Freedom For Today

Genesis 17:4-8

“This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”

The book of Genesis feels a bit like trial-and-error as humanity wrestles with the devastation of sin in the world. God has a “Let’s wipe the slate clean” moment with Noah (Genesis 6), but it is literally moments after the flood waters recede that Noah degrades himself. Again, God is not about to walk away from humanity. As we see here in today’s passage, he’s taking a new step and making a covenant (or supernatural promise) with Abraham. He’s locking himself in to humanity for the long-haul, a truth that we can cling to if we ever wonder whether God will simply abandon us to the darkness.

Here’s your freedom for today: God is committed to us for eternity.

Even marriage, one of the most sacred types of human vows, isn’t eternal. We only promise “until death parts us.” When God makes a promise, he uses the word “forever.” He’s outside of time and not limited by it. When he says he’s promising a land to his people forever, he means that it has eternal value. God is inherently faithful — when he gives his word there is no going back. Why would he bother to make such a promise? Because his very nature is love in ways we can’t even comprehend. God finds us worth his time. God finds you worth his time. He’s made a promise to bring us into a land far greater than what we have seen, and we can follow him straight into that Promised Land.

Genesis 3:1-10

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied.  “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman.  “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. ⁷At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. ⁹Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

Some decisions that take a half-second to make have long-term consequences. This passage in Genesis 3 reminds us that a tiny mistake can cost a whole lot, and we are all reaping the consequences of sin that was invited into the world by Adam and Eve. As we consider our theme of “God with us,” we see here the original intention of God dwelling in and with his creation. He walked freely in the Garden with Adam and Eve. Imagine a world in which God is your actual neighbor — this is a picture of how life is supposed to be.

Here’s your freedom for today: God wants to walk with you every day.

God’s design is to live with us. Everything about the mission of Jesus ties back to that reality. God could not allow imperfection in his kingdom, so Adam and Eve could not remain in the Garden with him. Notice that God did not abandon them in the Garden, never to speak to them again. Instead, he removed them from the Garden in order to maintain his perfect world that it might one day be restored. Jesus came to be “Immanuel” in order to create a door back to that world. “Come, walk with God!” That is his invitation today. How will you respond?

John 1:1-5

“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.”

The Wise Men were interesting figures in the coming of Jesus. These star-gazers were the first non-Jews to truly encounter Jesus, and they represent the coming of the Good News to the whole world. In the context of the Old Testament, we see that God has sought to appear and dwell with us since creation. The creation story, reflected in today’s passage of John, shows that Jesus has been present since the very beginning.

Here’s your freedom for today: Jesus has come to give us life.

Let’s pause on that word: life. Take a minute to think about the things that bring you to life — what truly rejuvenates your soul? Jesus brings that kind of soul-revival in an eternal and supernatural way. He is able to do this because he is the manifestation of the voice of God. He was made manifest on earth in the spoken words of creation and he presented himself in the form of a baby thousands of years later. He brings us life and shines light in the world. There is no uncertainty about the darkness of this world, and it is clear in the Bible that only the light of Jesus has the power to permeate this darkness. Ask Jesus to fill you with light and life today.

Luke 2:8-20

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,  but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!  And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.’ When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.  After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.”

In the ultimate movement to be with his people since creation, God wraps himself up in a human body and enters earth in the most human of ways. He then sends a heavenly choir to entertain some ragamuffin local shepherds. What’s most interesting is that God doesn’t present himself to kings or rich people. He has no need to position himself because he has an other-worldly kind of power. God’s kind of “with” is fundamentally about relationship with people who need him.

Here’s your freedom for today: God desires to be with those who desire him.

What is the desire of your heart this holiday season? What expectations do you have of this day? Of next year? Of your life? Has your heart been disappointed with your earthly circumstances? Or perhaps you are living well but you are feeling spiritually void. Challenge yourself to spend time in quiet prayer asking God to align your desires and expectations with his. Seek Immanuel more than any other desire today.

Matthew 1:22-24

“All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.”

Yesterday we read the prophecy from Isaiah written 700 years before the birth of Jesus. Here we see those same words quoted — evidence of the fulfillment of the prophecy through Jesus’ coming. In this passage, Joseph has a dream just as he was about to run away from God’s calling on his life. He wasn’t about to get caught up in Mary’s scandal, although he had decided to be honorable about it. God intervenes and sends an angel to appear in Joseph’s dream. It must have been a pretty vivid one, because upon waking Joseph is prepared to be obedient to God based on what he saw.

Here’s your freedom for today: God reveals his mission clearly.

We often wonder what God’s will is, and we make it so complicated we have no idea what to do. We wait and wonder and do nothing while waiting. In this example of God showing up, he’s not only preparing to send Jesus, but he’s revealing his mission to Joseph. There is no evidence in the Bible that Joseph even prayed to ask God what to do — he just made a plan to leave Mary before the scandal broke. When God has a plan, he makes it clear. If you are faithful in seeking to do the right thing, God will interrupt you if you are wrong.

This holiday season, take time to read the Matthew account of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth. Consider the ways in which God reveals himself and works to unfold his plan. Take time to marvel at the ways he brings himself to the world.