Christmas; Supernatural Invades the Natural
If there is anything natural to God, it is the supernatural. The Son of God, named Jesus, is the Father’s highest expression of Himself. In the beginning God walked in His garden; but, because of sin, a great separation occurred. For four thousand years, men and women of faith represented God and gave us a shadow of His glory. Occasionally, God would clothe Himself in a cloud, a pillar of fire, and even a whirlwind to reveal His presence. It is evident that the Great Father was passionate about His earthly family and longed to be both seen and known.
The prophets spoke of a future time when God would appear — of all things — as a child and provide a living drama of “God with us,” called Immanuel. Somehow unknown to the prophets, this child would be God, yet hide in a garment of flesh. The language they used was a mystery itself. Isaiah spoke by the Holy Ghost, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).
David the “sweet writer of mysteries” saw Him in a kingly disguise and appeared captivated by this poetic vision, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad” (Psalm 45:6-8). It was like King David was dreaming of someone out of this world whom he could not quite grasp.
Solomon, the lover of wisdom, got a glimpse of one that he called the “Rose of Sharon.” His vision revealed that He would search in the hidden places for His undefiled lovers, “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night” (Song of Solomon 5:12). What a picture of grace!
There are not any mysteries of His God-revealed epiphanies that are more spectacular than the fourth man in a fiery furnace. Three Hebrew young men had refused to worship a golden image of Nebuchadnezzar. The king was exceedingly angry and heated a furnace to the edge of explosion. These three stately administrators, dressed in the high style of Babylon’s best, were condemned to die. In fury, the king demanded that they be sacrificed to death in this red hot brick kiln because of his pride. They were cast into the furnace, and, immediately, they began to walk about. A pagan king found his decree violated by a visitor from another world. He cried out, “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” (Daniel 3:25b).
No citizen of Israel should have been surprised when Jesus Christ appeared in the Land of Promise. The entire history of this Jewish nation was a supernatural story. They were chosen for one main reason. God needed a family that would produce a virgin to welcome the life of this child/King in her earthly womb. The obscure village, where the mother would live, was long in preparation. The town of temple sacrifices must be called Bethlehem or the House of Bread. God’s earthly city, Jerusalem, would be His place of ultimate death. Even the geography was a layout of the supernatural.
All the details of His death were planned in perfect order to fulfill the Father’s divine script. He was betrayed by an apostle with a heart of deception. He was denied by another apostle with a heart of fear. The multitude that heard Him included many that gladly clamored for His crucifixion. The same Jerusalem that saw His miracles also saw His horrible death. Everything about Him proved that He was from another world and another time; but, somehow brought His world into our world.
John would later write of Him, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-5, 14). He created the same world that later watched him die on the cross.
He spent three days in a tomb and three days simultaneously in the heart of the earth; yet, He walked out of both in the same robe that He wore when He left His Father’s House. For forty days they saw Him, then, He left them while they watched Him ascend into the sky. Angels promised that He would return and we wait for that moment even until this day. Everything about Him is so full of mystery that the worldly crowd has spent two thousand years trying to destroy His supernatural story. And, they are no closer to proving their points than when His first enemies denied His Sonship.
God spoke of His greatness and promised that He would never be defeated, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1). “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed.” “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.” “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:2, 4, 6). Wait patiently for Him because He will soon appear and triumph will be the order of the day. The first time He came, the supernatural became the natural. The next time He comes, the natural will become the supernatural.
Jaimie
Dear Pastor Chambers,
What coincidence; One of the things that i was meditating upon today, was Gods word about how he would have them in derision. Just before that i had a revelation of the humility of God when the Holy Spirit came to Mary, Creation made (supernaturaly)again, salvaged by the most loving God. Thats what our Christmas is really about.
The Holy Spirit is strong in you today Pastor, we’re not whopped yet!
God Bless My Christian Bretheren.
jaimie
Pastor, Tommy Threatt
My Dear Brother In Christ Joseph Chambers, Is truly a Man of a Great God and it shows in every thing he does.
I thank My Lord Jesus Christ for brother Joe.
melvin meyers
They destroy the story when they claim Yahushua was born on christmas as all the pagan gods were born. Its makes a better story when it is told on His real birthday. Feast of Tabernacles that He tabernacle with mankind. Christmas gave believes a chance to be like the world. Also to mix the truth with the world religions. Christmas is like saying all religions have the same god. Its time to seperate the b s from the truth.
Ed Wood
What a great article for this Christmas Season, Pastor Joseph! Though the years and even the centuries may pass with God seemingly not stepping into history, the fact is, he is always here just the same.
When Jesus was born in Judea 2000 years ago even the timing was perfect. Though Rome had many faults, it had developed the sophisticated infrastructure that would allow the broad transmission of his word and life thoughout the civilized world, particularly after his death by his apostles and later followers such as Paul. Even its persecution and dispersal of those early Christians no doubt accelerated the sowing of the word far beyond the land of Jesus’ nativity.
We can therefore trust that we are not forgotten even though over 20 centuries have passed since then and that his return for his own will be similarly perfect, and, based on the way the world appears right now, it seems likely that this may be very soon indeed.
A Merry Christmas to you, Pastor Joseph, your family and all who read this post.