“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
It is only November 15, yet whenever I turned on the radio, Christmas music is already playing. Even before Halloween, Christmas merchandise has been on display in the stores. Christmas season seems to start earlier and earlier every year. For the business world, Christmas season is the season of good commerce. This is the season by which their whole year of economic success is being measured . But to us as Christians, what does Christmas season bring? Let us take a moment to ponder and absorb this season of blessings.
The birth of Christ was not just like any ordinary delivery. It was a Special Delivery. As we are celebrating and reminding one another of birth of Christ, let us go back to the original promise given Adam and Eve after The Fall. It is written in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.” There is tremendous hope in that promise. The hope of being victorious, of crushing sin is wrapped in that promise. All of us have to go through hardships, being bitten by sin, limping through life and having to suffer temporarily because of our sinful condition. But the hope is there because Christ came and rescues us out of our wretched condition.
Many days, I ponder and yet cannot imagine the sacrifice that Christ had to endure in order to come down to this earth, to be born as a child. How He had to live in our weak condition, in this polluted world. Why would the King of kings and Lord of lords choose to do this for us? The Bible clearly tell us that there is no other reason than love itself. A common Bible verse that many of us memorized: “For God so loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whomever belives in Him shall not perish but have eternal live” (John 3:16).
The good news about the birth of Christ was written in a song that I really love. I find one set of this song’s lyrics particularly poignant: “Never was any one like Him, never will one be the same. A tiny babe, an infant King Savior, He came special delivery, wrapped up in love, bound by a promise, sealed by a dove and filled with the spirit, carried by grace.”
My wishes for you to have hope and joy this Christmas Season and that you will remember that Christ is the reason for the season because He is the Special Delivery.
Minh Merideth.
