No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side—He has revealed, explained, interpreted the Father and made Him known… When the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that He could adopt us as His very own children. (John 1:18; Galatians 4:4-5)
In Houston we seldom get snow, but it’s already snowed this year up north. The newscasts remind me of Paul Harvey’s story below.
Bill’s Snowstorm
Bill Janos was not a Scrooge. He was kind, decent, and generous to his family and neighbors. He was honest in dealing with others, but not yet a Christ-follower. Bill didn’t believe in Jesus’ historic incarnation (in-fleshing) that Christmas celebrates. It didn’t make sense to him that God really could, would, or did come to Earth as a man so that Bill wouldn’t go to church on Christmas Eve. He stayed home while his family braved the snow to worship Christ our King and to sing His praises.
The heavy snow was piling up, and Bill was startled by a thudding sound. Then another, and then another. He thought someone was throwing snowballs at his window. When he went out to investigate, he found a flock of birds scared and huddled in the snow. They were desperate for shelter and tried to fly through his large picture window.
Bill didn’t want to let the poor birds lie there and freeze, so he decided to let them into his warm garage. He put on a coat and tramped through the snow. He opened the door wide and turned on a light, but the birds wouldn’t come in. He sprinkled bread crumbs on the snow, making a trail to the wide-open door. But the birds ignored the food and flapped around helplessly in the snow. Bill tried to catch them and shoo them in. Instead, they scattered everywhere, refusing to enter the warm, lighted, safe garage.
Bill realized they were afraid. “They must think I am a strange creature. If only I could prove that they can trust me to help, not hurt. But how? Any move I make frightens and confuses them. They won’t follow me to safety. They won’t be led or forced into a better place because they are scared of me.”
Bill’s Idea
He thought, “If only I could be a bird, mingle with them, and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to fear. Then I could show them the way to the safe, warm garage. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, hear, and understand me.” At that moment, the church bells rang. Bill listened to the chimes announcing Christ’s coming, and he remembered the Scriptures he’d heard years before:
For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace….You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small, out of you will come for Me one who will be Ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.1
Bill’s Awakening
Now the Christian message finally sank in and made sense to Bill. He fell to his knees in the snow and asked the Lord Jesus to save him. It was the first real prayer he had ever prayed, and it was the beginning of a whole new life for Bill.
God’s Son was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own people, but they did not receive Him. Yet to all who did receive and believe in Him, Jesus gave the right to become children of God…born of God. The Word (Christ) became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.2
Edward Caswall’s Christmas hymn begins:
“See amid the winter’s snow, Born for us on earth below,
See the tender Lamb appears, Promised from eternal years.
Hail, the ever-blessed morn! Hail, redemption’s happy dawn!
Sing through all Jerusalem, Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
Fellowship with God through Jesus
Approaching God and prayer is possible only because Christ came down from Heaven and removed the sin barrier between God and us, caused by our wrongs. Sin separates us from God, and apart from Christ, we have no right to come to God. But Jesus came down and lived a sinless life for us, and died on the cross the death we deserve, and rose from the grave to give us brand new life. Christ atoned for our sins and removed the barrier. Now God offers Jesus’ followers the privilege of coming into His presence through Christ, our ever-living Mediator. The Bible says: We can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of Jesus’ blood. We can come boldly to the throne of our gracious God to receive His mercy and grace when we need them most.3
Who can add to Christmas? God’s perfect motive is that He deeply loved the world. His perfect gift is that He gave His only Son to save us from guilt and darkness and the grave. God’s only requirement is that we trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The reward of faith is that we shall have everlasting life in Christ.4
Aren’t you glad that Jesus, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, stooped so low to become one of us? Aren’t you happy that the Son of God became a man to make us God’s sons and daughters? Aren’t you glad that Christ personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can die to sin and live for what is right? By Jesus’ wounds we are healed.
O come, let us adore Him. He is Christ the Lord!
Prayer
Lord, give us faith to trust, love, obey, and follow You. Sustain our faith. Strengthen it. Deepen it. Don’t let it fail. Make faith in Jesus the power of our life, so that in everything we do, You get the praise, honor, and glory. You are the greatest Giver. Thank You for sending Your Son to be the Savior of the world. Help us and everyone else to follow Him. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Go in peace, beloved.
Walk with Jesus, our King, today and be a blessing to others!
Notes (various Bible translations): I’ve heard several versions of Bill’s story. The above is adapted from Paul Harvey. 1 Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2. 2 John 1:10-14. 3 Heb 4:16, 10:19. 4 Adapted from Corrie Ten Boom on John 3:16 and the hymn “Give to Our God Immortal Praise” by Isaac Watts (1719).