CHRISTMAS STARTED IN A GARDEN
POURED INTO US
Piercing the clouds, a celestial Hand reaches out of Heaven and dips His miraculous fingers into dirt of the Earth. He gathers, He shapes, He gives physical form to the yearning of His heart. A body… of dust
Cosmic conversation takes place.
“Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)
Glorious Creator draws near, ever closer. Leaning over the clay, He breathes into the nostrils of that humble yet magnificent countenance. Searing pain of first-drawn breath into virgin lungs bring body, soul, spirit to life.
He pours His whole self into us & kisses us into being.
He gave us full dominion and enjoyed perfect communion with us. He shared His Glory with us and loved every part of who we were with Him. Heart swelling with satisfaction and affection. We were His and He was ours.
TORN FROM US
Only one proviso; for our own benefit – “Don’t eat from that tree.”
Another voice draws breath and spears the atmosphere. “He isn’t really good. God withholds good things from His children. God does not genuinely love you…”
That same lie still hisses daily… we live in doubt. We mourn the prospect that our Father would deny us what we wanted. That He would steal what we consider rightfully ours. We resist the admission that entitlement is a lie which leads us into harm. All this which we already have, which He has lavishly bestowed upon us, it is not enough for us. We want what we cannot have. We choose to doubt His intentions.
We believe the lie; we bite deep into Eden’s apple.
All of a sudden our eyes are opened. Innocence is gone.
Suddenly, wretchedly, we are estranged from Him. He is torn from us. Reefed away by the clutches of our own desires. We chose our ways over His. We are self-made orphans living in a world we have created for ourselves. Yes, now we have all we thought we wanted. Yet we are left desperately wanting.
And so is He… left wanting. Desperately wanting.
BECAME ONE OF US
Looking on us, He watches as we trade our Glory for rags and become inferior versions of who He intended us to be. But He does not interfere. He allows us to choose. He still does.
It has always been His plan for us to share in His image, His Glory. And when the right time approached, He would once again restore that dignity to His most beloved sons and daughters.
The plan was announced to a virgin girl. The impossible actually happened. God in flesh. Born to a virgin.
He pressed His omnipresent, mighty Self into the tiny form of a baby. The divine became mortal, humble, flesh. Like us.
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood... We saw the Glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind Glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish.
(John 1: 1-5, 14 MSG)
PIONEERED FOR US
The ultimate self-sacrifice, in our place. Taking the fall, so we wouldn’t have to; so that He could embrace us again, if we would accept the invitation.
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— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 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. 18 Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.
(Hebrews 2:14-18 NIV)
He changed himself long before he asked us to change one thing.
He is not a dictator, a hypocrite, or a prideful man. He is Love, wrapped in a garment of skin, making a way for us yet again.
The separation of death He endured in our place. The shameful sin we each committed, He accepted as His own. The tests, trials and temptations we each visit with daily, He did too; because He is not a dictator, a hypocrite, or a prideful man. He is Love, wrapped in a garment of skin.
Coming not to a palace or a decadent suite, but to a dirty stable, lain in a swine’s feeding trough. He was both a King and the illegitimate child of a teenage girl. There is no person He does not understand.
What was stolen in the bite of one tree was taken back on another tree many years later. What one woman gave birth to in that ancient Garden was overpowered through the pains of another woman in a stable. When one man ushered in separation in paradise, another Man brought reconciliation in the face of hell itself.
Christmas started in a Garden, and still greets us today in the private gardens of our hearts.
How will you tend your garden this Christmas?
A note from the author:
I know many people encounter the presence of Jesus in the quiet of their own homes, sitting alone in coffee shops, even on buses and trains. You do not need to be in a large stadium or a preacher’s office to meet face-to-face with your Creator.
Perhaps your garden needs tending. I would love to offer you some company through prayer if you would like to commit your garden and the life-source of all you are back to the One who created it. If you are out of relationship with Jesus, and you would like to re-connect with Him right now, please take a minute in solitude to pray this prayer from your depths and allow His presence to wash over you.
Welcome home!
“Dear Jesus,
I know you are here with me.
Thank You for paying the debt I incurred. I am sorry for doing it my own way and today I hand over to You all my sins, failures and mistakes. I believe that Your sacrifice allows me to be free from the snares they have brought into my life.
You are my Saviour and my Lord. I am Your child, and I will follow Your ways from this moment onwards. I commit my future into Your Hands.
Thank You for the love You extend towards me that covers me completely.
Thank You for the gift of Christmas.
I choose to make this one count eternally.
In Your Name,
Amen”
Blog inspired by:
Ann Voskamp, "One Thousand Gifts"
Kris Vallotton, "Fashioned to Reign"
