Advent Day 23 (December 23)

... when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5

God sent His one and only son from the heavenly realms, to step down in time, into a human life, for one reason and one reason only: to show us how much He loves us. God created us from His love, for the purpose of loving us and having a relationship with us; but mankind broke that relationship – back in Genesis, back in the Garden of Eden, When Adam and Eve chose to listen to the tempting of the evil one to take the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, (see Genesis 2-3), their sin broke the perfect relationship they had with our Holy God. God in His holiness could no longer intimately commune with His children – their sin caused a barrier between them. But God was not satisfied with punishment or separation. He did not desire that His children come to Him by following rules or performing rituals. He knew that ceremony and compliance was not a true relationship. So, at just the right time, in His perfect plan, God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal reconciliation through Him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away the separation between man and God caused by sin. (See 1 John 4:9-10) Only a perfect sacrifice could atone for mankind’s sin, and only God’s own Son could pay that price.

This Christmas as we follow our own traditions and rituals, let us remember that relationships are based on love and giving, and we can love this way only because God loved us first. (See 1 John 4:19)

Lord Jesus, I thank You for coming to this earth and paying the ultimate price for me. I know that it is only by Your sacrifice that I am able to be restored to a perfect relationship with God. Lord Christ, this Christmas I acknowledge and accept Your gift of eternal life.