I love those quotes from John Piper’s The Dawning of Indestructible Joy: Daily Readings for Advent. (It’s available for free as a PDF.) As you read them, may your heart overflow with gratitude to Jesus for coming to earth as a child, so that we can be reconciled to God and enjoy life with Him forever on the New Earth!
“Christ came to prove that God tells the truth, that God keeps his promises. Christmas means that God can be trusted.”
“…the meaning of Christmas is that what is good and precious in your life need never be lost, and what is evil and undesirable in your life can be changed. The fears that the few good things that make you happy are slipping through your fingers, and the frustrations that the bad things you hate about yourself or your situation can’t be changed—these fears and these frustrations are what Christmas came to destroy. It is God’s message of hope this Advent that what is good need never be lost and what is bad can be changed.”
“Don’t leave Christmas in the abstract. Your sin. Your conflict with the Devil. Your victory. He came for this.”
“The gospel at Christmas is: Christ has trampled this enemy underfoot at the cross. So for everyone who trusts in him, their sins are cast into the depths of the sea.”
“Christmas is about the coming of the Son of Man who ‘came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ These words in Mark 10:45, as a brief expression of Christmas, are what I hope God will fix in your mind and heart this Advent. Open your heart to receive the best present imaginable: Jesus giving himself to die for you and to serve you all the rest of eternity. Receive this. Turn away from self-help and sin. Become like little children. Trust him. Trust him. Trust him with your life.”
“Look to Jesus this Christmas. Receive the reconciliation that he bought. Don’t put it on the shelf unopened. And don’t open it and then make it a means to all your other pleasures. Open it and enjoy the gift. Rejoice in him. Make him your pleasure. Make him your treasure.”
“Christmas split history. Foretastes of the future abound. Drink deeply on what he achieved for us. And be filled with hope for all that is coming.”
