And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14, NKJV

The original plan was very good—God said so. But, then there was a fatal flaw…

The Lord once had direct commerce with all He had made, and face-to-face fellowship with us—the pinnacle of His creation. But we, each one, fled from His presence into death and darkness. We abused our freedom, using it not to love and trust our Creator, but to follow the enemy into the one place that He had warned us not to go!

I wonder if the enemy, whose only products are deception, destruction, and death, believed that he had out-maneuvered God? It is hard to comprehend how the One who lives forever could rescue those who have strayed into death…

But God already had a plan. Before He even made us He knew what would happen next. In what must have seemed to the enemy to be an impossibly profound condescension, the Word who spoke the universe into existence, who existed wholly outside of it, who knew only light and life, and who made these very wandering and wayward creatures, became one of us! He was like us in every way, except He never wandered and never wavered from His Father’s will. He lived a perfect life and then entered willingly into undeserved death in our place. As such, death could not hold Him, nor any of us who hear His voice. He found us there, to lead us into resurrected life with Him forever!

If the original plan was very good, then this one is glorious! God came down to Earth to permanently bring His Kingdom near. Jesus bridged the gap between Heaven and Earth, even conquering death—for nothing is impossible with God. What we could not do for ourselves, He did Himself, and we need never be parted from Him again!

This Christmas season, I encourage you to embrace and celebrate the incredible magnitude of Immanuel—God with us! Merry Christmas!!

Dear Lord, in the words of Paul in Romans 11:33-36, we pray: Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 

“For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Copyright Jere Vandewalle.

Jere is the Director of Operations for Christian Educators.

***This is the last daily devotional of 2024! They will resume on Monday, January 6, 2025. Thank you for being a part of our daily devotional community in 2024. You are a blessing! We hope you enjoy your winter break and have a blessed Christmas with your loved ones!  🎁 🎄 ♥️