Christmas Reflection: Christ Left His Glory Above For Our Sakes!

2 Corinthians 8:9 - "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich."

It's very easy to have a materialistic view of Christmas. It's because Christmas has been linked to paganism or has had some pagan influence. While Jeremiah 10:3-5 is certainly not about Christmas trees but December 25 is not the birthday of Jesus. Yet there's nothing wrong with celebrating the incarnation of Christ as long as the Gospel is preached all year round. But the problem is that people have a materialistic view of Christmas. Ask them what they are excited about for Christmas and you may hear stuff like the children want their toys, people want their bonuses and businessmen can't wait for the huge sales that will come pouring in. Nothing's wrong with getting toys, bonuses and huge sales but the problem is forgetting Who owns everything we have. We forget Who gave His life for mankind because man isn't basically good.

Christmas isn't the most wonderful time of the year as many would think it is. Heavy traffic, no vacancies and inconsiderate people abound so much. It's very easy to shout and yell when one's stuck during the Christmas rush. But here's something that we could actually think about. When Jesus left His throne from above and was soon placed in the virgin Mary's womb, His foster father and earthly mother couldn't find room in the inn. They had to travel all the way to their hometowns to be taxed. You could imagine all the traffic that Mary and Joseph had gone through and she was pregnant with Jesus in His humanity. Jesus was soon born in a stable for animals. Imagine all the glory was left and Jesus the eternal Son of God was laid on a manger because there was no room in the inn. Yet He did it all obedient to the will of His Father from His birth to His death on the cross.

Imagine, the King of Kings was born in a stable and not in a palace. Joseph the foster father came from the lineage of Solomon and remember Jehoiakim was cursed (Jeremiah 36:30-31) which means that Joseph couldn't get the rights to the throne. The Davidic Dynasty was already finished in the earthly sense since the curse was probably still effective with Joseph's lineage. Jesus' earthly life was one of poverty and not royalty. That's probably a huge reason why the people didn't accept Him as the Messiah. They expected a king and not a carpenter's foster son. He was called a son of a carpenter even if Joseph was only his foster father. Worse, His own half-siblings born of Mary and Joseph didn't believe He was the Messiah. David already penned that one in Psalm 69:8. Jesus being David's descendant genetically (through Mary) and legally (through Joseph) fulfilled that line!

Remember that Jesus was also born so He could die for the sins of mankind. He left everything and became a huge loser in the eyes of a sinful world. He allowed Himself to be beaten and crucified so He the one who knew no sin at all become the sin sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:21). Hebrews 9:22 states that without bloodshed there can be no remission. Fulfilling the Law demanded blood to be paid for sin and Jesus paid it all. It's through all that Jesus could offer the greatest gift of all namely salvation through Him alone.

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