Emmanuel – God is still with us! O
by Joel V. Kuhl
h, what joy it is to see a brightly wrapped gift under the Christmas tree with your name on it! It’s special. It’s yours! It’s not hard to see why children love to sneak a peek. They want to know what it is! So, they pick them up, give them a gentle shake, trying to discern what might be inside. And, yes, we adults aren’t immune to that desire either. It is exciting to see a present, wrapped up so carefully, just for you. It means someone is thinking about you, cares for you, loves you! The joy of these simple gifts can mean the world to us. Some 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem, God sent us the most wondrous gift for all time: His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ! “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). This baby was born for you! And He wasn’t any ordinary baby; this was Christ the Lord! God’s own Son, begotten from all eternity, come to earth in order to dwell among His people in flesh and blood just like ours. However, this child did not come to earth only to be with us. Jesus came to be our Saviour! What an incredible gift that baby was and still is to this day!
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THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN November/December 2021