Luke 2:10
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”
This was the angel’s message to the shepherds. It contains three awesome examples of God’s grace.
Good News
The coming of Jesus the Christ as our Savior is good news.
Why is Jesus’ coming into the world good news?
It is good news because:
It means that the means of our salvation was in the world
It means that God loves us
It means that God’s heart desire is for my good
The good news of Jesus can be turned into bad news when we try and add things to it (legalism) or remove things from it (license).
Galatians 5:1 says “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
The good news of Jesus means we have been set free from the burden of legalism or sin to be who God created us and recreated us to be.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is, by God’s grace, experiencing the reality of the good news of Jesus.
Great Joy
The good news of Jesus is meant to bring great joy to people.
The celebration of Jesus’ coming has been changed from the focus of that first Christmas. In Bethlehem, the focus was on Jesus. Mary and Joseph were focused on Jesus. The angels revealed to the shepherds that Jesus the Savior had been born. The wise men came seeking Jesus, the king of the Jews.
We focus Christmas on:
Family
Food
Gifts
And some “spirit” of the season
When we don’t experience those things to the degree that we are told we need to experience, we feel depressed and our celebration of Christmas is not one of great joy. Personally, our celebration of Christmas has changed over the years as family circumstances have changed and as where we lived has changed. What has not changed is that our celebration centers on Jesus. Christmas is a time of great joy because Jesus is to be the great joy of our lives.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is daily experiencing the great joy of Jesus in our lives.
Will Be For All People
Jesus’ coming was not just for certain kinds of people:
Jews
Good People
Religious People
Wealthy People
Poor People
Jesus came for ALL PEOPLE!
I love the fact that my faith family is made of people who love people, all kinds of people. I love standing every Sunday and looking at the diversity of our faith family. I love it because Jesus is not just the Savior of America or Europe or Asia or Africa or Australia or Antarctica, but He is the Savior of the world.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is proclaiming to everyone and anybody that Jesus loves them and came to deliver them from the penalty of sin.
May you have an awesome Christmas with Jesus as the focus of your celebration and a Jesus-filled 2020.
In the Grace of God Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,
Joe
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