The Journey to Christmas: The Invasion Begins

It was a busy night in the ancient town of Bethlehem. Due to Caesar’s demand for a census, people from all over are returning to the homes of their ancestors to register. Outside the town, the shepherds are keeping watch over the flocks; continuing in a tradition held even by David, their forefather and most celebrated king. The inn is filled to the brim with visitors seeking safety for the night. More comparable to a saloon, the establishment is crawling with prostitutes, thieves, drunks, and others unfortunate enough to be stuck in the middle. The streets are quieting as those in the community board up for the evening. Few are aware that in the barn behind the inn, the time-splitting event in human history is underway.

Mary and Joseph are one of the many couples traveling to their homeland. Since their lineage dates back to King David, they have travelled to the town. As soon as they arrive, Mary goes into labor. After getting rejected from the inn, they take residence with the animals. In the simplest of towns among the simplest of couples, a child is born and the world is forever changed.

As the events behind the inn unfold, the lowly shepherds are resting and keeping watch when an angel appears. Frightening and awesome in appearance, these lonely outcasts are terrified by this heavenly messenger. With fear striking their hearts, the angel assures them that he comes to bring good news. The rescuer has arrived!

While the shepherds marvel, an entire host of angels appear. They are not singing but proclaiming, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." It is like the battle cry of an army. The King has arrived and victory is imminent!

At the scene of man’s captivity to death, the Creator promised a rescuer. He selected for himself a people who he fought for and delivered from oppression. As their sin mirrored that of Adam and Eve’s, they found themselves in captivity once again. From there, the promise was renewed that a deliverer would arrive. And in a world that celebrates kings, prophets, and warriors, God chose to use the forgotten and outcast to carry out his plan.

On this innocent evening, the armies of light declared war on the principalities of darkness. The Creator has come back for his people. Not only was he born, but he paid the price for our sin through death on the cross. Three days later, he conquered even death! Jesus Christ came to fight for us when we could not fight for ourselves. Paul explains it best.

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Col. 2:13-15).”

Merry Christmas.

The Journey to Christmas: A New Cast

One of the most difficult parts about moving off to college was saying goodbye to my old friends. I was born in north Dallas and my family never left. I went to the same church since I was 2 and grew up in the same schools since 1st grade. I met most of my childhood friends in the nursery and I am sure a few of them saw my diaper getting changed. This made the friend-making process in college difficult since I was used to people who knew me my entire life. A new cast developed in my life story with a new setting and culture.

After thousands of years of kings, deliverers, and prophets guiding the Biblical story, a new cast begins developing. Hundreds of years have passed since God has last spoken and the culture in Israel could not be more volatile. The Persian government has been replaced by the Romans. Jewish religious sects have developed who now oppress the poor and hurting. To make matters worse, influential men are claiming to be the promised deliverer but are instead leading good Jewish men to their own crucifixions as the merciless Roman soldiers exercise zero tolerance. It is a society marked by guilt, pain, and longing for freedom.

As the Jews suffer, the world is getting smaller. Roman roads are the most advanced in history. The Koine-Greek language is serving as a universal means of communication. Shipping lanes, aqueducts, and other amenities are also growing as the Romans continue to advance their unstoppable empire. The people are hungry for freedom and the culture is poised for a new movement.

As the world continues to grow and tear itself apart, a faithful priest named Zachariah enters the Temple to perform the ritual sacrifices. He is not a man of prestige, wealth, or fame. He is simply an obedient man of God. While he is there an angel appears, telling him that his wife will bear a child who will prepare the way for the long-awaited Messiah. Shocked and riddled with doubt, Zachariah protests and is cursed to remain mute until the child’s birth.

Meanwhile, another messenger of God appears. This one is Gabriel. As before with Zachariah, the recipient is not a person of wealth or fame. It is a young Jewish girl in a back-woods town called Nazareth. At around 14-15 years old, this teenage girl named Mary is preparing for her marriage when Gabriel appears. In spite of her virginity, Mary is told she will give birth and his name will be called Jesus. He will be the Son of the Most High, the future King, the rescuer.

While the culture continues to look for their political or militaristic leader in the world-class cities, God is working among the greatest victims of this fallen world. He is working among the faithful and the obedient. They are the same ones forgotten by society and disenfranchised by its self-destructive pursuits. In a time of oppression, pain and sorrow, the message is clear. The armies of light are preparing for their invasion on the principalities of darkness. As promised in Genesis and throughout Israel’s history, a child is on his way. An invasion will soon begin and it will be led by our rescuer.

Read Luke 1 and respond to one or more of the following questions. Also, feel free to add your own insights into the text. The more interaction, the better!
What key differences do you notice between Zachariah and Mary’s reactions to the angels’ messages?

What does Mary’s song tell us about God and his plan for this child?

Why is John’s birth so significant?

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The Journey to Christmas: Rescue is Coming

Quite a bit has taken place since the Journey to Christmas first began. It started in the Garden where Adam and Eve experienced God’s plan in the fullest. Things were perfect until sin entered the picture and the world was thrown off balance. In the moment of mankind’s greatest despair, God promised a deliverer to bring his people back to himself.

God carried out his plan through the descendants of one man – Abraham. Through his descendants, God chose to glorify himself and give this people his presence. At the height of their history, the Israelites learned that God fights for their victory. However, God’s presence left them as it did Adam and Eve when Israel also failed to keep God’s laws and they soon found themselves exiled from the land.

Just as God provided for Adam and Eve, he also delivered the Israelites from their exile and returned them to their own land. However, they soon found that something was still missing. Although back in the Promised Land, they were still under the rule of other kings and kingdoms. Oppression and slavery still marked their existence and God’s presence seemed anything but near. In the midst of their despair, God began speaking through the prophets of a deliverer. One such prophet was Isaiah who had this to say.

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.

You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.

For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.

Every warrior's boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. –Isaiah 9:2-6

Isaiah’s message is loud and clear. Rescue is coming. For those who have been living in darkness, soon there will be light. For those living in the shadows of death, a new day is dawning. Where there has been sorrow, guilt, shame, and pain; soon there will be joy like that of a prosperous year or a decisive victory. Where there has been slavery, oppression, and burdens; soon there will be freedom. Where there has been war, soon there will be peace.

All of this will come to pass through a child. A new Kingdom is coming that will be on his shoulders. What the Israelites still do not realize is that this new King is for all people. The rescue is for anyone living in darkness, oppression, death, pain, or war.

Our God is coming for us. The one to crush the serpent’s head will soon arrive. In the darkest nights, hope is rising!

Read Isaiah 9:2-7 and respond to one or more of the following questions. Also, feel free to add your own insights into the text. The more interaction, the better!
What do Isaiah’s words tell us about Christ?

How do you believe this message would have been received in Israel?

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The Journey to Christmas: God Restores His People

One of my fiancée’s favorite movies is “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days”. Anytime it’s on TV and I’m with her, just guess what we watch. If you haven’t seen the movie, I’ll give you a quick synopsis.

Girl and guy meet.
Girl and guy con each other.
Girl and guy unexpectantly fall in love.
They find out they conned each other.
They are stupid and fall for each other anyway.
They live happily ever after.

The interesting part to me is the end of it all. They live happily ever after? Let’s face it. The two just placed bets on how miserable they could make each other. That’s one sick start to a romantic relationship. Have you ever wondered what had to happen with the characters after the plot ends? They often end up together but does that mean they never fight, get married, have kids, and die a pleasant old death? Even though it seems the immediate problem has been solved, it doesn’t mean that life is just perfect thereafter.

As we continue on the road to Christmas, Israel has just been established as God’s chosen people in the Promised Land. Under Joshua’s generation, the nation manages to hold things together by obeying God’s laws and taking care of those who don’t. However, the generations that follow do not. The victory and joy of the previous episodes do not continue. Instead of trusting God to fight for them, they look for a human king to fight their battles for them. Despite the rejection of God that this demand carries, God appoints men who will lead them. The first is Saul, an attractive and physically dominating man. But his love for God does not match his physical stature. After Saul’s failure comes David who serves God honorably but still leads Israel down wrong paths in the end. The kings that follow lead Israel into generations characterized by sexual immorality, idol worship, corruption, and spiritual failure.

Despite warnings from the prophets, the Israelites fail to turn away from their sin and by 586 BC, they are completely conquered. Just as Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden, now Israel has been removed from Canaan. Once again, mankind has failed to keep God’s standards, resulting in oppression. Where God has established freedom for his people, they have forfeited their blessings for sin.

When Adam and Eve fell in the Garden, God provided for them and promised a deliverer. When Israel found themselves under Egyptian slavery, they were miraculously liberated and delivered to a new home. Now that they have failed, God will liberate his people yet again.

After generations of oppression and exile in Babylon, the empire would fall to Persia where King Cyrus would sign an edict, allowing the exiles to return. Upon arriving back in Jerusalem, the Israelites find the city in ruins just as they left it. God rises up two leaders, Ezra and Nehemiah who will restore the nation. Ezra reinstates Israel’s spiritual identity while Nehemiah focuses on Jerusalem’s infrastructure.

As Nehemiah gathers the people to rebuild, local governors object to the restoration of Jerusalem’s walls. While growing closer to rebuilding the walls and their national identity, the people of Israel find themselves facing enemy threats to destroy them. Nehemiah energizes the people with this simple command...

"The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us! (Neh. 4:19-20)"

This phrase is strikingly familiar to the lesson that earlier generations learned through God’s faithfulness to them. Even in spite of our sin, Israel’s history teaches us that God is still at work to liberate his people. No matter how unfaithful mankind may be at any given moment, we can rest assured that God is faithful.

Respond to one or more of the following questions. Also, feel free to add your own insights into the text. The more interaction, the better!
Read Romans 5:8. How does this passage explain God’s devotion to delivering us?

How does this relate to the Christmas story?

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The Journey to Christmas: "Our God Will Fight For Us"

One of the biggest influences on my personality is where I grew up. The fact that I was raised in the city is something that has defined me. I love city skylines. I enjoy spending time with friends at Starbucks on a busy street corner. I even take pleasure in city traffic at times. When I am out of that element, it feels like a part of my personality is missing. I feel lonely, not because of a lack of friends but I am away from where I belong. When I’m home in Dallas, there is a part of me that just comes alive again. I am in my comfort zone and living in a culture that is familiar.

This tension between big city and small town life has never been greater than the summer following my sophomore year. While looking for summer ministry positions around the Dallas area, I received a call from an old friend who was pastoring a church in Saint Jo, TX. He wanted me to come lead their youth group for the summer. Originally an intersection of two major cattle trails in the 19th century, Saint Jo is a town of under 1,000 people along an old U.S. highway. You can still find places to tie up your horse in the town square!

Amazingly, this is where God called me to work that summer and needless to say, it was difficult. Not only was I leading a ministry for the first time in my life, but I was doing it in a culture I did not understand. Despite the amazing support I had from my pastor and the church, there were still days I felt I would never make it through. But through this learning experience, I found that by simply being where God had called me to be and doing the job he had called me to do, all of my needs were met. The details of camp, the mission trip, the Bible studies, and all the rest just seemed to come together. The lonely moments often became sweet times with God. Over time, I came to understand that I needed only to be available and God would do his work through me.

This principle is one that the Israelites grow to understand very well in the early parts of their history. After generations of oppression and slavery under Egyptian rule, God intervenes. He hears their cry and calls out Moses, a murderer and an outcast. Moses isn’t a likely first choice to lead an exodus. He is a terrible speaker and ran from his last encounter with danger. Nonetheless, Moses is God’s man. The Lord leads him before Pharaoh, where he and his brother Aaron protest the injustice carried out on God’s people. But it isn’t Moses who drives Pharaoh to let the people go. The Israelites aren’t the ones who incite the plagues. Throughout the text, the narrator makes it clear that God is orchestrating the entire situation for his own good.

After being released, the people reach the Red Sea only to see the Egyptians coming down after them, trapped between their oppressors and an impassible body of water. This is when Moses shares the secret to Israel’s success. In their moment of greatest fear, he declares to them, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. (Ex. 14:14)” With that, Moses’ staff enters the water and the Israelites cross on dry ground.

It’s a theme that continues throughout Israel’s story. When the Israelites later reach the edge of the Promised Land, they fail to remember this concept and end up wandering in the desert until the current generation completely dies off.

God fighting for his people is seen a third time when Joshua leads the Israelites into the Promised Land and conquers Jericho. Rather than attacking the city at the crack of dawn while the Canaanites are off-guard, they surround the city for seven days, blasting the trumpet. On the seventh day, the walls supernaturally fall and the people take the city. This is no brilliant military strategy; it’s an act of God. In the first recorded act of liberation, God does the work. The people simply stand still. In the story of Christmas, we find the same story repeating itself. When the time is right, our God sends the rescuer. The only role any human plays is receiving the little gift who will soon enter our broken world.

Respond to one or more of the following questions. Also, feel free to add your own insights into the text. The more interaction, the better!
How does this concept of God fighting for his people relate to the Christmas story?

What other parallels do you find in the exodus story and the Christmas story?

How can you apply this concept in your daily challenges?

How does this passage relate to Matthew 6:28-34?

The Journey to Christmas: A New People

I believe one of the great rites of passage in life is a person’s first love. You never forget that person who you first fell head-over-heels for. That first relationship is always a life-changing one. You begin feeling things you never experienced before and a part of your heart opens that you never knew existed. It seems as if everyone else just fades away. But all the emotions and excitement of saying those three magical words for the first time are still not as life-changing as when you say goodbye. It’s never the relationship that is life-changing but the break up.

The true power of love can never be fully understood until it has been put to the test. My dad once told me you can’t love a person until you know what you hate about them. Until you’ve seen all that makes up a person, you can’t truly love them. Love isn’t blind, it’s sacrificial. Love sees a person’s weaknesses and resolves to provide strength. This is displayed no better than when God sees our failures and chooses to provide a way out.

Mankind’s failure in the Garden is the failure of a relationship. After sin enters the picture, things change. God and man cannot co-exist as they did before. Yet even in the pain of loss, God resolves to love. He banishes Adam and Eve from the Garden but quickly begins bridging the gap. God’s pursuit to restore his people begins with just one man – Abram. Like the serpent, Abram is given little introduction in Genesis. We know about his family but the narrator never explains why God would begin with him. The point is that God chose Abram, not the other way around. The narrator doesn’t elaborate on Abram because he isn’t who the story is about. Abram is the supporting actor whose role is to bring the main character to life.

When God calls him out, he tells Abram to pick up everything and leave his family’s land. This isn’t like moving to a new city. Abram is leaving a land passed down through generations! Without any further explanation, God leads Abram out with the promise of a new start. Through this man, God will build for himself a new people who will function as priests to the broken world. Abram and his descendants will display God’s glory the way Adam and Eve were meant to. Instead of living in the Garden, they will reside in a Promised Land. To restore the relationship, a law will also be given to them. This law will prepare the people for God’s presence in their midst as Adam and Eve once experienced. If Abram’s descendents follow God’s law, his presence and the land are theirs. If they fail, the results will be like Adam and Eve’s.

There is beauty in the fact that God begins the story of his saving work by inviting humans in. Despite our failures and weaknesses, he offers every opportunity possible to join back in. His love never fails, even when those he loves do. As his creation, we have willingly surrendered to our own oppression but Abraham’s calling demonstrates that God pursues his people even when we fail to see our need for him.

Read Genesis 12:1-9 and respond to one or more of the following questions. Also, feel free to add your own insights into the text. The more interaction, the better!
Do you think God’s promise to Abraham is a conditional or unconditional promise?

What makes this passage significant in our study of Christmas?

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The Journey to Christmas: The Story Begins

As Christians, we have a lot of phrases that get tossed around so much that we often forget the original meaning or the power behind them. One of my favorites is when we sit down before our meals and pray, “Please bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies.” There is nothing inherently wrong with the prayer until you pray it over a ½ pound bacon cheeseburger from Wendy’s and a large fry so glazed in grease that its holder is now transparent. I imagine God in Heaven looking down and responding, “What, seriously?”

Another favorite of mine is when we invite a recent convert to the local church and proclaim, “He just got saved!” to everyone who passes by. Like the dinner prayer, it’s not wrong to pray it but sometimes we use the phrase and forget what it implies. If a person has just been saved, logical thought leads us to believe that there was a force holding him captive. Someone or something has gripped his or her life and a liberator has rescued that individual. It seems essential for Christians to understand this and I believe most of us do. The problem is that we love to focus on events like Christmas or the resurrection before we ever understand their power.

In our last study we found that God created the universe with the intent of displaying his glory. God and man interacted together in perfect unity. Man and woman shared unrivaled intimacy. It is like a movie which paints this ideal picture of life in the first few minutes. The main character is happy and the world is in pristine order. In two chapters, Genesis shows us God’s original intent. But like any other story, the picture is quickly smeared.

By chapter three we find Eve frolicking in the Garden of Eden. To Adam’s delight, she isn’t wearing a stitch of clothing! Things are going as they normally do until the serpent appears on the scene. The Bible doesn’t give him much of an introduction other than that he is crafty. He begins to solicit Eve with a thought.

“Hey Eve, what if this whole ‘don’t eat that fruit’ thing is really nothing? I bet God just doesn’t want you to be like him, knowing the difference between good and evil!”

In and of itself, the fruit of that tree is hardly different than any of the other fruits in the Garden. But given what the serpent had to say, there is something more to it. The text says it is the potential gain of wisdom which makes the fruit so desirable. With her curiosity peaked, temptation is hatched. She picks off the fruit and eats it. Adam is nearby and she gives it to him as well.

Instantly, something changes. Adam and Eve are aware of their nakedness. Even worse, God doesn’t seem so approachable anymore. They cover up and hide but when God confronts them, it is their awareness of their nakedness that tips him off. I sometimes imagine the look on God’s face. I don’t picture it as an angry Father. Instead, I envision God with the face of a heartbroken man. His expression disappears and his eyes glaze over in pain. Like a man who has just been betrayed, he knows the ramifications of the trespass on their relationship.

Evil cannot exist where good is not found. The nature of sin is to take what is inherently good and pervert it. It is only natural that the consequences will do the same.

God’s gift was for them to multiply. Now Eve will bear children in pain.

God’s gift was man’s charge to dominate and cultivate the earth. Now the earth will work against him.

God’s gift was perfect harmony between man and wife. Now Eve will desire her husband’s leadership.

God’s gift was perfect intimacy between the Creator and the creation. Now there is just fear.

God’s gift was his presence. Now they must leave him.

Throughout the rest of the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy), men grow increasingly further from God’s presence. As they do, their lives are shortened. Death quickly becomes a concern never seen in God’s original plan. As humans, we have been held captive by a force we willingly submitted to. In our sin nature we no longer belong to God. Death has taken ownership.

However, in the midst of all of God’s curses there is hope. God tells the serpent that a man will someday be born of Eve. He will rise up and although the serpent may bruise his heel, the man will crush his head. In other words, God will not leave his people in bondage. His image is still within them, however marred by sin it may be. It is at this scene of despair and pain that the road to Christmas begins. The rest of the Bible chronicles God’s plan to bring his people back. Even when they do not desire him, he will woo them into his loving arms. He will provide for them and when the moment is perfect, he will declare war on the principalities of darkness and send a hero to rescue the oppressed.

Read Genesis 3 and respond to one or more of the following questions. Also, feel free to add your own insights into the text. The more interaction, the better!
In Genesis 3:4-5, the serpent makes an accusation about God’s true motives. How might he actually be telling the truth but framing it in a way that demonizes God?

Did Eve get what the serpent said she would get?

How does the concept of nakedness relate to the concepts of intimacy and harmony in the passage?

What makes this passage significant in our study of Christmas?

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