And Everything in Between

Luke 2:11-14 -  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

I’m sharing a daily devotion by Oswald Chambers. Our pastor touched on this new birth yesterday at our Christmas Eve morning service. He also touched on the Spirit of God and His influence. Nothing is done, as a friend and I recently discussed, that God hasn’t already been involved in or directed. We have to know that everything must involve Him. Our birth, life, death and everything in between, whether we realize it or not. His hand is in it. Sometimes though our own wills get in the way...

So today is Christmas. The celebration if the birth of Christ. Not that He was born December 25, but that we honor His birth at this time. As Christ was born and entered into life, so too can we all. We are separated from God in this worldly life but Jesus humbly came that we might receive a new life in and through Him.

It is we who must humbly come to Him for our new birth. We must enter into that new life. Believing we are fine in our own selves without Him is a big mistake and misunderstanding.

By God’s Spirit we enter in. This Christmas I pray that the Spirit of the living God would touch all who do not understand this concept and cannot believe it. It’s not just about saying a prayer one time, or repeatedly. It’s not about how good we think we are compared to —.  No single prayer without a heart change accompanying will work. No amount of our works will be the answer.

As He came in the form of a Child, we too must come as little children, removing all the ideas we have accumulated in our time on earth, all the self-taught determinations, misconceptions or lies. We come with an open heart and mind to learn the truth of Who this Man is and what His followers believe. It’s a whole new and different life and it is glorious.

His Birth and Our New Birth

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."  MATTHEW 1:23

His Birth in History. “…that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of—He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate—God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord’s birth was an advent—the appearance of God in human form.

His Birth in Me. “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you…” (Galatians 4:19). Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a “Bethlehem” for the Son of God? I cannot enter the realm of the kingdom of God unless I am born again from above by a birth totally unlike physical birth. “You must be born again” (John 3:7). This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that “Christ is formed” in me. And once “Christ is formed” in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.

God Evident in the Flesh. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ. 

From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition
Bible in One Year: Zephaniah 1-3; Revelation 16