21 December 2008
Good Tidings of Great Joy!
December/22/2008 01:40 PM
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
That was good news to the shepherds that night as they learned of the birth of Jesus. Many may feel that the good news is for the past, for the “good ol’ days.” Can there really be any good news in the times we live in?
When we turn on the T.V., read the headlines on the internet, or pick up a newspaper, it is full of bad news. There is crisis and terrible tragedy on every hand. The news we hear and read also gives us no hope for the future, but rather a forecast of impending doom and gloom. If we take in a steady diet of all this bad news, we will live in fear and will be convinced that there is no hope. What are we to think and what are we to believe? Jesus Himself said that things in the world will only get worse, not better, as the end of time approaches. How does good news of great joy fit into the right here and now?
We have all had someone ask us at one time or another, “What would you like to hear first, the good news or the bad news?” I am so glad that when the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds that wonderful night that he didn’t say, “I have some good news and some bad news.” No, He told them not to be afraid because he had good news that would bring great joy to all mankind.
This good news was declared 2000 years ago, but this proclamation of great joy remains present day good news! The bad news is now past tense!
Ephesians 2:4-5 says, But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.”
We were dead in our transgressions, but because of Jesus’ birth and our Father’s great love, mercy and grace, we are saved!
When the angel said, “Unto you is born this day…” he wasn’t just speaking to the shepherds. He was speaking to you and me! Jesus was born for us that day!
Jesus, the Word of God, has always dwelled in Heaven with the Father. Jesus laid aside all of His glory in heaven, came down to earth, and became human in order to save us.
2 Cor. 8:9 says “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that through His poverty might become rich.”
Jesus had to clothe Himself in flesh, becoming like us, in order to save us. He was no ordinary man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin girl. The Bible says that as a man, Jesus was tempted in every way we are, yet without sin.
Because He put on flesh to save us, we can now put on the new clothes that are His! When we accept the Son of God, who was born a baby in a manger, as our Lord and Savior, then we can have divine fellowship with Him now. Not only that, but when this earthly life is done, we can step over into Heaven forever!
How do we put on the new clothes He has provided? First we are washed in His own precious blood that He shed on the cross at Calvary. We accept the sacrifice He made when He died in our place for our sins. With His blood our sins are washed away forever, never to be found again! Glory to God! Then we put on a robe of righteousness!
Thank you Father that the bad news is past tense. I am no longer dead in my transgressions, but alive in Christ forever! Thank you for sending your one and only Son as a baby to save us all. In a world that’s upside down and full of chaos, we have good tidings of great joy!
Psalm 98:1-3: Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For he has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
The Lord had made known His salvation; His righteousness he has revealed in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His mercy and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
kimconnor@whwc.org
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