Today an Eternal Present was Unveiled in the City of David

Merry Christmas!

₁₀ . . . The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen closely, for I proclaim to you good news of great joy for all the people: ₁₁ Today your Savior—Who is Christ the Lord—was born in the city of David.”¹

This is the day we celebrate the birth² of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,³ Jesus the Christ, the Messiah.⁴

Joy to the world! / The Lord is come! / Let earth receive her King. / Let every heart prepare Him room / and heaven and nature sing.

A bit over two millennia ago, the eternal Word⁵ became the eternal-temporal Theanthrōpos,⁶ the God-man.⁷ Deity came in humility, clothed in humanity, born in Bethlehem. God the Father loved the world so much that He provided His one, unique Son⁸ as a sacrifice for us all, by ‘lifting Him up’ on the cross,⁹ so that everyone who believes in Him would not  perish, but would gain eternal life,¹⁰ adopted as God’s children.¹¹ This entrance into eternality begins the very moment of initial belief¹² and will remain for the overcomers—those enduring until the end.¹³

This day we should, in reverential awe, commemorate this glorious, eternally present,¹⁴ eternal gift.¹⁵ We should remember this selfless, sacrificial gift¹⁶ every day—but especially today. Those temporal gifts we give and receive—largely in celebrations overshadowing the true meaning of this season, this day—those temporal gifts we exchange, some by compulsion, will perish. But not this gift. This gift, available to all, has already been given—at such cost!¹⁷ The Giver of this gift is Himself the Gift,¹⁸ Who seemingly perished forevermore after being crucified.¹⁹ Yet He rose again!²⁰ And He lives yet still.²¹

But this gift is more of an exchange—though a very one-sided one at that. To receive the gift of Jesus’ substitutionary atonement²²—in which He has already paid the due penalty for all mankind’s sins past, present, and future²³—one must repent,²⁴ turn to Jesus as Lord and Savior,²⁵ and then ‘take up one’s cross daily’.²⁶ This means obeying Jesus’ commandments²⁷ and following His path, to the point of physical death, if necessary.²⁸ However, even if following Christ directly results in temporal death (which is an inevitable eventuality whether following Him or not) one receives the much more valuable eternal life. Yet, even more, as part of this exchange one receives God’s indwelling Spirit²⁹—the Holy Spirit, the paraklētos,³⁰ the Spirit of Truth³¹—in Whom one possesses both the navigational compass and the strength to endure His pathway.

Yet Jesus’ requirements are not burdensome.³² When the Christ-follower inevitably sins³³—and one easily does so when living by one’s own strength rather than by and in the Spirit³⁴—He is quick to forgive the penitent.³⁵

To those who believe in and follow the Messiah, His Resurrection guarantees this eternal present;³⁶ but, it was the conception³⁷ and subsequent birth³⁸ of the Eternal-temporal³⁹ providing the necessary precursor. As Christians, as Christ-followers, let us remember this day for the momentous and joyous occasion it was and is: the arrival of the Gospel in the Gift wrapped in strips of cloth lying in a manger.⁴⁰ To those with opened eyes He was unveiled.⁴¹ To the blind He remained veiled, but to those blind subsequently receiving sight He was revealed.⁴²

Let us not be side-tracked by the temporality of contemporary glitz and glamour. Let us not take this day for granted. Let us take it to heart. Let us take its inherent message to the outer extremities.⁴³ Let us be God’s instruments through which this Gift is unveiled, blind eyes opened.

The world awaits.⁴⁴

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(If you think you might be experiencing a case of déjà vu, you are not exactly wrong. This is a lightly revised and slightly expanded version of an article I posted on Christmas day last year.)

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¹ Luke 2:10-11, my translation.
² It is very unlikely, though, that December 25 is the actual day Jesus was born. See When was Jesus Born?
³ Luke 2:10-11; Matthew 1:25; cf. Micah 5:2.
⁴ John 1:41; 4:25.
⁵ John 1:1.
⁶ From Theos = God, anthrōpos = man.
⁷ John 1:14.
⁸ John 1:14; 3:16.
⁹ John 3:14 (cf. Numbers 21:8-9); John 12:32-33.
¹⁰ John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:4; 1John 4:9-10.
¹¹ John 1:12.
¹² John 5:24-25.
¹³ Matthew 24:13; Revelation 2:7, 10-11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 10-12, 19-21; 14:12.
¹⁴ John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:2-3.
¹⁵ Revelation 13:8; cf. Revelation 17:8. There is ambiguity in the syntax of the Greek in 13:8. Is it that the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world (KJV, NIV, e.g.), or is it that certain names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world (ESV, NASB, e.g.)? [This implies there are yet others who were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world (cf. Rev 3:5).] One could harmonize this with the words whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world from 17:8 to resolve this, yet it seems difficult to have a book of life without the Life Giver’s substitutionary atonement (Hebrews 2:17) having been provided first. So maybe both are true? Resolution is not even found in John the Baptizer’s words in John 1:29 regarding the “Lamb of God” (cf. Rev 5:6-14), for the verb airōn, takes away, is a present active participle, which grammatically indicates durative action (imperfective aspect), but the temporal reference is unclear. Is it yet-future from the Baptizer’s words (in then-current context looking forward to the cross), or is John stating that it is already in effect? Relatedly, this verb airō can connote being taken ‘up’ as well as taken away, which can provide a bit of—likely intended—double entendre, polysemy. In other words, sins are taken up/away as He is taken up/away. This double meaning likely applies—unknowingly by the speakers and in ironical fashion with the benefit of hindsight—in John 19:15 when “the Jews” (hoi Ioudaioi) responded to Pilate’s statement “Here is your king!” with aron aron, staurōson auton, “Take up/away, take up/away; crucify him!” Their command resulted in Him being glorified (John 12:23; 13:31-32; 17:1) and thereby receiving the name above every name (Philippians 2:9-11; cf. What Did Pilate State in John 19:22?: Conclusion).
¹⁶ Philippians 2:5-8.
¹⁷ Hebrews 2:9-18; 4:15. Each and every one of us—at and beyond the age of accountability, at the least—has played his/her part in lifting Him up on that cross.
¹⁸ John 11:25; 14:6.
¹⁹ Matthew 27:48-50; Mark 15:36-37; Luke 23:36; John 19:28-30.
²⁰ Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-8[20]; Luke 24:1-49; John 2:19-22; 10:17-18; 20:1-31; 1Corinthians 15:1-4.
²¹ Revelation 1:18.
²² Hebrews 2:14-18.
²³ Romans 3:25-26; Hebrews 9:11-15, 26-28; 10:12, 19-24.
²⁴ Matthew 4:17; Luke 3:8-14; Acts 2:38; 3:19; Romans 2:4.
²⁵ But this cannot be done in one’s own strength; see the words of Jesus in John 6:44: No one is able to come to Me unless the Father, the One Who sent Me, draws him[/her].
²⁶ Matthew 10:38-39; 16:24-26; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23-24; 14:27; John 12:25-26.
²⁷ Matthew 4:17; 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31; John 8:31-32; 13:34/15:12; 15:10; James 2:8-11; 1John 5:3.
²⁸ Matthew 16:24-26. See What did Jesus mean when He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me”?
²⁹ John 3:3-8; 14:17; Romans 8:15-17; 1Corinthians 2:12; 3:16; 6:19; 2Corinthians 6:16.
³⁰ John 14:15-16:15; Acts 1:8; 2:1-39; 1John 4:1-6. See also Who is the Holy Spirit?
³¹ John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1John 4:6; 5:6.
³² Matthew 11:28-30; 1John 5:3.
³³ 1John 1:8-10.
³⁴ Galatians 5:16-26; 1John 1:6-8.
³⁵ Hebrews 10:22-23; 1John 1:9-2:2.
³⁶ 1Corinthians 15:20-23.
³⁷ Luke 1:34-35.
³⁸ Luke 2:1-7.
³⁹ John 1:1, 14.
⁴⁰ Luke 2:10-12.
⁴¹ Luke 2:8-20.
⁴² John 9:1-41; 2Corinthians 3:14-18.
⁴³ Matthew 28:19-20.
⁴⁴ John 3:16-21, 31-36; Romans 8:18-27.