Christmas means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. In America it can mean holiday cheer, good food, and gifts for family. If you’re a Christian it can mean a time to look back and reflect on God becoming man in Jesus. Images of a baby in a manger come to mind; perhaps with a donkey or cattle nearby, with shepherds and wise men trying to track him down. What’s the bigger picture? Jesus, the son of God, God himself, becomes man, enters our existence, enters our humanity so that we may be redeemed. I think C.S. Lewis once referred to this as more of an invasion than anything else. The King coming into the world to lead us into redemption. Here are lyrics to a Christmas song by Dustin Kensrue entitled “This Is War.”
This is war like you ain’t seen.This winter’s long, it’s cold and mean.
With hangdog hearts we stood condemned,
But the tide turns now at Bethlehem.This is war and born tonight,
The Word as flesh, the Lord of Light,
The Son of God, the low-born king;
Who demons fear, of whom angels sing.This is war on sin and death;
The dark will take it’s final breath.
It shakes the earth, confounds all plans;The mystery of God as man.
These days it is easy enough to think of a baby Jesus in a manger. But what does it take for us to think of “a bloody cross and an empty tomb?” What does it take for us to think of Him as our risen and living King? Yes. Let us remember and celebrate the the night Jesus was born on Earth, not only as a good story, but as the great reality of Love winning the war.
