Among Us

He is born…with those words a new time begins for humanity. A new understanding of God is born with the Child in the manger. God is no more removed: "out there;" but He is here, "Immanuel, God with us."

All children understand the importance of the loving touch of their parents. Studies in Russia during the last century show us that children without human touch soon wither and die. It is the same way with us in our God/human relationship. If God is simply "out there," we lose interest and feel abandoned. An impersonal God is a meaningless God.

But, when God becomes personal to us, things change. When we feel and understand the loving immediate presence of God, our own lives become more vibrant and more concerned with the world about us. Truly Christian people are involved in some way with their world. They are not simply removed from the world, but immersed in it. They are so because of the revelation of God in Christ: the child who grew into a man, suffered, died, and rose again to express to us the way in which God loves us all.

So, the Child in the manger. God's expression of His love for us. Immanuel…God is with us. There can be no more important revelation in the world than this one: "God so love the world that he sent his only begotten Son…"

Amen.
Curtis Rivers

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