Christmas

The Incarnation Proves God is at Work in You

Posted On: 21. 12. 12 | 1 Comment

Today is a wonderful day in two ways. First and foremost, I am currently at the hospital awaiting the arrival of our third little boy, Owen Kristopher Hutto. Lord willing, I will have exciting news and pictures to share with you tomorrow as we introduce our newest addition to the world. Until then I am thrilled to introduce you once again to my friend Melissa Deming from Hive Resources who has graciously offered to share the last installment of a series she has been writing on the incarnation with Desiring Virtue’s readers. As we draw ever nearer to Christmas day, I pray that the thoughtful and beautiful truths shared in this post will resound in our hearts as we celebrate the remarkable work of God becoming man! -Jessalyn

This post is the third in a three-part series at Hive Resources on the Incarnation and what it proves to the world about God’s love. Visit Hive Resources for a special Flash Freebie from the series!

I think Alexander Pope got it wrong.

To err is not human–at least not based on the Divine Playwright’s original script.

The meaning of humanity is never more reticent than at Christmas, when we focus on the one Person who took on flesh and demonstrated what true humanity looks like.

The incarnation shows us:

Evidence of God’s good character. (The Incarnation speaks to who God is).
Evidence of God’s role as Creator & Re-Creator! (The Incarnation speaks to what God does).
And finally, evidence of God’s purpose in your life. (The incarnation speaks to why God does what he does).

The Christmas story, then, is about more than a miraculous birth and a back-stage pass into heaven. It’s the story of a Good God who created a good world that became corrupted by sin. It’s the story of a Good God who is at work in his creation to restore it back to its original state.

The Christmas story is about what you’re doing here on earth and how God is at work in your life for his glory.

So, how does the incarnation prove that God is at work in our lives?

The incarnation helps us to be human.

God created you to know him and reflect him to a watching world, but sin makes that purpose impossible.

The 4^th century bishop Athanasius of Alexandria called it the “dehumanizing of mankind” – the distortion of the image of God within us.

I guess you could say sin keeps us from being fully human – as God designed.

We see this original design for humanity in the life of the Word Incarnate.

When the Word became flesh, we saw a servant bent on God’s glory.
When the Word became flesh, we saw the fruits of the Spirit in their fullest form.
When the Word became flesh, we saw true knowledge and communion with the Father and the Spirit.

This is the kind of life God intended for Adam and Eve–and for you and me–before sin corrupted all that was good.

This is what it means to ‘be human’–to know God and reflect him (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; Col. 3:10).

Listen to how Athanasius describes the Son’s role in the renewal of our purpose in his book, On the Incarnation:

What else could He possibly do, being God, but renew His Image in mankind, so that through it men might once more come to know Him? And how could this be done save by the coming of the very Image Himself, our Saviour Jesus Christ? Men could not have done it, for they are only made after the Image; nor could angels have done it, for they are not the images of God. The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father, Who could recreate man made after the Image. In order to effect this re-creation, however, He had first to do away with death and corruption. Therefore He assumed a human body, in order that in it death might once for all be destroyed, and that men might be renewed according to the Image. The Image of the Father only was sufficient for this need (emphasis mine).

The Incarnation is proof of God’s love. In it the Agent of our Creation became the Agent of our Salvation.

So, this Christmas, you may well marvel at the miracle of the virgin birth. You may rejoice that your sins have been forgiven! But don’t forget to praise the Living Word who continues to work in your life – working to restore your humanity by restoring his perfect image within you.

God is at work in your life so you can know him and reflect him. God loves you. The Incarnation is proof of that.

Would you like to win a copy of Athanasius’ On the Incarnation? Jump over to Hive Resources to enter! You only have till midnight tonight!

Melissa Deming is the creator of Hive Resources. She’s a freelance journalist and creative writer. Her ideal day includes stalking Half Price Books, mining the Scriptures for treasure, and consuming unhealthy amounts of coffee – three hobbies that make it possible for her to share some sweet resources for you to grow in biblical wisdom and truth.

You can follow her on Facebook by clicking here or on Pinterest by clicking here.

3 Ways to Tie in Easter with Christmas

Posted On: 13. 12. 12 | 4 Comments

The joy of celebrating the Messiah’s incarnation can only be rivaled by the celebration of his death and resurrection. Without his sacrificial death on my behalf, I would be left only with a wonderful story of God coming to live with his people. That would be amazing and special, but carry no weight for my eternal soul. It is because of Christ’s mission to die for me, to take my place on the cross, that his birth on earth is so important. It is because of his powerful resurrection that I know he was more than a little baby in a manger, he was the Son of God. Without these key truths I would be left with no way to please God, no way to gain salvation.

Today I am going to share some practical ways to tie Christmas and Easter together as we celebrate these most wonderful of holidays.

1. Your Christmas Tree and Easter Cross

If you use a real Christmas tree, don’t simply toss it when January 1st roles around. Chop off a portion of the trunk and keep it for Easter time. During the season of Lent, fashion that trunk into two beams and make a cross. Use this cross as a centerpiece at your Easter celebration.

Using your Christmas tree to make a cross will remind you of the reason for celebrating Christmas- because the babe came to die for our sins.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 ESV)

2. Advent Candles in Reverse

Just as we celebrate the light coming into the world at Christmas time, during the season of Lent, we remember the Light of the World’s sacrificial death. As Easter approaches, instead of lighting candles one by one, blow them out one by one, representing the death of the Light (Christ). Then on Easter morning wake your family to a house full of lit candles representing the miraculous resurrection of Christ.

“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” (John 12:46 ESV)

3. Continue the Story of Your Jesse Tree

If you are partaking in the Jesse Tree tradition, let the story continue with a Passion Tree. Most Jesse Tree devotionals or suggested readings end with the birth of Christ (which is what we are celebrating at Christmas). A Passion Tree picks up at the birth and follows along with the life of Christ, preparing your family’s heart for the remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection. Click here for an example and even free devotional guide to a Passion Tree.

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:9-13 ESV)

Do you have any suggestions for tying in Easter with Christmas? If so, share them in the comments below!

Our Advent Tree

Posted On: 30. 11. 12 | 13 Comments

No family’s traditions are exactly the same. In fact, most of the traditions I shared with you in the Cultivating a Christ-Centered Christmas series are not ones that we personally use and among the ones that we do use, some we have tweaked or recreated to fit our personal needs and desires. That is the point of family traditions right? They are your family’s traditions!

I am going to share with you the way my husband and I combined the Christian “Jesse Tree” tradition with our the traditional “Christmas Tree” tradition to provide a beautiful and unique way to worship and celebrate the Christ of Christmas.

Our Tree’s Backstory

Four years ago we decided to assess our Christmas tree. I’m sure it had something to do with me reading “Treasuring God in Our Traditions” by Noel Piper. In the book she explains that there never was a Christmas tree in their home. They didn’t really see a point since it had nothing to do with the incarnation. Rather than simply accepting cultural norms, they decided to only include traditions that truly pointed to the Christ and encouraged meditation on the Savior. My head started reeling the first time I read this. No Christmas tree?

My mother’s Christmas tree is a paradigm of Christmas trees. It is always very large, perfectly adorned by bows, ribbons, lights, and beads. The ornaments that decorate its fragrant branches range from porcelain ballerinas to fantastical glass blow fish.

Picking out the perfect tree every year growing up was a family affair (a battle that my brother somehow always won) and decorating the tree was a major event, one that my mother always seemed to make special. I loved our tree. I am still utterly enchanted when I walk into my parent’s home and take in the beautiful job she has done each year.

Would our home not have that same tradition? Would our children not walk through isles of trees searching for the perfect one to adorn our family room? This was something I would have to think and pray about.

As I researched more and more traditions that were specifically Christ-centered I came across the Jesse Tree tradition. I loved the way it encouraged us to celebrate redemptive history, the way it caused us to think about the waiting that God’s people experienced as he fulfilled his promise of salvation. As I began to consider implementing it in our Christmas celebration I couldn’t help but feel that having a little tree (or even a branch as some use) that focused on the Savior and a very large, mostly arbitrary (beautifully arbitrary mind you!) Christmas tree during the celebration of Christ’s incarnation was a little lopsided.

Since we were already reassessing our Christmas tree to begin with, we decided to give the tradition an overhaul and meld the two trees together into one Christ-centered tree that would spur us on to love the Savior more every time we decorated it. And so our Christmas tree was born.

Our Christmas Tree Tradition

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.” (Isaiah 11:1-5 ESV)

“O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit.” (Hoseah 14:8 ESV)

We will begin decorate our tree tomorrow night on December 1st. As Richard brings it in and sets it up, I will prepare the hot chocolate and treats. We will start in the same way most do by stringing lights around the tree–a beautiful reminder of Christ’s illuminating character and sinless life (the more lights the better!).

Once the lights are strung, we will begin putting our ornaments on. One by one we adorn our tree with simple, beautiful ball ornaments that display the names of Christ. On each ornament I have written one of the ways the Bible refers to the Messiah as well as the scripture references. As we hang each name we say it out loud reminding each other of the many attributes of Christ. As our children get older and the tradition can last longer, we hope to take time to read several of the references associated with the names.

Next we hang cross ornaments to remind us of the reason Christ was born as a baby in the flesh of men. This is a collection we have just begun and look forward to adding to. I love to see the crosses amongst the various names of Christ as well as amongst our advent ornaments as it reminds me that every event in Biblical history points to the mission of God to redeem his people.

Once all of our ornaments are hung, we add red ribbon that cascades down our tree reminding us of the precious blood that was shed for our forgiveness.

And of course, the last thing to be added is the star, reminiscent of “his star” which the wise men followed to find the Christ-child.

Now comes the advent part. I have made ornaments using picture frame ornaments that capture various biblical characters and events (most can be found in a typical Jesse Tree listing). These ornaments trace through the course of redemptive history beginning with Creation and ending at the coming of the Messiah. Each night leading up to Christmas we add one ornament to the tree and read the corresponding account in the Bible. Slowly, but surely, they fill the tree with the story of salvation as they wind up from the bottom of the tree to the top where they meet the glowing star. This wonderful tradition is helpful not only for the children, but for us as well. Together we remember (and our children learn) the need we, as a fallen race, had for a Savior. Through learning the anticipation of God’s people, we too build anticipation for Christmas day when we celebrate the Messiah’s coming.

As the advent ornaments continue to be added to our tree, a wonderful story of God’s interaction with his people begins to unfold. All the while this incredible story is nestled in among reminders of the Savior, to whom it all belongs.

I love our tree.

I love that it has a purpose and that every time I look at it I am stirred to think on the amazing truths of salvation. When I look at it I think of my Savior.

Our prayer is that God would use this tradition in our children’s lives to not only teach them the story of salvation, but captivate their little hearts with the joy we have in God’s goodness to his people.

My Challenge to You

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Every family’s traditions will look different. My hope in sharing our Christmas Tree Tradition with you is not say, “You should do this too,” but to encourage you to be intentional about your celebration and don’t be afraid to step outside the box a little in an effort to honor the Lord and worship him through your traditions. I have found so much joy in coming up with creative ways to make our Christmas about the One who is worthy of so much celebration.

A Peek into One of Our Family’s Favorite Traditions

Posted On: 28. 11. 12 | Leave a Comment

Today I am privileged to guest post at one of my favorite websites, Redeemed Reader! Here is a snippet from the post…

It’s that wonderful time of the year again when our home are filled with the scents of cinnamon and pine and the twinkly lights give off a familiar, joyful glow. For the redeemed children of God, this season is marked by more than warm feelings and family get togethers–it is a time to celebrate our Heavenly Father sending his Holy Son, so that we could be adopted into his family! More than anything I want to take advantage of Christmastime and share the wonderful truth of the incarnation of Christ with my little boys. I want for them to be caught up in this magical (and praise God real) event rather than the imaginary and at times frivolous stories of Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

One of the practical and oh-so-fun ways we try to direct their attention to the miraculous birth of Christ during this season is by filling our home and their imaginations with special Christmas picture books that make an appearance only once a year. As I unpack all of our Christmas decorations and prepare for the month of December I also pull out a (growing) collection of story books that focus–in various ways–on our Savior and the true reason we celebrate Christmas.

[To find out how we celebrate with these special books and how you can incorporate this tradition into your own family's jump on over to Redeemed Reader with me!]

5 Picture Books For Christmas

Posted On: 26. 11. 12 | 10 Comments

In the Cultivating a Christ-Centered Christmas series I mentioned that we as a family have an Advent Book tradition where we daily unwrap books that relate particularly to the Christmas story. On Wednesday I will be guest posting at Redeemed Reader on the particular ways you can easily incorporate this tradition in your own family’s celebration.

Today, I would like to share five of our favorite Christmas picture books with you. Obviously we bring out and enjoy many other books during the Christmas season. Some are more silly than others (Veggie Tales comes to mind) and some are beautifully illustrated accounts of legends that drive home the Christmas message (the Legend of the Christmas Cookie for example), but our favorites are the ones that poetically and joyously celebrate the Savior himself. By filling our home with such books during this special season, we hope to drive home the focus our family strives to have on Christ during the holidays. Here are five such books which I would recommend adding to your own Christmas collection (some of them may surprise you!):

1.) Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story

by Sally Lloyd-Jones

This relatively new picture book, which focuses on the excitement preceding the incarnation of Christ was published in 2011 and is a true blessing to families everywhere. In true Sally Lloyd-Jones fashion, the story easily captures the imagination and thoughts of young children while the beautiful pictures of various animals from all different environments keep little minds engaged.

The purpose of this particular book is to breed excitement for the coming of the Light of the World. As the animals of earth repeat over and over again phrases like “It’s time! It’s time!,” “Get ready! Get ready! Be glad! Be glad!” you and your children will get caught up in the wonder of the coming incarnation until you peer down along with the animals at “God’s great gift.”

You can find Song of the Stars here.

2.) Christmas Night Fair and Bright

by Julie Stiegemeyer

This poetic telling of Jesus’ birth is perfect for the littlest of listeners as the rhythmic lines flow easily from page to page and end each time with the proclamation: “He’s Jesus, born for us.” What I find particularly helpful in this book is the emphasis given at the end of the book for what we are truly celebrating at Christmas time.

The second to last page reads:

“Born our Savior, born to cry, born to suffer, born to die. All our sins on Him will lie, on Jesus born for us.”

The last page pictures a church gathering for a candlelight service and reads:

“At Christmas gathered in this place, though we don’t see our Savior’s face, we hear God’s precious words of grace of Jesus, born for us. Christmas moon glows fair and bright shining now with Christmas light. We celebrate His birth tonight: our Jesus, born for us.”

You can find Christmas Night Fair and Bright here for a very cheap price!

3.) The Lightlings

by R. C. Sproul

“Once upon a time, there was a great King, who was the King of Light. He made the light, and His light was so perfect and so pure that He was called ‘The King without a Shadow’ This great King of Light made a group of people, and He made them so that they could shine brightly, just as He did. He called them His little lightlings…”

So begins the beautiful allegorical tale of the Gospel written by the much respected Dr. R. C. Sproul. The story of the lightlings and their King walks through their fall into darkness (the entrance of sin into the world) and introduces the gift of the Savior in a tiny child called the “Son of the King of Light” who will restore the light once given to these little pixy characters by their Creator. “The King has given us a child. He has given us His own Son to be the Light of the World,” the little pixies proclaim as they gaze upon the baby.

This unlikely Christmas story is told, as most of Sproul’s children’s books are, from the voice of a loving grandfather to his grandson and displays how even the most ordinary of problems a child faces (in this case the fear of the dark) can point to profound truths found in the Word of God.

Particularly noteworthy are the illustrations in this picture book which are simply gorgeous and can be appreciated by both children and adults alike.

You can find The Lightlings here.

4.) The Tale of Three Trees

by Angela Elwell Hunt

This book is well known legend about three trees who hoped to do “great” things when they grew up. One wants to be a made into a beautiful treasure chest, another wants to be a mighty ship, and the last wants to grow taller than all the other trees so that he will point people to God. Each of them is disappointed to see what they actually become as the first is used for wood to make a manger (which holds the Christ-child), the second a little boat (which carries the Lord as he calms the raging seas), and the third is cut down to be used as a cross (where the Savior hangs to pay the penalty for our sins).

The story simultaneously tells the story of the Jesus’ birth, power, death, and resurrection while teaching children that God uses the humble for his own glorious purposes.

You may be wondering why I would include this book in a list of Christmas books. While it does include a picture of the nativity and focuses briefly on the birth of Christ, the story is much broader than just the incarnation. The reason I included it is because it not only provides a context for the birth of Christ (within his life, death and resurrection), but also shows the simpleness of his birth–the unworthiness of something so gross (a manger) to hold the King of the Universe. It is a great talking point for little children.

You can find The Tale of Three Trees here.

5.) The Light of the World

by Katherine Paterson

This beautifully illustrated picture book follows the life, death and resurrection of Christ, and focuses primarily on him bringing light into the world. For this reason it is a great pairing with R.C. Sproul’s The Lightlings. This book is helpful during the Christmas season to provide a framework for who this little baby is we are celebrating. There would be no reason to celebrate this little child’s birth if he hadn’t been the Son of God and hadn’t come to die for our sins. Also beneficial in this book are the illustrations which venture away from the typical Caucasian Jesus and present darker skinned, more realistic versions of these well-known historical characters.

You can find The Light of the World here.

What are some of your favorite Christmas books? What would make your top 5? I would love to hear about them as we are always on the lookout for great books!