Seeing the End From the Beginning

They are called "spoilers" - when someone tells you how a movie or book is going to turn out before you see it or read it for yourself. Last year, when I found that the last few pages and explanations of the Harry Potter series' last book were available, of course I read them.

Then I tried to tell some of my friends at church that I knew loved Harry Potter. That didn't go very well - Jessica covered her ears, Emily and EJ said "nooooooooooooooooooo don't tell meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee".

But boy I sure wanted to.

That's the fun of knowing, don't you know.

When I think about Christmas, maybe the story told most often of all time, sometimes I wonder - because we know the ending already, do we forget how AWESOME it really was?

In that story, there were so many people involved that lived and died and never knew how it was going to completely turn out. And yet they longed to see Messiah come.

Take Isaiah for example.

Every Christmas season, we take a peek into the book that bears his name, picking and choosing those scriptures that fit our Christmas story. He delivers some powerful glimpses into the character Messiah will have, but do we rush by this?

14 All right then, the Lord himself will choose the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel—`God is with us.' Isaiah 7:14 (NLT)

In the passage that comes from, God asks Isaiah to tell Israel's King Ahaz to test Him. That's right. God says through the prophet Isaiah, "ask me for proof I'll come through and make it as hard as you can - ridiculous if you want to."

The King, in a rare burst of humility, declines to test God, even after being told to.

So God Himself chooses the most ridiculous example He can think of.

A virgin will conceive - God. And that God-man will live among men.

Think about it.

Maybe it's time to slow down, maybe even back up, and take another look at just what Christmas IS.

Amazing love. AWESOME GOD. With us. WOW! TELL SOMEBODY!!!!!!!!!!!

Grace and peace,

David
lead pastor, New Hope