Pastor's Corner 12/14/08

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:13-14. This verse is often misquoted with the words, “peace on earth and good will to all men.” The unfortunate thing is that though peace among men is a good thing to pursue it is not the story of Christmas. First, what had just happened in Bethlehem was cause for great joy and glorifying God and second, the peace on earth was among those with whom God was pleased. The birth of Jesus was in order to bring peace between GOD and man. We were enemies of God until Jesus brought peace between us and God through His redemptive work on the cross. There can be no peace among men until there is first peace between men and God. Peace among men is a worthy cause but when we allow this to eclipse the true story of Christmas – peace between God and man – we allow a good thing to take the place of the best thing. And when a good thing replaces the best thing then that good thing becomes a bad thing. Anything that takes our eyes off Jesus and worshipping Him only, then that good thing is a bad thing. So this Christmas remember Jesus was born so that He may reconcile men to God by the forgiveness of sins to all who repent and put their faith in Him. Once you have been reconciled to God making peace with men is a given. Pastor Don