The Story, The Glory, the Arrival

I have been thinking a lot about the story of the birth of Christ and the glory of God (His greatness, His magnificence) that it reveals.

When you come to the actual arrival of the baby born in Bethlehem, after all the build-up, it can seem so normal, so everyday, so obscure, so quiet. But it was so glorious! God had invaded time and space and showered His amazing grace on humankind, once again, but in such a universe-exploding way. So stealth, so perfect, such a wonderful plan. Only God could have pulled it off.

How do we respond to such understated glory? How do we grip it's true significance? By going once again to the actual story and seeing what we can see in it's plain and straightforward words.

In the Arrival story in Luke 2:1-20 we see the time fulfilled, the baby born, the announcement to shepherds and much celebrating. Shepherds and angels responding to the glorious news. In this story, the details of which are great and the facts contained within are so important, we see three noteworthy things in particular that cannot be missed:

1. Glory. Three times we see the word used. First, in God's announcement to the shepherds, Luke 2:9 says the glory of God shone around them. When God is near, glory is present. Jesus is the glory of God. Second, in Luke 2:14, the heavenly host said "Glory to God in the highest". They knew where the credit was due for what God had done and was doing. Third, when the shepherds left (Luke 1:20), they were "glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen".

2. Joy. When the angel appeared to the shepherds (Luke 1:10) he said he brought them "good news of great joy which shall be for all the people". God gives joy. It is not found in all the things we try and find it in, but in God Himself, specifically in a relationship with Jesus Christ, by grace alone,through faith alone, in Christ alone.

3. God with us. Emmanuel. Amazing. Earth-shattering. Don't ever miss this most important of points. Don't reach for something 'different' only to miss the reality of what God did because it is so commonplace to us now. Plain, simple and unfathomable, incomprehensible. God Almighty became one of us to do what we could never do. Sinless, perfect, Spirit-led Jesus Christ became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Oh my, what glory.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Glory to God.