The Hope of Christmas
This morning my devotions were in Romans chapter 4. This chapter details how Old Testament saints were saved by faith rather than works (thus, no different than today). Just like my post a few days ago on Romans 1, I had never had the thought that chapter 4 could be a Christmas passage (Can you tell that my mind is on Christmas? Must be all that pondering on what to do for Christmas messages!).
In the middle of the chapter, Paul is addressing the account of Abraham and Sarah receiving a promise from God that they would have a child in their old age. Paul follows this with the statement that Abraham believed God because he understood that God is One who gives life to the dead. Then there is this statement referring to Abraham:
This is the lifeblood of faith and it begins at Christmas time. Use your imagination for a moment. Let's say that a teenage girl went to her school counselor saying that she was pregnant, and yet had never been intimate with a man. The first reaction of the counselor would be one of scoffing, perhaps thinking she was lying, trying to "not get caught," or something similar. Generally, the response would be one of unbelief and skepticism. And rightly so--that just doesn't happen!
But it did. Christmas time is a season which tests our faith. If we belief in the virgin birth of our great Savior, we are like Abraham-- in hope believing. And yet, from a human perspective it is contrary to hope. The core of our faith is this grain of truth: Contrary to hope, we in hope believe that our Savior was born to a virgin teenage girl (which points to His deity), who then died and rose again to prove that He is worthy of our hope. Where is your hope this season?
In the middle of the chapter, Paul is addressing the account of Abraham and Sarah receiving a promise from God that they would have a child in their old age. Paul follows this with the statement that Abraham believed God because he understood that God is One who gives life to the dead. Then there is this statement referring to Abraham:
"...who, contrary to hope, in hope believed..." Romans 4:18, NKJVEssentially, Abraham placed his faith (that is, his "hope") in the One who could change their "good as dead" bodies (see Hebrews 11:12) even though humanly speaking, there was no reason to hope.
This is the lifeblood of faith and it begins at Christmas time. Use your imagination for a moment. Let's say that a teenage girl went to her school counselor saying that she was pregnant, and yet had never been intimate with a man. The first reaction of the counselor would be one of scoffing, perhaps thinking she was lying, trying to "not get caught," or something similar. Generally, the response would be one of unbelief and skepticism. And rightly so--that just doesn't happen!
But it did. Christmas time is a season which tests our faith. If we belief in the virgin birth of our great Savior, we are like Abraham-- in hope believing. And yet, from a human perspective it is contrary to hope. The core of our faith is this grain of truth: Contrary to hope, we in hope believe that our Savior was born to a virgin teenage girl (which points to His deity), who then died and rose again to prove that He is worthy of our hope. Where is your hope this season?
posted by Pastor Jason | 11:02 AM
2 Comments:
I'd like to add to this, if I may.
It seems to me that the most important fact of the virgin birth is that it allows the blood of Jesus to be sinless. As the bloodline is passed through the male DNA, not the mother, this is the blood of the almighty God and father, the only one worthy and acceptable as payment for our transgressions.
Thank you Jesus!!!
Hi Jason! I wanted to let you know that I've been reading your posts and have enjoyed thinking about the topics. Thanks for taking the time to blog!
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