Advent: Day 15:
“Celebrating Christmas in Suffering and Loss”
Scripture: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and
destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Also, read 2 Corinthians 5.
Part of the curse of the Fall (Genesis
3) is that one day every one of us reading this devotional will one day die
and leave this world. Our bodies of
flesh and blood no longer are intended to live forever in this fallen world. As a result for many people in the world the
Christmas season can be one of the saddest times of the year. Many fear death . . . many grieve the passing
of their loved ones . . . and the “Norman Rockwell-type” Christmas images bring
a deep sense of loss instead of joy and celebration.
However, the joy of the Christmas story is that JESUS was born to
die in order to purchase our eternal destiny.
For those of us who are in Christ and who embrace the true purpose for the
Christmas story death is no longer something we fear. We know that we are created for an eternal
destiny. We know that our true home is
in heaven. We are confident, based on
the finished work of JESUS (Hebrews 10) that
when our earthly bodies die and leave this world we will be instantly
transported into the very presence of GOD (Philippians
1:21; 2 Corinthians 5).
The question in my mind that I would ask is, “Do we really truly
believe what we say we believe the Bible teaches about death and dying and
eternity?” I would suggest that if we
truly believe then we will “long for our true eternal home” and we will rejoice
with our loved ones who have passed on to the other side before us and we look
forward with great expectation of being reunited with them in eternity (2 Corinthians 5).
Based on this hope and promise I encourage you this Christmas to
enter into the feelings of loss you experience due to the loss of your loved
ones. Don’t block those feelings
out. Embrace them. Let your love for those who have died be
intensified as never before. But in the
midst of embracing your loss celebrate the true message of Christmas. And in the midst of any fear you may have
concerning your own death celebrate as never before GOD’s promise of eternal
life brought to light by the incredible Christmas celebration.
During this Christmas season let every loss and every delight
thrust you into a longing and groaning for your real home . . . the great
eternal home-coming!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Richard
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