It’s been a long time since I wrote an update on my love from Liz page. There are a few reasons for this, the past 6 months have been a tumultuous roller coaster of living with advanced cancer and coming to terms with the impact this has had on me and my family. There have been many tears and difficulties, but also by God’s grace many joys and many reasons to be thankful…
This past few months’ things have been more stable and I have been able to enjoy some special times with my family and go on some relaxing holidays this year which have been a real blessing.
As we are getting near to Christmas, I thought it would be good to think about the wonderful message of Christmas which seems to be getting pushed further and further away from us with each passing year. So many things seem to drown out the message of Christmas, with consumerism, secularism and hedonism amongst many things. The Christian message is being rejected by our society and is being ridiculed and treated with apathy – or even scorn in many cases, yet there is still a great need for man to Find Peace with God.
The message of Christmas is the only message that will bring true peace and contentment in this life whatever our circumstances; as well as bringing a settled hope and security in the life to come.
Just as there was no room for Jesus when He came to earth, there is still no room today; the world says “No” to Jesus. There was no room for Jesus at his coming to earth, there was little recognition of who He really was, the Son of God; and ultimately, he was rejected and put to death. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born there were many prophesies predicting his birth, life and death. Isaiah chapter 7 v 14 says; Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel. This is just one of the many prophecies that were all incredibly accurate!
Luke’s gospel tells us that when the Angel appeared to the Shepherds keeping watch over their flocks, they were greatly afraid as the glory of God shone around them that night.
The announcement of the Angel is recorded for us in Luke’s gospel chapter 2 v 10&11 as follows; Then the Angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For there is born to you this day a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.”
The message hasn’t changed! There is still a Saviour who is Christ the Lord and what better reason to celebrate Christmas! We have a Saviour who is God himself!
The Christmas message is one of great hope and joy in a world of sickness, sorrow and pain, yet it is a message that has always been rejected by many and still is today. It’s easy to say, “it’s all nonsense, and it can’t be true.” In John’s gospel, Jesus says; for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Jesus came from heaven to earth to show us the way to heaven.
John ch 3 v 16 says; For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. None of us really want to face death, but when we are getting close to death we will want to find some peace about dying. None of us will want to die in fear of what is to come. The wonderful thing about believing the message of Christmas is that there is a peace to be found in Christ the Saviour. How can we find this peace? We find it by believing the Christmas message that Jesus was born to be our Saviour, by believing that He came to save and redeem His people from there sins and present us righteous before God.
When we believe this and accept that we need a Saviour to deliver us from our sinful state and confess this before God, then we will know true peace with God in both life and death – and will be eternally secure in His love forever! Don’t let another Christmas pass by without considering the real message of Christmas.
Is there room in your heart today for the Saviour?
Wishing all a very happy and blessed Christmas
Love from Liz ❤️