We come before you in this season of Christmas to praise You.  We thank You for the baby Jesus, God the Son, who came to us.  Now we put aside our thoughts of charming decorations, delicious food and gifts, to ponder the beginnings of Christmas...

Before there were people, before the world was, there was the First Family.  God was the name of the First Family.  There was the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14).  God is the Eternal Family who has always been there (Ps 92:2).  And before there was a world of people to love, the First Family had love in its fullest (Jn 17:24).  Like the lyricist says, "When there's love in the house, the house is packed."

Then God created the heavens and Earth (Gen 1:1).  Everything that was created, was made through Jesus (Jn 1:3).  God created people in His own image, man and woman He created them (Gen 1:27).  So the second family was formed.  It, too, was a family of three.  The man and woman were husband and wife, and God was their Lord.  And, again, there was love (Gen 2:25).

But the love of the second family faltered.  The husband and wife abandoned their Lord (Gen 3:6).  And from the second family, generations of people came.  But all have abandoned the First Family in one way or another (Acts 14:16).  We have all offended Him (Rom 3:23).

So the time came for the first Christmas.  God had planned from eternity past that Jesus would come, in person, to visit His world (Acts 2:23).  The baby Jesus grew and showed us, once again, how to live in the ways of the First Family (Jn 1:9).  In fact, we beheld the glory of God (Jn 1:14).

But humankind, whom Jesus created in the beginning, did not receive Him (Jn 1:10).  Some leaders were so angry that Jesus said He was part of the First Family that they wanted to kill Him (Mk 14:62-64).

So, the time came for the first Easter, just as the First Family planned.  The baby, so precious in the manger, grew up, and was put death (Jn 19:18).  But to the Lord and to those of us who believe, this is a good thing (1 Cor 1:23).  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (Jn 3:16).

Now come back to the Christmas scene.  Let's think about the Creator of all things, lying in a manger...
 

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And take us to heaven, to live with Thee there.

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