Watch/Listen
Grow Up - What God Has Done In Christ
Brian Mashburn
December 22, 2013
Audio Player
The Intervention of God
We have an important role to play in our spiritual growth. The church has an important role to play in that, too. But try as you might, and as hard as the church works to bring it about, spiritual life and growth would be impossible without God intervening in our affairs. God's incarnation was, above all else, God's intervention.
By now, all of us have been besieged by all things Christmas - wish lists, catalogs, music, decorations, nativity scenes, sweets, tweets, trees, lights, and Santa.
I'm a bit nervous that any message on the value of the birth of Christ, on Immanuel, on "God with us," would blur into the drone of holiday noise.
So please... pause. Take a slow breathe. Stop thinking about "everything" for a minute... and prepare to isolate yourself on one thing.
Then, ask: "What did God do for me by sending Jesus?"
By coming to earth, God has given you forgiveness, significance, and backup. All of the things that could have kept you from God, and from growing in God, have been dealt with.
And not just once, or momentarily. Because Jesus came, God has intervened permanently. Our sin can no longer keep us from growth. Our smallness can no longer keep us from changing the world. And our weakness is overcome by Christ actively, now and forever.
All that is left is for you to live in it as if it was true.