Amazing
as the incarnation, the birth of God's Son
is, the Christmas miracle doesn't end with Jesus in the stable.
When Mary
heard the words of the angel Gabriel,
The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be
called the Son of God. Luke 1:35,
God
created a precedent. Thirty some years after the announcement to Joseph's
fiancée, the resurrected Christ spoke the following words to His disciples
(they were actually in response to their question regarding the 'End
of the World' – I guess the Mayans weren’t the only ones talking about it J):
It is
not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own
authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. Acts 1:7,8
Less than
two weeks after those words were spoken the amazing Christmas miracle happened again - times one-hundred-twenty! The Holy
Spirit came, according to Jesus’ promise, not as a special celestial visitor
for selected precious few but as a permanent resident for anyone who would
believe. First it was the 120 disciples of Jesus, who overwhelmed Jerusalem with the
message of repentance and God's love and forgiveness in Christ, now freely
offered to everyone everywhere - regardless of age, gender, race, religion,
nationality or social status. The city at the time was filled with visitors of
every language and tribe. It was a
holiday season, filled with prayers, food, religious traditions and festivities
probably not too much unlike our Christmas. But, ah, the surprise that God
prepared for everyone that morning! As a result, about three thousand men
and women became 'Bethlehem
mangers' that very day. The miracle of this amazing new life - born of the
Spirit of God - continues on, throughout the globe, to this day.
Christmas
was never intended to be a solitary life lived by the One born in the stable.
Jesus' life, death and resurrection, and His gift of the Holy Spirit to all who
receive Him makes each of us a Bethlehemian stable. The
Spirit-filled, the Spirit-led life is now the birth right of every child of God
through faith in Christ.
Thank God for His indescribable gift.
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