December 2024
“Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”
-Hebrews 12:28
In the beginning, God established a perfect kingdom. God created the heavens and the earth and all living things. God created humanity in the divine image, with the supernatural ability to love and to receive love. Yet in order for love to be real, it has to be an act of free will (God desired humans, true others and not mere puppets), and therein lay the opportunity for humans to reject God’s kingdom in favor of a kingdom of their own making. That is, sadly, what we did. We rejected the author of love and set about building our own shakable kingdom on the foundation of self.
That story is both the Biblical story and a true personal story for every person. Throughout the rest of the Bible, the earnest plea of God through the Law and the Prophets and especially Messiah Jesus is the call to repent (turn away from self) and return to God (in humble faith). After humanity stumbled about for ages, addicted to sin and gradually realizing how impossible it is for us to earn our way back into God’s good graces, God appointed the time for his own entrance into our history to give us the gift: a peace treaty between heaven and earth signed in Jesus’ blood on the cross. Trust in God’s Savior, and your debt will be paid, and your life can be build on the foundation of God’s love again, rather than on self-sufficiency.
Christmas is a time for reverence and awe: not at what we humans accomplish, but at what God accomplished in Jesus. God bridged the divide between the heavenly kingdom and our poor earthly kingdom. Heaven invaded earth, not as a foreign conquerer, but as the return of its rightful King.
And in cooperation with Jesus, with gratitude and worship, humans once more begin living in the right kingdom: the kingdom of God which cannot be shaken. This is a kingdom in which love is the rule, and everyone considers themselves blessed to have been rescued. In God’s kingdom, everyone understands that the great work of salvation was not accomplished because of human wisdom, but because of God’s unfailing love. Where does the glory go? All glory to God!
Christmas is here again. Let us celebrate the advent of God’s Kingdom come on earth. We are thankful that the Christmas Kingdom is one that, unlike this present kingdom, cannot be shaken and will not fade away. All hail the arrival of King Jesus! Merry Christmas, Church.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Matthew