The Christ Story Series

The Christ Story

We celebrate the Holy One from God who came to us, in order to die for us, so that we might be made righteous in the sight of God. The chorus of the heavenly host appeared to the shepherds praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Luke 2:14)

„« O Holy Night

„« What Child Is This

In the Beginning:

The Christmas story-it begins in the beginning. Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.¡¨ (¡§Day¡¨ is God¡¦s love and light from the beginning; this is God¡¦s love story which has been coming for you since the beginning. It begins with ¡§the always coming of Christ. ¡§

It is God¡¦s voice who is there in the beginning, the voice calling out of darkness, an echo in cosmic emptiness¡¨ which says: ¡§LET THERE BE¡K¡¨ Let there be light and land and living beasts. We know that the subject of John 1 is Jesus, and John describes the beginning this way: ¡§1 In the beginning was the (¡§Forever¡¨) Word, and the Word was (¡§Forever¡¨) with God, and the Word was (the Eternal) God. 2 He was (forever) with God in the beginning. 3 Through him (JESUS) all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.¡¨

He made everything ¡Kand He made you! Gen. 1:26-27 says: ¡§Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.¡¨ Gen. 2:7 says: ¡§The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.¡¨ ¡§The authority of God made all of creation, but it was the affection of God that made (Human beings)¡KFather God, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit gathered close together to imagine (and create) you. God in three persons, uncontainable affection, knelt down and kissed warm life into you with the breath of His (Life and) His love.¡¨ (God came closer to man than any other created thing; God created him body and soul, and then He came closer to him and kissed him with the breath of God.)

Every human being has been ¡§formed to be a spectator of the created world and given eyes that he might be led to its author¡Kfirst {to} cast our eyes upon the very beautiful fabric of the world in which {God} wishes to be seen by us¡KAs soon as we acknowledge God as the supreme architect¡Kour minds must necessarily be ravished with wonder at His infinite goodness, wisdom and power.¡¨ (John Calvin) Ravished with wonder!

We should be ¡§ravished with wonder¡¨ but ¡§ravished¡¨ by the even larger, bigger, more infinite, perfect and eternal Love.¡¨ We should be ravished and awed that we were made by the God, who alone is LOVE, THE Light, and the only one who created, and that we have been created by Him, and for Him. John 1:4-5 says: In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.¡¨ Many in the world do not understand this Light of the World, the Lord Jesus Christ who has come into Our World.

„« O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Two Questions: Where are You?

The Story of man quickly changed: Man did not remain content in his relationship with the loving, light-giving ONLY God who created. in Gen. 3:6 ¡§When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, (sin comes as enticing and pleasing to the senses) and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"