8, "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." He comes to destroy evil, wickedness, sorrow, and fear. He does not do it, though, by removing every outward or earthly trouble that we can see with our eyes. He comes rather to address the heart of the problem, the human heart. For this is where the devil's work begins--where sinful thoughts give rise to sinful actions.
So the Christ of Christmas points our hearts to the cross where we see His love; where we see how He was given into death to pay for our guilt and pave the way for us to eternal life. When His forgiveness fills us, then we can forgive others. When His love conquers our stubborn hearts, then we can love others. When this Child takes our sins on Himself and removes them from us as far as the east is from the west, then we do not need to replay them against our husbands and wives, families and friends. So Jesus arises and rules in our hearts as "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." With justice and righteousness He leads us, destroying the power of the Evil One.
Therefore this is not a time to be afraid and troubled, but a time to be optimistic and hopeful. Are we facing difficulties in our lives? Jesus comes, who works on human hearts, and through that heart-work He can improve things that may distress us such as our relationships with one another, with our financial fears, with our darkest depressions. The Gospel of Jesus is real comfort for real life. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given," and as we stand on the threshold of that Christ-mas morning, we can look forward to the work Christ will accomplish daily in our hearts and lives. We can trust Him to give us more comfort. More counsel. More peace. He will not fail us.
