WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!! "Christmas Cookies"

…great joy…“Fear not…good tidings all people…unto you…this day…a Savior…the Lord” (Luke 2:10,11)

What I like about these verses is how the words come in cute little cookies…Christmas cookies. The angel appears saying, “Fear not”. Phobia ends where the Christ-life begins. His birth invaded darkness with light chasing the shadows away. Fear of man, fear of death, fear of cataclysm or criticism, all fear is vanquished by the incarnation. Some are afraid to fly, afraid to buy, afraid to die, afraid to try. But Christmas is the powerful statement that He will now and forever be “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). The next "cookie" says “good tidings”, Euangellizo, in the Greek, “evangelism” or the preaching of Good News. We’ve heard enough bad news on the six o’clock report, haven’t we? Enough bad chidings. It’s time for some good tidings! The message for this Messy Age is that God is a good God and He offers good news.

Then note that “good” leads to “great”, for the next cookie says, “great joy”. Isaac Watts echoed Gabriel’s annunciation with “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” Note, the Lord “is” come. Our text declares, “…unto you is born this day a Savior”, just as a later a verse says that He “is” risen. Jesus “is”, not “was”. Christmas isn’t as much historical as it is experiential. B.C. and A.D. are not just dating methods from the distant past. They are experiences in the present. Everyone who receives the Christ of Christmas has a before and after testimony. Christmas is the pivot point of all history but also of the individual heart. no one is so good that they don’t need saved nor so bad that they can’t be saved. "This joy is “to all people”, all laos in Greek, the laity. It is a “whosoever will” equal opportunity.(Acts 2.39) we  rejoice that “the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him” (Romans 10:12). Luke, the only Gentile writer in the Bible, makes special note that salvation was not only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel but for “all” people.

The next cookie, “unto you” is born a Savior. Yes you! Be exceeding glad. The net thrown out to catch “all” has long enough ropes to reach even you. You haven’t sinned so grossly that God has given up on you. Christmas is proof. By saying “unto you” he implies that what is universalized must now be personalized. Each individual must receive Jesus. He must be born in the foul smelly stable of our heart. And when? The next says “this day”. “This is the day the Lord hath made”, said the Psalmist. “Today I must abide at your house”, said Christ to Zaccheus. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is a date on a fool’s calendar. Next He is called “a Savior” and finally “the Lord”. It is a package deal; He is a Lord that saves and is to be the Savior that lords. In the new birth, which Christmas typifies, we do accept Him as Savior, but this verse implies that God expects us, at the same time, to also receive Him as Lord. He is “born” Lord. In the new birth, the “born again” experience, He becomes Lord from the beginning. There is no plan or option for receiving Jesus on an installment plan, today Savior, tomorrow Christ, next month Lord. It ultimately must be all or nothing, Lord of all or else not Lord at all. Is Jesus Lord in your life? Don’t leave Him as a plastic doll in a manger at the church Christmas play. Instead, seat Him on the throne...................And have some cookies.............

Nuff Said,