Pastor Quinn • December 22, 2024
A Real Christmas will Lift up the Lowly
By this time of the holiday season, people are often weighted down. They feel guilty about presents that are not perfect, or parties that did not go as planned, or year-end projects that did not get completed. To top it all off, now is when it dawns on people how little attention they have given to the spiritual preparation Advent invites.
If that is how we feel, perhaps the frenzy of December has done us a favor. We have been stretched to our limits. We have been made painfully aware of our shortcomings. We have been humbled. Perfect! For being made aware of our weakness does not disqualify us from God’s care. It does the opposite. IT is what prepares us for the work he does best. He is a God who lifts up the lowly.
Without the resurrection of Jesus, I would have little hope for the future. That’s how the disciples felt after this death. “We hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:19). Their hope for a better life had died along with Jesus. But he lives, and it makes a difference. My hope for the future is restored. I have victory over the feeling of hopelessness, because the one who heals me and gives me a better life is himself alive. He lives to restore my hope.
New Paragraph
He Lives To Take Me From Death To Life Without the resurrection of Jesus, death would appear permanent. No one would have come back from the dead to explain what happens after death. Jesus told his disciples what would happen. But they were slow to believe the Easter truth. God ensured that his people had witnesses to assure that Jesus did not remain dead. He Lives, and it make a difference! I too shall live! Death has become a pathway to paradise. Jesus has already made me spiritually alive by giving me faith in his resurrection. In every possible way, Jesus takes me from death to life.
