you lie.
you cheat.
you hurt others.
you broke the rules.
you went against authority.
close your eyes now, and imagine this:
because of that, people from the authorities grab you mercilessly and their grip on your arms hurt.
in prison they bring you to your knees.
they whip you ruthlessly and the pain on your back is so insane, you could pass out any time.
they shove something onto your head real hard. you can't see what it is, but it is piercing your head from all angles and it hurts real bad. where you usually see tears dripping from your eyes, blood drips instead.
they force you to carry a huge, huge block of wood and walk a long distance. it's as heavy as a tree log, and you are struggling with the wounds on your back and that thing on your head.
finally they ask you to stop, remove all your clothes except your underwear, and lie on that huge piece of wood. they take out three rusty nails, and they drive each nail through both your wrists and your feet into the wood. each hammer blow causes you indescribable pain, you wish you could just die there and then to escape it. blood flows relentlessly all over your almost naked body, and they erect you and your piece of wood up for all the public to view, for public shaming.
as if that isn't enough, after a while, they take a spear and pierce it through your side where your ribs are. you can't even remember what painlessness is anymore.
and slowly... slowly... you feel your life sucking away from you...
a slow and painful death...
a slow and painful death.
that is supposed to be the situation.
that is what was supposed to happen to YOU.
YOU.
but instead, someone else went through all those things in YOUR place, and you are pardoned.
all the way since the fall of man after creation to the end of the old testament, God promised this substitute who would pay for our evil instead of ourselves.
and everyone clung on so dearly to this hope that they were given.
but there was a long period of around 400 years of silence...
silence...
silence.
was God about to break His promise?
and then, the silence was broken in a spectacularly unspectacular way.
the angels in the sky sang praises...
the star shone ever so brightly...
men travelled half the world to witness the event...
and a little baby was born in a trough which holds horse food.
and this is what Christmas is truly about. the indescribable joy that comes from seeing hope become reality.
this little baby which was born in a trough which holds horse food is now a KING.
he is now my King.
is he yours?
another promise was made, that this King WILL return one day. and seeing that God keeps His promises even after 400 years of silence where people surely doubted in their heart of hearts, we have absolutely no reason to doubt this hope that we now hold on to that the King WILL return. and what joy we will all have when this hope becomes reality!
blessed Christmas everyone. remember that today we celebrate hope which became reality, and that we can look forward with full assurance to the hope we now hold becoming reality.
you cheat.
you hurt others.
you broke the rules.
you went against authority.
close your eyes now, and imagine this:
because of that, people from the authorities grab you mercilessly and their grip on your arms hurt.
in prison they bring you to your knees.
they whip you ruthlessly and the pain on your back is so insane, you could pass out any time.
they shove something onto your head real hard. you can't see what it is, but it is piercing your head from all angles and it hurts real bad. where you usually see tears dripping from your eyes, blood drips instead.
they force you to carry a huge, huge block of wood and walk a long distance. it's as heavy as a tree log, and you are struggling with the wounds on your back and that thing on your head.
finally they ask you to stop, remove all your clothes except your underwear, and lie on that huge piece of wood. they take out three rusty nails, and they drive each nail through both your wrists and your feet into the wood. each hammer blow causes you indescribable pain, you wish you could just die there and then to escape it. blood flows relentlessly all over your almost naked body, and they erect you and your piece of wood up for all the public to view, for public shaming.
as if that isn't enough, after a while, they take a spear and pierce it through your side where your ribs are. you can't even remember what painlessness is anymore.
and slowly... slowly... you feel your life sucking away from you...
a slow and painful death...
a slow and painful death.
that is supposed to be the situation.
that is what was supposed to happen to YOU.
YOU.
but instead, someone else went through all those things in YOUR place, and you are pardoned.
all the way since the fall of man after creation to the end of the old testament, God promised this substitute who would pay for our evil instead of ourselves.
and everyone clung on so dearly to this hope that they were given.
but there was a long period of around 400 years of silence...
silence...
silence.
was God about to break His promise?
and then, the silence was broken in a spectacularly unspectacular way.
the angels in the sky sang praises...
the star shone ever so brightly...
men travelled half the world to witness the event...
and a little baby was born in a trough which holds horse food.
and this is what Christmas is truly about. the indescribable joy that comes from seeing hope become reality.
this little baby which was born in a trough which holds horse food is now a KING.
he is now my King.
is he yours?
another promise was made, that this King WILL return one day. and seeing that God keeps His promises even after 400 years of silence where people surely doubted in their heart of hearts, we have absolutely no reason to doubt this hope that we now hold on to that the King WILL return. and what joy we will all have when this hope becomes reality!
blessed Christmas everyone. remember that today we celebrate hope which became reality, and that we can look forward with full assurance to the hope we now hold becoming reality.
