One of my favorite Christian authors is J. I. Packer. He has a gift for communicating theological truths in a clear, succinct, and precise way. Last Sunday, I cited a passage from his book "Knowing God" in which Packer speaks of the Incarnation. I thought it would be worth putting on my blog since it is a perspective on Christmas we don't often consider. As Christians, our perennial concern with Christmas is the way it has become an orgy of consumerism and materialism instead of a time to reflect on the birth of Christ and celebrate the coming of the Savior into the world.
However, there is another aspect to the Incarnation that we sometimes miss. And that is, the pattern Jesus has set for us in his laying aside the riches and glory of heaven to bear the ignonimy of being born a human being, his coming in the "likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3). Speaking of 2 Corinthians 8:9 ("For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich."), Packer writes:
"...the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor - spending and being spent - to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others - and not just their own friends - in whatever way there seems need" (Knowing God, pg. 64).
If we can redeem the crass worldliness of our culture's Christmas celebration, it will be both by pointing others to the Savior in the manger, and by putting on Christ-likeness in lives of humble, self-denying service to others in the name of that Savior.
Posted by Pastor Scott at December 19, 2005 9:52 PM
Post Your Comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)