A Christmas Consideration

A Christmas Consideration...

"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

...Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, o nakedness, or danger, or sword?

...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels no rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:31-32, 34-35, 37-39

In these verses, Paul powerfully argues that when God fulfilled his promise to send his Messiah Son to earth, he guaranteed that he would fulfill every other promise he's made to us. Paul also argues something else: the past grace of the birth of Jesus guarantees that we will receive the present grace that we daily need and the future grace that is our hope in this life and the one to come.

The real historical events of God coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ are our guarantee that God will continue to deliver to us everything we need. We need divine rescue, we need forgiveness, we need to be transformed, and we need to be delivered. We need God's faithfulness, we need his patience, we need his wisdom, we need his power, we need his mercy, we need his rule, and we need his love. None of these things are at stake. None of these things will wear out. None of these things will quit working. God will never get tired of blessing us with these things. God will never get impatient and decide to quit. He will never get so irritated with the things we say and do that he'll turn his back on us and walk away. He will not get distracted or become weary.

What hope we have!

Paul ends with this wonderful thought: if God was willing to send his Son to restore our relationship of love with him, you can be sure that he will not let anything separate us from his love. You see, the Christmas story is the world's best love story. It's all about a God of love sending the Son of his love to live a life of love and die a death of love, so that all who believe in him would be welcomed into the arms of his love forever and ever.

Embedded in the Christmas story is a promise of unbroken love for the children of God. The Christmas story is one big, beautiful promise. The fulfilled promise of Jesus's birth guarantees that God will, in his perfect timing and in his wise way, fulfill every other promise he has ever made to us. Past grace is your guarantee of present grace and of all the future graces you will ever need.

At the very center of Christmas is the guaranteed promise of God's eternal love. God sent his Son to us because he love us. His Son now lives within us because God loves us. And we will live with him forever because God loves us. As you celebrate this birth of Jesus, celebrate the unbreakable love that his birth guarantees you!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas as we celebrate God's love for us all.

We are abundantly grateful for your prayers and continued support.

Merry Christmas!

Your NE Florida FCA Staff

**Christmas consideration adapted from "Come Let Us Adore Him: A Daily Advent Devotional" by Paul David Tripp