One Solitary Life

Many years ago someone wrote a very famous essay about the impact of Jesus’ life. It goes like this: 

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty, and then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself. 

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executors gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth—his coat. When he was dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed tomb, through the pity of a friend. 

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone and today he is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever were built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life. (Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p. 140) 

There is seemingly no better time than the Christmas season to envision the glory of God. As we wonder at the nativity scenes and decorations throughout our city, in stores and shopping malls, homes in our neighborhoods, all aglow with the twinkling lights are our attempts to capture the glory, but ultimately we must remember that Christmas represents God's gracious plan of redemption. 

In Jesus we see both man and God. We can relate to Him as a fellow human being, but always remembering He is God! Proclaiming Truth, He taught us how to live. Radiating grace, He showed us what it means to forgive. And as the only begotten of the Father the unique Son, His coming into our midst showed us that God has a plan for us...to be with Him forever! 

John 3:16"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV)
Merry Christmas!!