Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
The first time I heard these lyrics sung, I was a young Christian. I so desperately wanted to believe what I’d been learning—that God would fulfill His hopes for my life—but it was hard. It was difficult to trust that someone I couldn’t see cared that much about me.
Every human heart faces this battle—the battle to believe in God and in His goodness. Thankfully, this is what the Christmas story is all about. John 3:16 so beautifully tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
At Christmas time, we celebrate the clearest expression of God’s love—that God sent Jesus as our Savior. But have you ever wondered why He sent Him in human form? I believe it was so that He could both understand and overcome the battles all of God’s children face. God wanted our Savior to be one who could both empathize with our struggles and serve as an example of how to defeat them.
1 John 3:8 tells us Jesus was born for our battle: “…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” I’m sure at no point in Jesus’ earthly life did He look forward to the pain He would endure for our sake, but He did it anyway, because of God’s great love for us!
So this Christmas, as we celebrate Jesus, we can also celebrate the victory we have because of Him. He came to help us win every battle we face!
Jesus came to help us win the battle of being loved by God. Because of His work on the cross, we no longer have to deal with condemnation or shame. We can trust Romans 8:39, which says, “neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
He also came to help us win the battle of being led by God—walking in a way that causes His hopes to be fulfilled in our lives. Romans 8:28 tells us that “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Another reason Jesus came was to help us win the battle of believing in God’s promise. 2 Corinthians 1:20 tells us that, “…no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ…”
My prayer this Christmas is that every time we look into a nativity scene, we don’t just see a cuddly baby; we also see someone born for our battle.May this be your Merriest Christmas, as you celebrate the best gift we’ve ever received—Jesus!
