“Christmas is so familiar that it is easy to miss how utterly unlike every other religious claim it truly is. The story is renowned throughout the world: a child in a manger, angels, shepherds, and songs of peace…. Christianity does not begin with human beings reaching upward toward the divine. It starts with God coming down” - CPost
VOLUME I, CHAPTER 3: THE PURPOSES OF THE INCARNATION.
BY REV. G. CAMPBELL MORGAN, D. D., PASTOR OF WESTMINSTER CHAPEL, LONDON, ENGLAND.
The title of this meditation marks its limitation, and indicates its scope.
Here is no attempt at defense of the statement of the New Testament that “the Word was made flesh.” That is taken for granted as true.
Moreover, here is no attempt to explain the method of the Holy Mystery. That is recognized as Mystery: a fact revealed which is yet beyond human comprehension or explanation.
“We talk glibly of the ‘Christmas spirit,’ rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But … it ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round.” - JI Packer
“As the three travelers feasted, Abraham realized somehow that he was hosting the Lord himself. God! The God who had called him out of Ur, who had promised a son and a future, had come to dinner.” - IFWE
“Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth, be exalted. Sing to the Lord, all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him who is of heaven and then of earth.” - C.Leaders
“He became flesh to die for you and me. Hebrews 10:5–10 reminds us of these truths.” - P&D
“Section 18 of Handel’s Messiah opens with a command to ‘rejoice!’ This joy springs forth from the coming of the King, a savior. The term messiah means ‘anointed one’ and is tied to promises of David’s offspring who will sit on his father’s kingly throne forever” - Christ Over All
A sermon preached at Calvary Baptist Church in Simpsonville, SC in 2016.
Imagine with me that on Christmas morning, one of the gifts you receive is a small box. You hold it in your hands, and it isn’t very heavy. You shake it and it rattles a little. You know that good gifts come in small packages, so you tear off the paper with anticipation. Inside you find a key. Would you be excited?
“when you don’t grind or dig out a stump, sometimes there’s still life left in it, and these little shoots grow up, and they look like branches with leaves. That’s Isaiah’s image when he speaks of “a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots.” - Theology in 3D
“Scripture highlights the fact that God loves His people. It was love that drew God from heaven to earth in the incarnation. In Christ, God becomes like us in order to dwell with us––and all because He has loved us. This is the wonder of the Immanuel promise (Is. 7:14).” - Feeding On Christ
