The Mystery of Christmas
It’s hard to think of writing about anything this week except our Savior. The more I dwell on Christmas, the more the word “mystery” fills my mind. There are lots of things I don’t understand and wonder about, but I don’t think there is anything that has or ever will happen again that is as incomprehensible as the incarnation of Jesus. Just think of a few of the attributes of God that are totally different than those we possess. Omniscience – God knows everything and sees everything all at once. He knows what will happen and understands everything. Yet, the Scriptures say, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man.” We have very limited knowledge, and we certainly have no idea what tomorrow will bring. Omnipotence – God is all powerful. We are completely limited. We are basically powerless when compared to the power of the universe, let alone in comparison to God. We are reliant on God’s power to intervene and guide us. He is unlimited in power. Omnipresence – God is able to “be” everywhere. We are located in one very tiny spot. If you doubt this, just get on an airplane and look at the thousands of places that remain untouched in the most industrialized and technologically sophisticated country in the world. We haven’t finished discovering the universe, let alone our own planet. People in Jesus’ time still didn’t know of the existence of entire continents. Everlasting/Eternal – God has always existed and can never be destroyed. Humans are mortal. We are easily destroyed and as the Bible explains we are wasting away. God, on the other hand, never grows week, nor is he able to ever be less than He is. If we think of just these few characteristics, we see how very hard it is to understand Jesus, a man who had limited knowledge, power and was in a fixed location, who was to hurt and even die. Yet, at the same time He was and is by His very nature God. Sometimes, we can be afraid to admit Jesus’ humanity for fear that we will insult or diminish His divine nature. However, it is not an insult to accept what the Bible declares to be true. We see Jesus grow, rely on His Father, and even suffer and die. I don’t begin to understand all of this. As I said in the beginning, I think this is the greatest, most complex mystery. Yet, like all of the Scriptures, even in this mystery, God allows us to know all that we need to know to have a relationship with the Father. Like Jesus, we must rely on the Father to guide us. We have to trust that what we can’t know or control is in the hands of our loving Father. To me, Christmas is glorious because of the wondrous mystery of Jesus.
