Merry Christmas!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11 KJV)

Today is Christmas day, and one of the most oft-asked questions on this day is, “What did you get?” What would your answer be? Never forget that the most important gift you can ever receive is Christ the Lord. So my question to you is this: Has this Savior been born to you? If He has, you are born again and have eternal life. If He has not, let’s take care of that right now. You need only to place your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. He died on a cruel cross and endured God’s righteous wrath to pay the penalty for your sins, and He rose from the dead on that first Easter morning, providing proof positive that His perfect, sinless sacrifice on your behalf was acceptable to God the Father.

You can pray a simple prayer, such as the one that was uttered by the tax collector who simply cried out to God, “Be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). Confess that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and ackowledge that you cannot save yourself. Repent of your sins and surrender control of your life to Jesus this day. If that prayer reflects the desire of your heart, salvation is yours!

Now, here is a question I want to ask all of you who already have, by grace through faith, placed your trust in the Babe in a manger for eternal life: Do you look upon that Babe with astonishment? There are so many reasons that we should “stand in awe” of the Lord Jesus Christ, as as pastor and songwriter Mark Altrogge wrote in the 1980s. We shake our heads in wonder as we consider how He holds all things together by the power of His word (Hebrews 1:3). We might raise our hands in worship as we meditate on the truth that in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3), and we rejoice that He is the Author and the Perfecter of the faith that equips us to accept that truth (Hebrews 12:2). We could struggle to comprehend the compassion and love of a Savior who hung on a cruel cross, no doubt shuddering in agony every time He had to push up on the spikes driven through His feet to draw each tortured breath of air, yet looked down on those who had nailed Him there and prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

I could fill several months’ worth of blog posts with reasons why we should behold Jesus Christ with wonder and adoration and awe. But on this Christmas day, let us look at the words of one who was given a vision of the splendor and glory of Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, in all His heavenly glory:

I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:11-14)

Angels and other supernatural beings stand before Jesus and offer their praise and adoration. In his great High Priestly Prayer to His Father, Jesus made mention of “the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). Consider this, Christian, if our finite minds can even begin to wrap around this truth: From all eternity, Jesus Christ has existed in inexpressible and unimaginable glory and splendor in heaven. You sometimes hear it said that a particular person “has it all.” That worldly phrase speaks to possessions and creature comforts. But Jesus Christ really did have it all! He had perfect fellowship within the Godhead — perfect love, perfect wisdom, perfect glory, perfect peace.

And that is why you and I should stand in awe of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day: He didn’t have to leave that. He was and is “in very nature God” (Philippians 2:6); He was and is all-sustaining, all-powerful, all-sufficient, and in need of absolutely nothing. He certainly doesn’t need you or me or anyone else to make Him happier or more fulfilled. But He wanted us to be with Him! He loves you and me that much!!

Is it stunning and remarkable that this great, heavenly King left the splendor of heaven to be born in the filth of a stable? Yes, it certainlly is! But there is something that I find even more incomprehensible than the King of Glory lying in a stable. It is the fact that Jesus Christ chose to take up residence in a place more dreadfully dark and filthy than any stable; He has chosen to live in my heart. And in yours.

And so I join with Mark Altrogge this Christmas morning and sing to the precious Christ child:

You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
Too wonderful for comprehension
Like nothing ever seen or heard
Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depth of Your love?
You are beautiful beyond description
Majesty, enthroned above.

I stand, I stand in awe of You
Holy God, to whom all praise is due
I stand in awe of You.

From the Boland family to yours: May this day be filled with the joy and wonder and the glorious promise of Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!