The night Jesus was born, an angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds out in the field with their sheep (Luke 2:8-20).
He came to deliver an important message from God that the Savior of the World had finally come:
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11
Jesus is the Savior of the World
This was the one God had promised would come to crush Satan. Jesus is the one that God sent to deliver God’s children from the chains of sin.
The shepherds knew exactly what the angel was talking about, and were so excited they ran to see baby Jesus. Upon seeing the baby, they were even more excited because they knew this was real! This baby born to a virgin woman, in the city of Bethlehem, in a manger, was Christ the Lord.
You may wonder, Why Jesus? Why not someone else?
“For [Jesus] came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10
That’s us – we are the lost. He came to seek us out and to save us.
Jesus Came to Save You
But why Jesus, and why is He seeking us out, and what is He saving us from? If this whole “Jesus” thing is new to you, this verse may mean much to you. However, I can testify, as a person who decided at a young age to walk with God, to place all of my hope and trust in God, and to constantly seek after Him, that the answer to all of our problems comes only through Jesus.
The fact that He is seeking me gives me great comfort. Because sometimes we are lost and we don’t know where we’re going. Sometimes, we just find ourselves in the middle of a dense forest, sitting on a rock, not quite knowing what to do next. We hope someone will find us there and show us the way out. That’s what Jesus came to do for us!
Why didn’t God do differently? Afterall, if He spoke the world into existence, He could fix this mess that Adam and Eve made with the snap of His fingers.
A couple weeks ago, in church, we talked about how if we were capable of understanding everything about God and why He does what He does, that would mean He’s a small God and possibly smaller than our problems.
The fact that we can’t comprehend or understand everything means he’s a big God. He’s a powerful God. He’s a great God. (Note: To really understand the greatness of God, read Job 40-41)
He’s bigger than your problems, which means He can conquer all of your problems, and He can conquer the enemy, who longs to distract us from having a relationship with the One who created us – our Father, our maker.
Jesus Gives Us Access to God
It is only through Jesus that we have access to the Father. This is why we need Jesus. We must seek after Him and get to know Him, and through Him we can know God.
“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Matthew 11:27
In John 8:19, Jesus says, if you don’t know me, you don’t know my Father.
I highly recommend that you read the first four books of the New Testament, also known as the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). They detail Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, miracles, character, death and resurrection. In reading these books, you can get to know Jesus, and through Him, come to know God.
Jesus is Our Example
We are supposed to imitate Jesus, and try to be like Him, and the only way to be like someone else is to spend a lot of time with them. This is why I encourage you to read the Bible.
I’m sure you’ve heard the quote, “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with” by Jim Rohn. It’s true. Most parents can attest to this concept, as they see their children easily acting just like their friends. Whoever you spend the most time with is who is going to have the most influence on you – your thoughts, your speech, your actions, your attitude, and even your outlook.
It may seem impossible to be perfect like Jesus. But remember, when God created Adam and Eve, he made them perfect. We may be a long way from perfect, but God has never required us to be perfect.
The apostle Paul sums it up nicely in Philippians 3:12-16, and I’m sure we can all relate. He says that while he has not already attained perfection, he continues to press on. In 1 Corinthians 13:10-12, he continues with this stream of thought, that we are not yet perfect, but that it’s something we have to look forward to, as long as we continue to follow Jesus.
The only standard of perfection that we are held to is the one that either we imagine or the one that Satan wants us to believe is there. None of which is from God, by the way.
Here’s the thing, while we have the propensity to sin, we don’t have to. God gave us a free will and allows us to decide what we will do (Galatians 5:13, Joshua 24:15)
God allows us to walk away from Him, but His desire for us is that we choose to walk with Him, to follow Him, and to deny the passions and temptations of this world, to stop trying to satisfy our longings apart from Him, but instead, that we lean into Him and trust Him with every single part of our life.
Jesus Came to Show Us the Way Back to God
Jesus came to show us the way, to teach us about His Father in Heaven, and to invite us to be one with Him and His Father.
When we choose to do it on our own, we are choosing to follow the enemy. You may not realize this, but there are only two choices: follow Jesus or follow Satan.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Proverbs 14:12
Satan came to earth after God created Adam and Eve to try to keep mankind from having a relationship with God. It’s the only way he could come up with to get revenge. He makes sin sound like fun. It’s enticing. It feels good. Otherwise, why would you do it?
But sin only fills you temporarily and always leaves you longing for more. The more we sin, the further we get from God.
But I’ve got good news! All is not lost. No matter how bad you think you are, no matter how far you think you are from God, God is not far at all.
The devil wants you to believe that you’re not good enough for God, that the things you’ve done are too bad and that God would never love you. It’s a lie! He’s known as the great deceiver and he is never to be trusted (John 8:44).
You can decide right now to turn back to God. Remember, He created you to be good. He made you in His image. You are His masterpiece and He has a plan and purpose for you long before you were ever born (Ephesians 2:10)
Psalm 139 is a beautiful passage about God and how much He cares for us, but the part that gets me every time is verses 13-18:
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.”
How amazing it is to know that God took such great care? It says He “intricately wove” us. This is why He fights to keep you, to get you back, and there’s nothing you can do to change His mind about you.
This is why, when Satan tempted Adam and Eve, and darkness and evil intruded into God’s perfect world, He put together the perfect plan to restore mankind back to Him.
When you make the decision to turn back to God, all that is required of you is that you let Him in. All you have to do is invite Him into your life.
He’s at the door of your heart, waiting to be let in. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
Jesus Makes Us New
The moment you invite Jesus Christ into your heart, you are born again. You are made new, whole.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Your slate is wiped clean. All those things you did in the past are forgiven. You’re not that person anymore..
The gift of Christmas came as a newborn baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. A tiny infant with the power to knock the enemy out, to save the whole world from the power of the evil one, to redeem us and give us a new life.
This is what Christmas is all about! This is why we celebrate!
So today, if you’re ready to start fresh, to give your heart back to the one who truly loves you and only wants good for you, to the one who truly satisfies, then pray this prayer:
Jesus, I come to you right now, here in this moment, to ask you to come into my life. I know that I am a sinner, and the only way to be free from my sin is to ask you to forgive me of my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness, and to make me new. Today, I have decided that I want to follow you. I want you to be the Lord of my life. Today, I accept the gift of your salvation, of your grace, of eternal life. I invite you to come live in me and to lead me for the rest of my days. Thank you for loving me unconditionally, thank you for never turning your back on me. Help me to let you love me and love you in return. In your precious name I pray. Amen.
If you prayed this prayer, whether for the first time today, or even the second, third or more, I just want to say, welcome to the family! You are now a member of the household of God.
I would love to hear from you, if you just invited Jesus into your life. Click here to email me and let me know!
To follow the whole series of Journey to Christmas, click here: https://jenniferjabbour.com/the-journey-to-christmas-advent-series/
What do you think?