What we as Christians are celebrating at Christmas is the incredible fact that God loves us so much that he would come to earth in human form to show us who he is, in his divinity, and to give us a living example of how he dreams for us to live, in our humanity.

1^st - How God came:

            The fact that God chose to reveal himself first as a helpless infant, born to nobody parents, in a nowhere town tells us something incredible about God’s nature. It tells us that although God has infinite power and ability to control, he chooses to limit his own power as he works in our world. He loves us so much that he would never force himself on us, or manipulate us into serving or trusting him. It is totally up to us! God allows us to choose! We can reject God’s invitation. We can tell God we have no room inn our lives for him. We can go on about our lives, wrapped up in our busy-ness and ignore his presence.

            But that doesn’t make God any less present. It doesn’t change the fact that he is in and within everything and every experience every day. It simply means we miss out on the blessing of fellowship with God and experiencing his presence in its fullness. We miss out on so much when we let ourselves become oblivious to his ever-presence, but we are absolutely free to do so.

2^nd - Why God came:

            God longs for us to know him. God also knows we are thick-headed enough to need pictures to understand almost anything, so in Jesus we are given the clearest picture possible of who God is. We see God in Jesus’ life and in his death. In the things Jesus did, and in the things he didn’t do. (Like using force to accomplish his purposes or to defend himself.) We can learn everything there is to know about God by looking at Jesus.

            Another reason God came in human form was to show us how he dreams for us to live. He feels nothing but love for us, and he wants our lives to be full of joy and wants us to reach our full potential because he knows that is where our joy will be found. So Jesus gives us a pattern to follow in order to experience that kind of life. (The eternal kind of life.) As we live in intimate relationship with God the Father, fully obeying his will for us, we will experience all the richness of life that is possible.

3^rd - How God is still present:

            As we enter into relationship with God, the One who created and loves each of us, we receive power to live the eternal kind of life that God dreams for us, but that we are unable to live on our own strength. We receive this power by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God enables us to live in ways we are unable to on our own.

            God is not only present in us, but is also still present in the world through us. We have the privilege and high calling to be Jesus’ fleshly presence in the world today. As we as Jesus’ followers live our calling faithfully, the world is still able to see God made flesh, God with us.

May we faithfully live as God’s presents, err… God’s presence in the world!