“an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).”
Matthew 1:20-23(NIV)
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” Isaiah 61:6 (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)
This is always my favorite part of the movies. Any movie, really, not just a cheesy Christmas one. The part where the two people realize that they are in love. When they meet in the beginning of the story, there is usually an Elizabeth Bennet/Mr. Darcy situation going on. They argue through a portion of the show until they slowly realize that they drive each other crazy in the most wonderful way. Other times there is a set of childhood friends, one of which has kindled an unrequited love for years on end. It takes up until the last five minutes of the movie before the other realizes that they truly do desire more than friendship and profess their love thus solidifying the happiest of ever after’s. We are relational people by nature so, naturally, we need other people. We need love. We crave it. So much so (for women, at least) that it brings us great joy to watch these stories play out over and over. When I sit back and really think about it, I get frustrated that the stories end at the profession of love. When will one of these Christmas movies portray a main character couple that is ten years and a few kids in and trying to survive but still love each other madly with a twitterpated kind of love? There are probably plenty of single women out there claiming the same frustrations for their own demographic. My true frustration in all these love stories, however, is this; I don’t need romances about finding a soulmate because I already found my soulmate and I found him when I was five. You see, we are indeed relational people who crave and seek out love. After all, we were created in the image of the one who craves OUR love above all else. Our God is a relational God and therefore he created man and woman in his image in order to be in relationship with them. But there is one who has been jealous of that relationship from the beginning of creation, and it did not take him long to begin trying with everything in his extremely limited powers to destroy it.
Cue the great misunderstanding that momentarily separates the couple, the fall of man and our separation from God. Here lies the most relatable aspect of all. In every single one of the Christmas movies or any Romcom/Romance genre of story there is a great misunderstanding that momentarily ends the romance. The characters don’t speak for a period, some refuse to even see the other person or leave town altogether in an effort to avoid them. Then, in a chain of events, the truth is revealed, true love is professed, and the couple is happily reunited. In Genesis, Satan incited the great misunderstanding between God and man. “Honey he only told you not to eat that because he’s trying to hold you back from your true potential”. Eve and Adam (of his own accord) eat the fruit and begin a period of separation from God. Don’t forget that in every misunderstanding there is also a chain of events that reveals the truth and reunites the couple. The Christmas story, the birth of Christ, begins that chain of events. God desires that relationship with us so much so that he began the series of events himself. He loves YOU so irrevocably that HE began the process to repair the relationship with mankind. He loves you so much that he went to great lengths to get you back. That chain of events ended with Jesus dying on the cross and rising from the grave. For the sole purpose of reuniting us with our soulmate. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 NIV). The baby born in the manger that Christmas night, he is our greatest love story of all.
Reflection:
Have you ever believed the lie that God did not have your best interest in mind? That he simply did not care for you? _____________________________________________________________
Has there ever been an event in your life, a “great misunderstanding” that caused you to separate yourself from God? _________________________________________________________________________
What happened? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How did that separation effect you mentally? Spiritually? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Have you ever felt a void inside that nothing has been able to fill? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What kinds of things/ who have you tried to fill it with?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Is it possible that the void was created because of a separation from God? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How does it feel to know that God is willing to move heaven and earth to repair that void? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
God, we thank you for Christmas. We thank you that the birth of Christ was the first step in a chain of events to bring us back into relationship with you. We pray that as we celebrate Christmas this year, we would not forget that the birth of that baby in the manger represents the love of a God who would do anything to bring us back to him.
If you have not accepted Christ as your savior and allowed him to repair that void and separation from the God who desperately loves you and you would like to discuss and/or pray with someone, please contact us through social media or at thesendhelppodcast@gmail.com