21 D E CE MB E R
A NEW FORCE
Sovereign Lord, the One who planned salvation to be in Christ before laying the foundation of the world, help me to grasp the full story of Christmas. I don’t want to be so distracted by the cradle that I forget the cross. Amen
1 CO R I NT HI ANS 1:20-25 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 20
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hen Matteo Ricci went to China in the 16th century, he took samples of religious art to illustrate the Christian story for people who had never heard it. They readily WHICH YOU HAVE accepted portraits of Mary holding the baby Jesus, but when he produced paintings of PREPARED IN the crucifixion and tried to explain that the THE SIGHT OF ALL God-child had come to be executed, his audience reacted with revulsion and horror. They NATIONS. couldn’t worship a crucified God. LUKE 2:30-31 As I thumb through my Christmas cards, I realise that we do much the same thing. In our celebrations and observances, we may not think about how the story that began at Bethlehem turned out at Calvary. In Luke’s account of the Christmas story, only one person—the old man Simeon—seems to grasp the mysterious nature of what God had set in motion. “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,” he told Mary, and then he made the prediction that a sword would pierce her own soul (LUKE 2:34-35). Simeon knew that though on the surface little had changed—Herod still ruled, Roman troops still occupied Israel—underneath, everything had changed. God’s promised redemption had arrived. o PHILIP YANCEY
MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOUR SALVATION,
Read today’s passage again. What is your reaction to Jesus on the cross? Do you recognise this act of love to be the wisdom of God to fully save us and make us His own?
Lord Jesus, my incredible Saviour. I am awed that You would be born to die for me. What can I do but give my life to Your love and grace!
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