March 10th, 2023
by Steve Marshall
by Steve Marshall
December 15, 2017
Hey GCT: I have been reading the book Hidden Christmas by Timothy Keller. Yesterday I came across a section that reminded me how great the truth of Jesus is this Christmas. I could not cut this down any more than this. Please take a moment to read and rejoice in our Savior!
“The greatest person in the history of the world was born in a manger and came from Nazareth. It’s throughout the Bible. God initially brings his message not through Egyptians, the Romans, the Assyrians, or the Babylonians but through the Jews, a small nation and a little race that is seldom in power. He dispatches Goliath not with a bigger giant but with a shepherd boy, one at whom the giant laughed. That’s the way God works. How does he talk to Elijah? Through earthquake, wind and fire? NO. Through the still, small voice. In Ancient times, when the oldest son always got all the wealth and the second or younger sons had no social status, how does God work? Through Abel, not Cain. Through Isaac, not Ishmael. Through Jacob, not Esau. Through Ephraim, not Manasseh. Through David, not his older brothers. At a time when women were valued for their beauty and fertility, God chooses old Sarah, not young Hagar. He chooses Leah, not Rachel— unattractive Leah, whom Jacob does not love. He chooses Rebekah, who can’t have children; Samson’s mother, who can’t have children; Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother, who can’t have children. Why? Over and over again God says, I will choose Nazareth, not Jerusalem. I will choose the girl nobody wants. I will choose the boy everybody has forgotten.”
Why? Is it just that God likes underdogs? No. He is telling us something about salvation itself. Every other religion and moral philosophy tells you to summon up all of your strength and live as you ought. Therefore, they appeal to the strong, to the people who can pull it together, the people who can, “summon up the blood.” Only Jesus says, “I have come for the weak. I have come of those who admit they are weak. I will save them not by what they but only through what I do.” Throughout Jesus’ life, the apostles and the disciples keep saying to him, “Jesus, when are you going to take power and save the world?” Jesus keeps saying, “You don’t understand. I’m going to lose all my power and die - to save the world.”
Enjoy this Christmas looking to Christ, rejoicing in your weakness. For when you are weak He is strong!
Love in Christ, Steve
“The greatest person in the history of the world was born in a manger and came from Nazareth. It’s throughout the Bible. God initially brings his message not through Egyptians, the Romans, the Assyrians, or the Babylonians but through the Jews, a small nation and a little race that is seldom in power. He dispatches Goliath not with a bigger giant but with a shepherd boy, one at whom the giant laughed. That’s the way God works. How does he talk to Elijah? Through earthquake, wind and fire? NO. Through the still, small voice. In Ancient times, when the oldest son always got all the wealth and the second or younger sons had no social status, how does God work? Through Abel, not Cain. Through Isaac, not Ishmael. Through Jacob, not Esau. Through Ephraim, not Manasseh. Through David, not his older brothers. At a time when women were valued for their beauty and fertility, God chooses old Sarah, not young Hagar. He chooses Leah, not Rachel— unattractive Leah, whom Jacob does not love. He chooses Rebekah, who can’t have children; Samson’s mother, who can’t have children; Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother, who can’t have children. Why? Over and over again God says, I will choose Nazareth, not Jerusalem. I will choose the girl nobody wants. I will choose the boy everybody has forgotten.”
Why? Is it just that God likes underdogs? No. He is telling us something about salvation itself. Every other religion and moral philosophy tells you to summon up all of your strength and live as you ought. Therefore, they appeal to the strong, to the people who can pull it together, the people who can, “summon up the blood.” Only Jesus says, “I have come for the weak. I have come of those who admit they are weak. I will save them not by what they but only through what I do.” Throughout Jesus’ life, the apostles and the disciples keep saying to him, “Jesus, when are you going to take power and save the world?” Jesus keeps saying, “You don’t understand. I’m going to lose all my power and die - to save the world.”
Enjoy this Christmas looking to Christ, rejoicing in your weakness. For when you are weak He is strong!
Love in Christ, Steve
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