The Eternal Christmas Story
Posted on December 26, 2007
Filed Under Personal, Worldview |
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law…” Galatians 4:4
“Eternity” and “Infinity” are words that we can define, but mortal man cannot comprehend.
I can comprehend “one” and “two” and “buckle my shoe”. I can comprehend “three” and “four” and “shut the door”. If you sing a song about five golden rings or seven swans a-swimming, I can actually picture them. I have a feel for what a hundred miles is and I can even envision 90,000 fans packed into the Rose Bowl. If I work at it, I can somehow picture what a million dollars would look like and, to some extent, I can comprehend 6.6 billion people that are alive on planet earth. But, beyond that, my mind starts to fade. I can read the budget figures that says the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services will spend 700 billion dollars this year, but I would be lying if I said that I could visualize that much money. Same is true for the $6.6 trillion dollars that makes up our national debt. But when the astronomer tells me that there are approximately 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe, my mind can see and read the zeroes, but comprehending it escapes me. The number of stars, however, is nothing when it is stacked up against infinity. Infinity has no end to the zeroes that come after the one. “Infinity” deals with size, “eternity” deals with time. Both have no beginning and neither have an end.
I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to think about an infinitely large universe. My mind gets confused after I ponder it for a while. Somewhere, way, way out there, it seems there ought to be some kind of wall or door or something that brings it to an end. But once I think about the end, I then have to ask about what is on the other side of the door. More empty space? If so, then I’m not at the end. I go on and eventually erect another wall or door, but that puts me back where I was before.
There is no end to infinity or eternality.
So, when we come to the infinite, eternal God, our mind gets lost somewhere between the here and the forever. A God who is infinite in knowledge, who knows the infinite past and the infinite future, isn’t surprised by my acts or your acts. Somehow, His plans are eternal plans; His Story is an Eternal Story. And that includes the Christmas Story. Somehow, beyond our comprehension, is the reality that the incarnation was in the mind of God for all eternity…it wasn’t an afterthought.
Galatians 4:4 says that it occurred in the “fullness of time”. That means there was a predetermined time when all of this was going to happen. It was prophesized over and over again in the Old Testament. And, if Frederick Larson is correct, then even the star of Bethlehem was a celestial event put into motion the day God set the stars and planets on their predictable paths…all leading up to the exact time when the birth of Jesus was to be heralded by not only the angels, but by the universe itself.
The Christmas Story is a phenomenal part of a phenomenal plan. The 400 year silence was broken by one amazing event after another:
–Zechariah is visited by an angel prophesying that his barren wife would give birth; he is struck dumb for his disbelief and restored after John is born;
–An angel visits Mary and declares that she will bear the Messiah as a baby, though she is a virgin;
–Joseph is visited by angels confirming that Mary has conceived by the Holy Spirit and that the baby will save His people from their sins;
–The birth of Jesus is announced by angels to the Shepherds and by the miracle of the star.
I know there are some who say that we should not celebrate this event. Yet, it was celebrated by angelic visitations, by Magi from the east, by celestial wonders, by prophetic fulfillment. I think it is worthy of celebration. This is a remarkable story—that God would humble Himself, lay aside His glory, become mortal flesh and enter this world through human birth.
The infinite became finite and dwelt among us. The immortal took on mortality. The incomprehensible eternal bound Himself in flesh. We have to proclaim with Mary, “How can these things be…?”
It was worth the angelic host bursting forth in proclamation. It is worth our giving glory to God as well.
I pray this day will be a blessed time for you and your family. May your celebration be one that brings glory to Him and Him alone. Soli Deo Goria!
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5 Responses to “The Eternal Christmas Story”
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Dr. Del Tackett is president of the Focus on the Family Institute and Senior Vice President to Focus on the Family. He is also the architect and chief spokesperson for Focus on the Family's The Truth Project--a nationwide initiative designed to bring the Christian worldview to the body of Christ.
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Dr. Tackett,
Thank you again for your words and insight. I found two small errors in your posting that I thought I would point out, just to be helpful.
“Both have no beginning and neither have no end.” Shouldn’t it be “and neither have end” or something like that?
“I don’t know if you’ve every tried to think…” An incorrect “y” was added to ever.
Again, thank you for your work and thank you for the Biblical focus you have helped to bring back to my life. Merry Christmas!
In Him,
Dave
I thought your posting was wonderful! I could not have said any better!
Merry Christmas and have a Happy and Blessed New Year!
Del, you either do quick editing to your posts, or there was no mistake to begin with. I read through it and did not see that. I really appreciate your blog and I don’t even notice grammatical errors because I am so interested in what you have to say. It is a blessing. Thank you.
Del, your posting was beautifully spoken. Thank you for overlooking the grammatical errors in our responses at times as our minds are working faster than our fingers.
Happy New Year! My prayer for you in 2008 is that doors will open that have previously been shut, new ground walked on and territory retrieved that the enemy has labeled as his own. May your eyes see the giants in the land as they are..”defeated.” I pray for you peace when fear tries to creep in and a hiding place in Christ when stress and worry raise their ugly heads. The Lord has already gone before you into 2008 and your steps have been planned and ordained! Go in courage as His timing is always perfect for everything we need.
When you first ‘blogged’ about the strokes your dad was experiencing, my heart hurt for you. I knew to pray as I knew others were praying for me as I was walking through my mom’s battle with lung cancer. As strong as we are in our faith, there are times when we need others to stand in the gap. When it came to my mom, there were times I was just too weary to pray, wasn’t sure how to pray, and I would question the grief that was hitting even though I knew that she would soon be with her Lord and Savior. Seeing clearly is difficult when you’re “in it”.
On November 29th my mom received her perfect healing. Out of our arms and into His. I thought all that “pre-grieving” I did would lessen the grief I am experiencing now. Perhaps it is, (that’s kind of a scarey thought), but I am finding this is a new season if you will. We still grieve, but we grieve with hope. Praise God for that and as seasons go, this will change. The waves will be further apart and happy memories will overtake. I am grateful for her 62 years on this planet and more than that that she came into a relationship with the Lord.
All of this to say, I am praying for the season your family is going through. I am so sorry for your loss.I keep thinking about the brevity of this life and how we are but a vapor. Something tells me you had a beautiful and amazing father. May the sweet memories overtake and may our beautiful and amazing Heavenly Father cradle you and yours in His hands, while your dad snuggles into His arms right up next to His heart perfect and whole.