“She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron…*”
Doesn’t this beginning sound a lot like Christmas?
the child. Immanuel. God.with.us. the promised One.
Sometimes maybe we get so caught up with the Christ child this time of year that we forget that His life here was just a fraction part? In this chapter, we see Him, the Unborn, the awaited One. Oh, but wait, there’s so much more!
Fast forward five verses and the Babe has become the salvation, the power and the kingdom of God* – come; the risen Christ. But between those three sentences fits a 33 year parenthesis, a significant parenthesis, the one we think about at Christmas. A baby. A boy. A man, who loved*, was troubled*, who wept* and prayed*.
A man who raised the dead.
He was flesh and blood just like us. But He was no ordinary man.
God with us. The Immortal took on flesh so that He could die and save us from our sins.
He keeps on raising the dead.
And this parenthesis is everything after all because He is the door on which all history pivots. But too, it was only a beginning, because it was just the first helping and there’s still more to come.
So much more to come.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts; behold I will save my people… and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God in faithfulness and righteousness… For there shall be a sowing of peace… Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.”
Zechariah 8:7, 8, 12, 22
And in that day, maybe we’ll taste a little bit of perpetual Christmas?
“…seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts*.” 🙂
Let us celebrate Christmas. We celebrate Christ. We celebrate Christ coming again.
Lord,
Immortal God, Who took on flesh.
You blow us away with
The wonder that is Your eternal plan.
Sometimes we don’t see what You’re doing,
We question your working,
We don’t understand.
We cry desperate
And You are moved because
We are loved by You.
We want to believe,
We want to see the glory of You.
We were dead in our sins,
But You’ve raised us
And given us life,
Help us to walk in it.
Sixty-six books in a year 
He keeps on raising the dead. There is always hope. Thank you for your always poetic reminders of who Jesus continues to be. Merry Christmas
“‘He keeps on raising the dead.’ There is always hope.”
I too am SO glad…
Merry Christmas to you too Reggie! 😉