Being Jesus Among Them

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 ESV

In 8 more days, we will celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that December 25 was not His actual day of birth, but I am more concerned about the event rather than the date.

As we peer into that manger, we see more than just a frail human baby; we see God the son taking on human flesh and blood. God chose to enter the human experience in order to redeem humanity. According to scripture, there was a valid reason for what we call, the Incarnation...

Hebrews 2:13-14 MSG says, "Again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says, Even I live by placing my trust in God. And yet again, I'm here with the children God gave me. Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it's logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil's hold on death."

It goes on to say that Jesus was tempted as we were in every respect, yet He was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

By entering humanity, Jesus chose to experience life as we experience it. He experienced, joy, pain, friendship, betrayal, being loved, being hated, happiness, sorrow, satisfaction and hunger and every other human emotion. This was so that He might be able to help us when we are tempted.

I also believe that He did this so that we could relate to him. Trying to understand a limitless God with our human minds is the equivalent of ants trying to understand people. But, I can relate to someone who has had the experiences that I have had.

As witnesses for Christ, we must live a life that is reflective of the incarnation. We must seek to be Jesus in the midst of a hurting generation of people.

On the streets this year, I have witnessed to drug dealers, prostitutes, the homeless, alcoholics, drug addicts, gang members, politicians, activists, the affluent, the penniless, the outcast, the in-crowd and many others in between. In each case, I have sought to understand their mindset, their fears, their emotions, their motivations, their pain and their spiritual condition.

Even though I have not "walked a mile in their shoes," I have sought to love them with the love of Christ without compromising the gospel message.

If you and I are going to touch the world with the saving message of Jesus Christ, we must learn from the example of our Master Jesus. We must love the Lord our God with all of our being and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Merry Christmas!

NOTE: There will be no blog post next week due to the Christmas celebration. God bless you and your family.