Christmas Before Christmas
…he had sent a man ahead of them. - Psalm 105:17
We celebrate Christmas because Jesus left glory and came into our mess as one of us. He absorbed the consequences of our sin so we could be forgiven. Jesus left there and came here to save us from our sins (Matt 1:21).
We can see images of Christmas before Christmas all over the Old Testament. Images of “saviors” being sent ahead to save others. Do you remember the story of Joseph? God ordained that Joseph be sold to the Egyptians so he could save his family from a famine. He left his home and entered a foreign culture to rescue his family.
Remember Moses? Moses left his home and became as an Egyptian to save the Hebrews from slavery.
Remember Esther? She was a Jewish woman who was taken into the service of the king of Persia. She left her people to ultimately saved them from slaughter.
Neither Joseph, Moses, or Esther volunteered for their roles. But Jesus did. Jesus willingly left his position and gave up his rights as God (Phil 2:7) to be butchered on a cross to save his children. And unlike Joseph, who rescued his family from a famine, or Moses, who rescued his family from slavery, or Esther, who rescued the Hebrews from physical death, Jesus came to save us from eternal death.
Centuries before Jesus, God was creating the “Christmas” pattern that would be perfected in Jesus – the better Joseph, the better Moses, and the better Esther.
Jesus you are the perfect One who left your home to save the lost. Thank you so much for coming. Please open my eyes to the glory of the incarnation.
Song: O Holy Night