Thursday, December 1, 2016

Glory to God


Christmas reminds us that Glory came down from heaven in the form of a baby, Jesus! We must give Him all praise, honor, and glory. Paul writes to the church:  God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Glory to God in the church! Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus! Glory down all the generations! Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes! Ephesians 3:20-21(MSG)



How does God show His love, hope, and truth to the world? One way is by sacrificing His life for ours. Prophesy tells us in Isaiah 53 (MSG) 



Who believes what we’ve heard and seen? Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this? 2-6 The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises, we get healed. We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him. He looked death in the face and didn’t flinch, because he embraced the company of the lowest. He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many, He took up the cause of all the black sheep.



Give God all the glory at Christmas and throughout the year. Amen?