The Way of The Creator

 Right after the beginning, human creatures went their own way. We opted to define good and evil for ourselves rather than as our Creator defines them. It was our original sin.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:18 NET

The way of Jesus is different. The Holy Spirit acted to bring Yahweh into the world, again, only now through the means every other human creature entered it. It was a difficult task. As Paul put it to the Philippians:

You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,
who though he existed in the form of God
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,
by looking like other men,
and by sharing in human nature.
Philippians 2:5-7 NET (emphasis mine)

The Greek word, keno-o (Strong’s G2758) is both one of the strangest and most profound events of the Christmas story. This story is full of reversals, from Mary being chosen as mother to a king, to the animal feeding trough for a cradle. The story in Luke has many. Here’s a set of reversals from Matthew:

Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately. When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:19-21 NET

Joseph is righteous, so he attempts to save Mary from an inevitable death penalty for adultery. But before he can act on this, a messenger from Yahweh delivers a message with the following features:

• ·    Joseph, son of David
• ·    What has happened to Mary is from the Holy Spirit
• ·    Take her as your wife without fear
• ·    She will have a son who you are to name Jesus
• ·    He will save his people from their sins

Think through that list for a moment. “Joseph, son of David” your son will save his people from their sins, not the Romans. Yes, he will be in the line of David and inherit his throne (Luke 1:32), but his purpose will be to save his people from their sins.

At the time, the people of Judea and Galilee, the Jews of the region, thought only of the Roman occupation as their greatest problem. The religious leaders were proud and arrogant. The people were harassed and confused. The political leaders were corrupt and thoughtless. And Rome only wanted peace and taxes. And yet, not one of these things were their greatest problem.

Think about your life, your day, today. Do your problems resemble any of the above problems? Do any of them occupy your thoughts and attention, your time and energy more than anything else? Perhaps your occupation or your family take more of you than any of these other things.

Our sin is when we act on our own set of beliefs about good and evil. Our failure is our refusal to rely on our Creator for those definitions, beliefs, priorities, and purposes. How much of your life distracts you from your Savior’s definitions?

Jesus has come to save us from that. And yet, like John puts it:

He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him. But to all who have received him—those who believe in his name —he has given the right to become God’s children —children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God.
John 1:10-13 NET

Will we receive Him this Christmas?

And then, after, will we continue to pursue Him, all day, every day, forever. We want the blessings, but are we willing to pursue Him to get them, all of them?

Avoid the distractions and pursue Jesus because literally, nothing else matters.