Hey Partners and Friends,
Have you ever thought about Christmas in terms of recovery?
Recovery may not be the first word you think of when you are celebrating Christmas. But it is definitely an important one. It really does relate. Think about this;
Noah recovered from the flood. Joseph recovered from being betrayed and abandoned by his own brothers, then sold into slavery, cast into prison, and he was falsely accused of rape. David recovered from adultery and murder. Moses recovered from anger. Mary recovered from the disgrace of being pregnant out of wedlock. Paul recovered from being a murderer and persecutor of the church. Peter recovered from betraying Christ. The disciples had to recover from abandoning Jesus. The list is never ending.
Those recoveries as radical and dramatic as they were, pale in comparison to the incredible recovery of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ! He demonstrated recovery from all the sickness, disease, pain, sorrow, loss, abuse, abandonment, ridicule, mockery, iniquity, hatred, evil, ugliness, lust, arrogance, pride, immorality, SIN of the entire world and everyone in it. Jesus purchased recovery for all of humanity! How utterly incredible is that? He took on all of it. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Isa 53:5 KJ
He came as a baby, He brought recovery, redemption and eternal life with Him! Maybe that’s why the angels proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest peace on earth good will toward men.” Maybe that’s why all the heavenly host celebrated so exuberantly at His birth! That is definitely why you and I can celebrate today. He took on Himself every wrong thing that has ever happened to us and every wrong thing we have ever done, or left undone. He did that and it killed Him. He gave Himself for us so we could be free. The point is this, if Jesus could recover from the weight of all the sin of the world, if He could recover from death and hell to live again, forever. Do you think there is anything too hard for Him, anything that He cannot or will not help us recover from? Jesus took on all the sin of the world, all of yours and mine and rose from the grave. The birth of Christ was the promise of salvation, in the flesh, for everyone that believes.
Surely if Jesus could recover from all that, come out of the grave after taking on all the sin of the world, surely He can and will enable you and I to get up from our sin, our mess whatever that looks like and live a new life. Without the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ what is there to celebrate? Happy holidays? Season’s Greetings?
Christmas, the birth of Christ is the celebration of hope for new life in Him. The resurrection is the radical demonstration and reality of that new life!
CELEBRATE RECOVERY, & MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Jim & Pam