22 December 2022 - Christmas celebrates Jesus for leaving His home in heaven for the sake of mankind
How often do you think about what Jesus left behind to come to the earth and eventually die for your sins? Jesus had everything, yet He sacrificed everything to come to the earth and provide a way for people to restore their relationship with God. That alone is cause for celebration!
2 Corinthians 8:9 (NLT) You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. When Christ came as a child, it meant leaving all the comforts of heaven behind. On this side of heaven, we can’t begin to imagine all Christ gave up clothing himself in flesh. He, who was rich in every way imaginable, chose to become poor. He chose to have less, to be a nobody so that we could have the opportunity to have heaven… to have forever with Him.
John 6:38 (NLT) For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.
Jesus leaving heaven for us is one of the greatest gifts that we could ever receive. It is more than every worldly possession. His coming fulfilled the promise from God and redeemed us from our sins so that we can be in heaven with Him forever.
One of the many reasons why Jesus had to leave heaven and come to earth was for God the Father, as well. Historically, God physically walked with men on earth, and then He was present as a pillar of cloud and fire and then through the Tabernacle and then the Temple. God brought His son Jesus to earth to become human, so we could see God.
John 1:18 (NKJV) No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Hebrews 10:4-5 (TLB) For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats really to take away sins. That is why Christ said as he came into the world, “O God, the blood of bulls and goats cannot satisfy you, so you have made ready this body of mine for me to lay as a sacrifice upon your altar.”
I conclude with Philippians 2:5-8 (MSG) Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.