So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. John 1:14 NLT
One of my favorite Christmas movies, a classic around here, is Jim Carrey’s The Grinch. It’s a powerful presentation of Dr. Suess’s genius book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, birthed in 1957. Surprisingly, Dr. Suess said he himself was his inspiration for the Grinch. He said he had allowed life to work on him to defeat and distort Christmas. He said one morning he looked in the mirror to find a decidedly Grinch-like person staring back at him. As he worked through the infection of Christmas commercialism and materialism in his own life, he wrote the book. I love a quote from the enlightened Grinch so much it hangs on the wall in our breakfast room each season: “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
It means so much more. The core of Christmas is this: Through Jesus, God came to make His home with us, to be with us always. No matter how many lavish presents we receive, no matter the cost of any present, the REAL present of Christmas for everyone everywhere is the PRESENCE of Jesus.
Jesus, God Himself, left the majesty and glory of heaven to come here, be born in a stable, and make His home among us. He was not a temporary visitor for 33 years. He lived with humans as a human, experiencing all the emotions we know, joy and sorrow, peace and agony. Read all of John 1:1-19 on this Christmas day. Jesus left His face-to-face life with His Father to come to make His home with people who subsequently rejected Him. But He didn’t leave! He was and is the Presence – God with us always. Not only did He come to make His home with us, He gave us the opportunity to become family. He said that anyone who accepts and receives Him becomes part of God’s very own family, God’s child!
And He’s full of unfailing love and faithfulness. He never fails. Because of His Presence, we have hope and a certain future in every circumstance. It’s the gift that never quits giving. “From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another” (John 1:16 NLT). Oh, yes! Christmas is more!
- The worst thing that could happen in your home this Christmas Day is that you focus on the presents and fail to recognize the Presence. Right now, welcome him! He is God with you always. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us (John 1:18). What an everlasting gift! Merry Christmas!