Christ

This will be my first Christmas without Nanci since 1968, the year we met. It will also be her first Christmas in the direct presence of Jesus. Writing that just filled my eyes with tears of overwhelming joy. She is having Christmas with the One it’s named after, with the One who bought our way to Heaven, with the One who is both her best friend, and mine.

Human logic says the King of kings should have been born in a palace, surrounded by luxury. Instead, the only door open to the humble Savior was a dirty stable. Amazingly, and revealingly, this was all by God’s design. 

The angels must have been stunned to see the second member of the triune God become a human being! The baby of Bethlehem was Creator of the universe, pitching His tent on the humble camping ground of our little planet. God’s glory now dwelt in Christ. He was the Holy of holies. People had only to look at Jesus to see God.

I am reading this wonderful and thrilling book, Heaven, which you have written. On page 172 you refer to your novel, Edge of Eternity, when Nick Seagrave at last sees Yeshua: "I saw before me an aged, weathered King.” My question to you is, God is also known as The Ancient of Days, but aged could also mean old. Isn’t old age part of the Curse?

Eight years ago, Nanci and I did a question and answer time with the group of young moms at our church. One of the questions we answered was, “What do you like most about Jesus?” I remember this question and Nanci’s answer well.

There’s nothing I find more meaningful or satisfying to contemplate than Jesus Himself. In his new book Rich Wounds, David Mathis has written a warm, concise and celebratory treatment of the Jesus who is everything we need, and—may God use this book to help us realize—everything we want. Hope you enjoy this excerpt from the book.

We can’t say “He just doesn’t get it or care,” because God’s love comes to us soaked in divine blood. He has firsthand experience in life under the Curse. Christ’s suffering on the cross atoned for our sins, but His suffering, tests, and temptations allowed Him to understand, empathize and help us.

The death of Jesus may not be frequently talked about at Christmastime, but may we never forget that the miracle of the cross was made possible by the miracle of the incarnation. 

These reflections on the coming of Jesus are from my book Face to Face with Jesus.  As you read them this Christmas season, contemplate what amazing grace God showed to us by inhabiting space and time as a human being.