The real reason I use the title is to convey a different meaning. I believe at Christmas we get caught up in thinking about Jesus as a baby. We spend the entire season of Advent talking about how Jesus came into the world and miss the important question of why Jesus came into the world.
One of the reasons Jesus came is given in Matthew 5:17 "I have not come to abolish them (the Law and the Prophets) but to fulfill them."
God knows the heart of man. He knows that even when we obey the rules, our hearts often aren't in it. He knows that we will obey to keep from getting in troble or because we want others to like us or afor any number of reasons that aren't tied to "righteousness".
When Jesus came it wasn't just to live a good life, it was to live a perfect life. He didn't just obey all the rules, He kept the Spirit behind the rules. Jesus did not come to tell us to forget the Law, He came to do what we could not. He came to be a law fulfiller. Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness not for His sake but for ours.
That is the "reason for the season". The baby Jesus is the only hope we have to fulfill God's law. There is nothing within us that can achieve what Christ does through us.
"O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel." We are Israel and the babe born in a manger came to do more than live a good life, He came to free us to live an eternal life. He knew that we could never do it own our own.
1 comment:
This: "God knows the heart of man. He knows that even when we obey the rules, our hearts often aren't in it. He knows that we will obey to keep from getting in troble or because we want others to like us or afor any number of reasons that aren't tied to "righteousness"."
Ouch.
Needed to read that. Today.
Love you, girl!
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