The Story of Christmas
What is Hope?
We live at a time in human history when hope seems to be a scarce commodity. Hope is lost because of the uncertainties, tragedies, unfairness, and calamities of life.
The largest epidemic of our times is mental illness, and the chief cause is the loss of hope.
Someone said, “When you have lost everything but have hope, you can definitely rebuild, but when you have lost hope but have everything else, you actually end up losing.”
Hope is the oxygen to the soul.
So what does Christmas have to do with hope?
God comes to man - The Eagle lunar lander, carrying Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969. Armstrong was the first one out, proclaiming for the ages: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
But a much more significant step was God setting foot on earth. The creator entering into the world He created. The significance of this is that because God has come to man, He understands, appreciates, and knows the issues you and I face. He isn’t far away because Christmas tells me that God is very near, closer than a closest friend and an ever-present help in times of trouble. That’s why we can have hope.
God chooses the ordinary.
That first Christmas, although a significant event, happened in ordinary settings. Jesus wasn’t born in a super-specialty hospital or a palace but in an ordinary manger. The greatest paradox is that the creator has no space for His earthly birth. Was it a mistake? No, it was a deliberate choice. God chooses the ordinary. Life often causes us to feel small, ordinary, and insignificant, doesn’t it? Well, that’s good news. I find hope because God chooses the ordinary. In fact, His strength is more evident in our weakness.
God makes the impossible possible -
“For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Luke 1:37 - This was the response that Mary, the young lady who would eventually give birth to Jesus, received. However, there was a technical snag. Mary was a virgin. Medically and physiologically, it was impossible, improbable, and impractical. The answer Mary received was, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” These six words are not just for Mary but for all of us. Are you facing an impossible situation? The Christmas message of hope for you is: with God, all things are possible; therefore, you can have hope.
When you are successful and have plenty, unknown people claim to be your friends. But when trouble comes, people disappear. People you counted on and hoped would help suddenly are hard to find. Our level of hope that we experience is often directly proportional to who is with us. One of the names that Jesus was given at His birth was Emmanuel, which means God with us. You and I can have hope not just because some people stand along but, more importantly, because God is with us. Don’t lose hope, because God is with you.
God’s greatest gift - Abundant life.
So if the thief has come to steal, kill, and destroy, and if I cannot, with my efforts, get back what has been robbed from me, then what is the solution? Do I have to continue to go through the motions, live a life of guilt, without peace, obsessed by fear, and a meaningless life?
The answer is definitely no. The Bible does say that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came to give us a life of fullness and abundance, and that exactly is what Christmas is about.
A life of significance, purpose, blessing, building a legacy, and a promise to spend eternity with God.
Christmas has hope written all over it - Hope for the past that we don’t need to carry the burden of sin or the penalty of it, hope in the present that God is with me - His name is also Emmanuel, hope for the future that because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Wishing you a Blessed Christmas.
