Behind the curtains of Christmas

 Based on devotions by Max Lucado, Charles Stanley and  Alice

" Behind the curtains of Christmas"
Christmas songs, Santa' s world, gifts and presents, Christmas cards, Christmas tree and decoration- one of the nicest seasons in the year.
Why do we celebrate Christmas? There is a saying 'Christ is a reason for a season' and that is right! The greatest gift God gave to us was Jesus. But do we have a room for Him or we celebrate His birthday without Him?
Jesus was still in Mary’s womb when the innkeeper said, “We don’t have room for you.” (Luke 2:7)
And when He was hung on the cross, wasn’t the message one of utter rejection?  “We don’t have room for you in our world.”
For those who fond a room for Him and accepted Him into their life, the life brought completely a new meaning! Christmas time became a different marvelous celebration of His coming to earth.

A few days I read a Bible verse talking about the past and how God was disappointed with the mankind wickedness and regretted  that He created everything; "When the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth  and that every intent of the thoughts in his heart was  only evil continually ....And the Lord said " I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land ....for I am sorry I have made them" Genesis 6;5-7
It sounded sad, God could have wiped us out completely, nobody would stay alive. The reason we are all hear still existing on this earth is thanks to Jesus. Christ is our 'second chance'! And that is a great news!

God decided to spare the human race. He was determined, however,  not to leave things in the chaotic state they were in. His ultimate goal was to restore man  and his world to its original state. But there was still the problem  of sin  and the curse it brought upon all creation. What resulted was  a two- part plan  by which sin  and its consequences could be dealt with once and for all. And the plan was...Jesus- the Redeemer  promised from the very beginning.

God could have wiped out every creature and just forget, but in His love He didn't. Jesus coming to the world was the greatest expression of His love, to come and wipe away our sin, reconciling us with God. That's the greatest gift to the world. But the gift must be accepted, it is not enough to know about it.
"The New Testament writers were calling people to place their trust in the person of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and the promise of eternal life.
It was more than acknowledging that Christ was from God. It was more than hoping that what He said was true. It was a personal commitment  to dependency upon Him for forgiveness.It was a matter of casting hopes for eternity upon the claims and promises of Jesus Christ. God's gift of forgiveness must be accepted on an  individual basis. Although it is an universal offer, it has no effect on the sin debt of a man or a woman who has not personally put trust in Christ. It is like a paycheck that is never picked up. Christ creatively communicated his concept of "put your trust in Me' through the use of word pictures and parables.
He told the woman at the well to ask for 'living water'.  ( John 4;10)   He instructed the Jews to come to Him and receive 'life'. ( John 5;40)
 He told one group that they would have to 'eat the flesh of the Son of Man  and drink His blood'
 ( John 6;53) which meant to feed on His words. To the leaders of Jews He said " If anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death" ( John 8;51) He presented Himself to the Pharisees  in this way; " I am the door, if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find  pasture. ( John 10;9) He used every conceivable illustration  to show His audience that they needed to personally  and individually respond to God's gift  of eternal life for themselves. Most people  want to avoid the subject of accountability to God. Hearing the gospel might be bearable  but making the decision to place their trust in Christ  to be the payment for their sin  is going a step too far. It is easy to focus on Christmas time as a nice tradition without going into its meaning. But that means to 'overlook' the greatest gift, never opening  it! It is to ignore 'the second chance ' God gave us.
" For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given  and the government  will be upon His shoulder . And His name will be called; Wonderful Counselor , Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" Isaiah 9;6