Archive - December 20, 2013

I stepped into the garage with my brother to borrow a tool to fix my car. When we came inside, his Maltese dog was prancing at my feet wearing a shirt I had never seen before.

“Big Sister.”

Hugs and congratulations filled the room for the next several minutes as they told me I would soon be an aunt.

One of my favorite Pinterest pastimes is finding new posts for baby gender reveals. I am amazed at how clever become become with them. From holding up mustaches or red lips, dying cakes, releasing balloons, to the classic picture of the parents’ shoes next to tiny baby shoes, I marvel at the creativity and hard work that many couples put forth in their gender reveals and birth announcements these days.

What would our Pinterest board look like if we had all of eternity to plan our birth announcements rather than a few short weeks?

God, in His infinite wisdom and plan, knew exactly when and how the Messiah would enter this world. His birth announcement was more extravagant than anything we could ever plan for our own child.

Where do you think the birth announcement began? Perhaps in Luke 2 when the multitude of heavenly hosts with the angel praised God and said, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!”

Or maybe even the previous chapter when the angels Gabriel told Mary, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His  name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

God sent angels, heavenly hosts, even a special star. But was that really the birth announcement’s origin?

If we flipped to the first few pages of our Bibles, we can reread the magnificent power of God in the creation of the world. But then we hit the life-ending conflict of chapter three: the introduction of sin. Who would have guessed that the introduction of sin would also be the first birth “announcement” of our Messiah, the only one who can rescue us from that sin?

Genesis 3:15 announces, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

God had a plan. He knew from the beginning of time that the Messiah would enter the world. He even sent prophets from Abraham to John the Baptist to announce the good news to you and me.

At this Christmas season, our sin is revealed quickly in ourselves – from the selfish thoughts of not receiving the gift you really wanted or getting irritated at the number of Salvation Army bell ringers or pieces of mail from nonprofits requesting money.

God sent His only Son, Jesus, into this world to free us from the slavery of sin and to free us to live a life for His glory.

Merry Christmas.