Jesus

December 24, 2021

Randy Hageman

And the angel said to [the shepherds], ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’ —Luke 2:10-11 (ESV)

Jesus: ‘Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.’ —John 17:5 (NLT, emphasis added)

In the beginning… —John 1:1 (NLT)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. —Genesis 1:1 (NLT)

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. —John 1:1-3 (NLT)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. —John 1:14 (ESV)

Maker of the sun, He is made under the sun.…
In [the Father] He remains,
From [His mother] He goes forth.
Creator of heaven and earth,
He was born on earth under heaven.
Unspeakably wise, He is wisely speechless;
filling the world, He lies in a manger;
Ruler of the stars, He nurses at His mother’s bosom.
He is both great in the nature of God,
and small in the form of a servant,
but so that His greatness is not diminished by His smallness,
nor His smallness overwhelmed by His greatness. —Augustine

Though [Christ Jesus] was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. —Philippians 2:6-8 (NLT)

For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. —Colossians 1:19-20 (NLT)

No other God have I but Thee; born in a manger, died on a tree. —Martin Luther

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. —Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)

The Son of God became man to enable men to become sons of God. —C.S. Lewis

Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King! —Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. —Philippians 2:9-11 (NLT)

Sunday: Wise Men (online only)