DECEMBER 5 NO ADVANTAGES By Ron Moore Founder, The Journey Ministry Board of Directors and Bible Institute Adjunct Faculty, Word of Life Fellowship
He had no form or majesty that we should look at him... (Isaiah 53:2b)
“You’re kidding!” Those were my friend’s words when I told him he would be preaching at our church’s second Christmas Eve service. My wife Lori was pregnant, and her labor pains intensified while I was preaching at the first service. “Seriously, tell me you’re joking,” my friend said again. But I wasn’t. Lori and I were headed to the hospital – and, ready or not, my friend was headed to the church. Lara Kristen made her entrance into the world early Christmas morning. We held our baby girl, all bundled up and wearing a red-and-white-striped cap. It’s hard for us to believe that was over thirty years ago! Over 2,000 years ago, another baby was born. Herod’s census came at an inconvenient time for Mary and Joseph, who had to register in Joseph’s hometown. Mary was far along in her pregnancy and, no doubt, felt every jolt on the ninety-mile trip. There was no one to meet them and no room in the crowded city. A stable was the only option. Joseph helped Mary deliver a baby boy. Mary swaddled Him and laid Him in a feeding trough. Our Savior closed His eyes and slept. It had been a long journey for Him as well. The Father sent Jesus to the back of the line to experience all the pain of humanity. Mary’s pregnancy was scandalous. The birth was unsanitary. The long-expected Messiah was not strikingly handsome or a head taller than the rest (Isaiah 53:2). He was “despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:3). Although He was fully God, He was “a man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus was “pierced for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). God’s Son was given no advantages in life, and He died a brutal death – all for you and me. We were the ones who turned to our own way. But God laid our sin on Jesus, and He paid sin’s penalty in full. There is only one way to respond to such love: Bow down and worship Him, every day, with your whole life!
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