God in a feeding trough….the mystery of Christmas

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” – Hebrews 2:14-17

At ‘Redefine’, our Sunday evening Bible Study we have been looking at the incarnation. God becoming man and being born as a baby. This is the mystery of Christmas.

As we’ve been preparing to celebrate Christmas and the celebration of God coming to earth as a man; we’ve looked at how Jesus was fully God and fully man.

We’ve wrestled with these truths and asked ourselves questions of how does the Bible show to us that Jesus was fully God? How does it show us that he was fully human? Why is it important for him to be fully God and fully human?

It has been a great time diving into the Bible to draw out rich treasures. A time to ask questions, seek out answers  and ponder the mystery of the incarnation.

Last night we focussed on 3 passages; Luke 2:1-21; Philippians 2:5-11 & Hebrews 2:5-18. It was really good to see the young people reading through and discussing the passages together. Engaging with God’s Word.

This is one of the things at Llandudno Youth for Christ we are so pleased to see. We love to help the young people engage with the Bible and discover more about their Creator and Saviour through this. We love putting the tools in their hands that will enable them to become lifelong students of God’s Word; and for them to become enthused about God’s Word and in turn encourage others to engage with God and His word.

Out of the last couple of ‘Redefine’ nights as we looked at the incarnation, we saw how Jesus has to be fully God and fully human in order to bridge the gap between us and God and pay the price fully for our sin.

As the passage above says; “that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

This Christmas; amidst all of the traditions and tinsel; let us, like the young people at ‘Redefine’, refocus our eyes on the mystery of Christmas; God in the form of a baby, come to redeem, come to save.

Emmanuel – God with us.

Merry Christmas.