12 Days

On the first day of Christmas, my good Lord gave to me One God and Father, One Savior, One Spirit, One Faith.

Thank God that we don't have to save ourselves! We can't. It's as simple as that. But that's not the end. If it was, God would have lost to the devil. God created man for his pleasure. But because of sin, man could no longer be in God's presence, and could no longer please him. God was not outsmarted by the devil. He had his plan from the foundation of the world. God needed a man - a sinless man - to fulfill Adam's purpose. So God sent his son, Jesus, to earth as a man. Jesus never sinned; he fully obeyed the law. Jesus became sin for us. He saved us from sin, so that we might be restored to the Father God.

On the second day of Christmas, my good Lord gave to me two thousands years of grace.

We live in the age of grace. Since Jesus set us free from the law of sin and death, we have free access to God's grace. We can understand grace as God's unmerited favor to us, and God's ability in us. You may look around and think of the evil in the world. How can this be an age of grace? The Apostle Paul wrote that where sin abounds, God's grace abounds even more. But you must go after it. Grab it. The believers in Jesus are told to go boldly to the throne room of God and obtain grace and mercy to help in time of need. We have to GO FOR IT!

On the third day of Christmas, my good Lord gave to me three persons in one God.

Three persons in one God sounds like a contradiction. It's seems confusing. It is a mystery, and beyond our human understanding. But it is also the truth about God. In the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, God says "Let us make man in our image." Notice the plural? Jesus told the Pharisees that he was God's son. The Pharisees said Jesus made himself equal to God. To them it was blasphemy. But to us, it's wonderful. Jesus told his disciples, "You've seen me, you've seen the Father."

And when Jesus returned to the Father, he promised that he would not leave us alone. He promised to send the Holy Spirit, who would provide counsel, comfort, guidance, and teaching.

Thank God for the Father, for the Son, and for the Spirit!