The Radical Christmas Victory Plan

The Radical Christmas Victory Plan - #6249
There's something very special about having a new baby in the family at
Christmastime - since it's really all about a baby. And this past Christmas,
we
had the joy of celebrating with our brand new granddaughter. Well, she
didn't actually do much celebrating - she really didn't do much of anything
except
lie there and look irresistible. Now, in my head, I know that babies are
helpless, but being around one for a little while really brings that home.
Our
little darlin' couldn't eat unless Mommy fed her. She couldn't burp unless
someone burped her (that's something that some of us grew up and learned to
be quite good at). Our baby couldn't move unless someone moved her; her
little hands sort of flailed around - absolutely no ability to control what
they
did. Helpless.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The
Radical Christmas Victory Plan."
Now try to get your mind around this: the helpless hands of that little
Jewish baby Mary was holding in the manger were the hands that created the
galaxies!
The Son of God, the second Person of the Godhead, the One of whom the Bible
says, "Through Him all things were made" (John 1:3). He comes to our planet
in a helpless little package that basically can do nothing for Himself.
Omnipotence becomes helpless to rescue a world full of dying people. As one
song
says, "What a strange way to save the world."
Get used to it. It seems to be God's favorite modus operandi. And this
radical victory plan - use the weak to do amazing things - can be both an
encouragement
to you and an explanation for some of your recent struggles. Let's go to our
word for today from the Word of God to see the story of that first Christmas
from heaven's viewpoint. Philippians 2, beginning with verse 5, tells us
that our attitude "should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."
God goes on to explain that, though Jesus was "in very nature God," He "made
Himself nothing" - now picture that helpless, little infant in a cattle
stall
- "taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness...He
humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!" The
great
plan of God to redeem our world starts with Jesus as a helpless baby in a
cattle stall and culminates with Him nailed to a criminal's cross. But
Colossians
2:15 announces the crushing triumph won by that "weakness" - it says Jesus
disarmed the princes of hell and "made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing
over them by the cross!" And Michael Card says, "His most awesome work was
done through the frailty of His Son!" God loves to win through weakness.
Then
it's a whole lot of God, and hardly any of us.
That's why He chooses unlikely candidates and does mighty things through
them - which means your inadequacy and ordinariness may be exactly what
qualifies
you to be a spiritual hero. According to Jesus, who is it that will "inherit
the earth?" The mighty? No - the meek (Matthew 5:3). And about the struggles
you've been going through recently. God will do whatever it takes to help us
realize our weakness - to break our death grip on the steering wheel and to
finally let Him drive - to break that stubborn pride of ours, the
self-reliance, our need to control. All so we can finally surrender and let
His strength
come flooding in. Maybe the battles you've been going through have been to
take you beyond yourself and beyond things you can fix, you can solve, or
you
can figure out - so you'll get out of the way and let God do what only He
can do.
Join the Conversation
A baby wrapped in rags - a bloodied man, hanging on a cross. Vivid pictures
of God's radical plan for victory - winning through weakness so everyone
will
know that the Lord is God!
"A Word With You" by Ron Hutchcraft is a daily radio challenge, with
slice-of-life illustrations and insights-providing practical help on the
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A Word With You"
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