For thought and meditation

[rl69]

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.—2 Corinthians 8:9 (http://harvest.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=4f108f827aed8d503b5fca9fa&id=567881ab74&e=3dd732485b)In reality, the story of Jesus is not a rags-to-riches story; it is a riches-to-rags story. It is a story of leaving the glory of Heaven for this planet. Jesus could have been born in the most elegant mansion on the ritziest boulevard in Rome. He could have had aristocratic parents who boasted of their pedigree. He could have had the finest clothes from the most exclusive shops. He could have had legions of angels as an army of servants to respond to His every whim. But He had none of that. Instead, Jesus humbled Himself.

We read in 2 Corinthians 8:9, "Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." God came into our world. He was like any other baby who needed to be cradled, needed to be nurtured, and needed to be protected. The Creator of the universe was born in a stable in Bethlehem.

Like everything else in the Christmas story, we have romanticized this aspect of it. I think, in many ways, we miss its raw, powerful meaning. This stable or barn (or maybe even cave) where Christ was born was cold and damp. It also would have smelled. God incarnate was born on the dirt floor of a filthy stable. Our Savior came not as a monarch draped in gold and silk, but as a baby wrapped in rags.

Jesus went from being a sovereign to a servant. He went from the glory of God to a stable filled with animals. It has been said that history swings on the hinge of the door of a stable in Bethlehem.

Think about what Jesus left to come to us. Jesus took His place in a manger so that we might have a home in Heaven.

[buckwheatpaul]

Amen....powerful and thoughtful.....we often gloss over this point and since Jesus was the Lamb of God, He saved us!

[BNE]

And he did this KNOWING that he would die a horrible, tortuous death. Just because he loved and still loves us.

[square butte]

Thank you for the morning study rl69 - Always apppreciated

[Ickisrulz]

"Jesus went from being a sovereign to a servant."

A servant is not always poor; at least not in the biblical sense. Jesus went from rich to poor. But suggesting he "became" a servant is not entirely true. God has always been a servant to his creation. He provides what is needed and gives to those who are not deserving. Yes, God is a Great King, but he serves also and expects the same from his children.

Jesus said, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father."

[Bzcraig]

I don't believe we will fully understand this on this side of eternity.

[USMC87]

Amen, I am so thankful that my Savior gave of Himself for us!

[Boaz]

Thank you rl69 , His love is boundless and all he requires is childlike faith .

[Blackwater]

Truly, the story of Christ, from first to last, is the story of frequent paradoxes. I think that's just to reinforce to us that we often don't know nearly as much as we think we do, and to get us to take a 2nd, maybe more well considered look, at His teachings. It's really easy to miss a lot that's within them, when we consider them more than just superficially, as so many do when they read the Bible. The essentials are easy to "get." The fruit, though, requires considerably more attention and focus than many seem willing to give it. And therein lies their path to releasing what they might have held to. I liken it to a man hanging on to a rope for dear life, and suddenly deciding that maybe it might not be so bad to see what it's really like down below, so .... he lets go, with predictable results. It's amazing what man can convince himself of, isn't it?