"The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this. (...) There is no question of arbitrary interferences just scattered about. It relates not a series of disconnected raids on Nature but the various steps of a strategically coherent invasion--an invasion which intends complete conquest and occupation." - C. S. Lewis, Miracles

Christmas, in the contexts I'm familiar with, has been mostly whitewashed, prettified, and stripped of its hard edges.  We've made it tender.  Heart-warming.  Quaint.  We like White Christmases.

Yes, indeed, Christmas inspires warm hearts and tenderness, but for a reason far from sentimentality.  Christians believe that in the distant past Earth fell to the power of Darkness and was conquered by Death and Corruption.  Heaven (God's sphere) and Earth (our sphere) were separated from each other.  But for all of history God has been working out His plan to set this wrong put to rights -- to put the whole cosmos back together again!

On Christmas Day, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  We claim that Jesus is God Himself, born on Earth as a flesh and blood human.  (Not an avatar, not a vision, not a floating spirit -- human flesh and blood.)  In this way, the boundary between Heaven and Earth was broken.  A little bit of Heaven had broken into our world.  Or not a little bit -- the WHOLE of Heaven came down to us!  GOD HIMSELF revealed Himself -- as ONE OF US!

I think the quote from C. S. Lewis highlights the revolutionary edge of what Christmas really means.  God has declared war on the darkness, sorrow, pain, and death that has ruled this planet for ages!  Jesus was the vanguard of Heaven's army, the forerunner of Heaven's invasion of Earth.  And Jesus, in fact, accomplished the strategic defeat of the powers that rule this world -- and He did so on the cross.  And He rose from the dead (a flesh and blood resurrection -- real blood in real veins; real breath in real lungs).  He defeated Death, the last enemy!

We who trust in Him are promised that we too will be raised with Him.  His Love for us has protected us from the Enemy -- has, in fact, broken the Enemy's hold on us.  We've been liberated -- and formed into God's Army.  An Army armed with Love and Peace!  We're now fighting the dark powers, the systems of oppression, the sadness and sorrow, the sin and corruption, the shadows and ignorance, the violence and injustice, the death and decay that (like pretenders to the throne) rule this world unlawfully.  We bear the most powerful of all weapons: Faith, Joy, Peace, Meekness, Self-Control, Generosity, Prayer, Hope, and Love.  We fight, not with violence against others, but with self-sacrificial Love for others -- the most powerful force on Earth!  And we do it in the name and authority of Jesus, the Man seated on the Throne of Heaven (the Captain of the Universe!), who lives in us through His Holy Spirit.

"For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take flight, the power of death is broken.  For this day paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused and spread on every side -- a heavenly way of life has been implanted on the earth." - St. John Chrysostom

Jesus promised us that the whole world will be liberated from it's slavery to Corruption, Darkness, and Death.  The Enemy has been defeated.  And it all began on the day Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  That's why our hearts are warmed.  God is with us.  The Kingdom is breaking in.

So Merry Christmas, everyone!  The Invasion has begun.

"An angel of the Lord stood in front of them.  The glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  'Don't be afraid,' the angel said to them. 'Look: I've got good news for you, news which will make everybody very happy.  Today a savior has been born for you--the Messiah, the Lord!--in David's town.  This will be a sign for you: you'll find the baby wrapped up, and lying in a feeding-trough.'  Suddenly, with the angel, there was a crowd of the heavenly armies.  They were praising God, saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and peace upon earth among those in his favor." (Luke 2:9-14, Wright)

"All this happened so that what the Lord said through the prophet might be fulfilled: 'Look: a virgin is pregnant, and will have a son, and they shall give him the name Emmanuel' -- which means, in translation, 'God with us.'" (Matthew 1:22-23, Wright)

"In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (...) So The Word became human and made his home among us.  He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." (John 1: 1-5, 14 NLT)


_
Add Comment
 
 
_
Christmas Greetings from CultureShock's Team London 2012!

We recorded this video earlier this month during our team meeting in Tulsa, OK.  I just got done editing it.  Hope you enjoy and share!

To learn how to support our trip, go to: network21missions.com/support.html
Add Comment
 
 
Here's a special Christmas gift from Team London to you!  It's a Christmas Album, performed, arranged, and produced entirely by CultureShock Team London!

Download the Full Album Now!

Last weekend we met in Tulsa and recorded this Christmas album.  Tiffani Johnston sings "White Christmas," Richard Nesbit sings a medley of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and Jonathan Collins sings "Little Drummer Boy."  Ryan Graham produced and arranged all the music, played all the instruments, and did an acoustic version of "Jingle Bells."  And Tiff, Ryan, Jon, and Richard perform "Do You Hear What I Hear?"  All in all, it's an amazing job for one afternoon of work!!

I'm not a musician, so my role in this little project was non-existent.  (I did press record, but that's it!)  Ryan was going to do an autotuned version of me singing "Here We Come A-Wassailing," but we ran out of time.  (Insert sad face emoticon.)

Anyway, I hope this album is a blessing to you this Christmas season.  If you enjoy this album, please consider sponsoring us.  Go to http://www.network21missions.com/support.html

Merry Christmas, everyone!!
1 Comment
 

    About Me?

    _I'm a young Christian whose life has been turned around by God's grace.  I want to use my talent for film/video production and storytelling to spread the hope of what it means that Jesus is King!  I'm a church history junkie, an armchair theologian, an aspiring writer, a fan of the Inklings, a Trekkie, and a video game nerd.

    Archives

    December 2011

    Categories

    All
    Christmas
    Journal
    Music
    Video

    RSS Feed