Thursday, December 24

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2020

 

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,

      Lord God Almighty.

Just and true are your ways,

      King of the ages.

Who will not fear you, O Lord,

      And bring glory to your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come

      and worship before you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (Revelation 15:3b,4)

 

 

This song comes in the midst of the final victories over evil in Revelation.  As with other songs in that book, the chorus rises to glorify God and to acknowledge His holy character and tremendous deeds among men.

 

If you have come into a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you have great reason to rejoice, in that God has chosen to reveal Himself to you.  That revelation overcame our natural tendency to ignore God and to seek only what’s best for ourselves.  God stepped in by sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to this earth and to give us a greater picture of His love and grace.  Christ paid the full penalty for sin -- penalty that we rightly deserved -- and thus satisfied God’s righteous judgment.

 

Revelation unveils the final stages of God’s plan of salvation.  While the specifics may be beyond our understanding, we may rejoice in knowing the certainty of Jesus’s victory and the perfection of the New Creation.  Revelation brings to fulfillment the restoration of God and His beloved creation, humankind, initiated just after the Fall.  What sin had separated, God would bring together again.

 

In our earthly life, God has invited us to participate in bringing about the reconciliation of God and humankind.  We can grow in our relationship with God through spending time with God, worshipping Him, and fellowshipping with His people.  We can point others to the revelation of Christ through our prayers, actions, and words.  We can bring healing:  physically, emotionally-mentally, or relationally.

 

On this Christmas Eve, may we rejoice in knowing that the angels who appeared to Bethlehem’s shepherds will indeed find realization of their chorus:  “Glory to God in the highest heaven,/ and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rest.”  Amen!

 

 

Lord God, thank You for bringing reconciliation between us and You, the world and You, and between people.  Help us to be faithful in serving alongside You in this ministry.  Give us courage and strength by Your Holy Spirit.  We love You and celebrate You and Your lovingkindness today.  In Jesus’s Name, amen.