None of us are perfect, which is why Jesus came to this world to begin with. He also knew that “Christmas” would not make our world perfect overnight. Some ancient prophecies heralded his advent into this world (Isaiah 9:6 and 7:14 KJV), but others foretold his suffering and sacrifice (Isaiah 52:13-53:12). Biblical prophecies of lasting peace on Earth are yet beyond the immediate future (Isaiah 11:6-9).
How long can God let this hurtful world go on? Yet to stop rebellious man by force would be the last resort for God. God doesn’t desire the sacrifice of something else (Hebrews 10:5-10), but rather gives us his own self. Immanuel! What has this world cost God? It isn’t just the suffering and death of the only begotten Son of God; it is Christ’s living, his existence, and all that he has created.
It is also the sum of all the selfless acts of love by our fellow creatures, much of it entirely thankless. It is the work of every caring responsible person, each loving parent, and of every such kindness throughout all generations. God has inspired it, and much of it is done without a second thought. The sum includes all things done to preserve neighborliness, life, truth and goodness. It includes every mercy, every forgiveness, and we tend to think a little more on these things in the season of Christmas.
Never forget that someone who forgives another has often paid a heavy price for loving that person. Jesus said that the greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Luke 10:25-28). Wherever we fall short of this, we then become dependent upon God’s forgiveness and sacrifice. If we cannot love God, then our love for those around us can become little more than a bargaining tool, an “I will love you if…,” rather than an act of giving. The price of sacrificial love may be great, and but for one thing the rewards might seem pitifully small; this kind of love is actually life-giving and makes life worth living.
Jesus is the greatest gift that God could ever have given our world but he is certainly not the most appreciated, not yet anyway. God counted us worth it, and the real value of something is whatever it is worth to the one who desires it. This world isn’t heaven, far, far from it; but here is where the hard work of love must be done. Thank you God. Sorry for our excess in so many things and sorry for our lack of selfless love.
What is the sum of the sacrifice of God? It is God himself, who came down to this world to become one of us, one with us. Immanuel! The atonement is in Christ’s sacrifice. It is enough to bring peace with God, at-one-ment with God. It will one day bring peace on Earth. The cost may seem far “too much,” but sometimes it takes too much to bring us to our senses. I am certain that nothing less than the blood of Jesus could ever hold us strongly enough.
None of us are perfect, and we know it; these things hurt everyone around us, and God most of all. Nevertheless, God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should never perish but have everlasting life. Christ’s birth (Christmas) means life need never end.
God’s great desire is to give us eternal life, and this gift is in his son (1st John 5:11). The Christmas message from the angel in Luke 2:10-14 is “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Dear God, when we say “Merry Christmas,” let that truly be our meaning. The price is paid, let the gift be joyfully received.
Themysteryof Blog 
“Yet to stop rebellious man by force would be the last resort for God. ”
hmmm,, then why did this god require genocide on those tribes that didn’t worship it all through the old testament and the murder spree in Revelation?
no one ever called Jesus Immanuel. that’s an invention by Christians desperate for a “prophecy”.
There was no sacrifice at all. Sacrifice means loss. An inconvenient weekend is no sacrifice. A real sacrifice is when someone really dies for another with no coming back. Humans do far more than your myth.
No one needed a blood sacrifice to itself other than this god. It could have chosen something else, but no, it had to have a death by torture to make itself happy after it failed repeatedly in Eden, in the flood, in the exodus etc. Finally it gets around to deciding that more blood is needed.
clubschadenfreude,
As I have said before, I have very little time for writing, and none at all for debate; I will say this much though. While some people are influenced by atheistic accusations against God, my own faith is no longer shaken by it.
One of the great regrets of my life however, is that when I was of much the same opinion as you, I also influenced my siblings and friends in that way. For some years now, I have tried with little success to undo the effects of my former atheistic, evolutionary beliefs. To influence someone for truth is not so easy.
Just like the news of today, the Bible of necessity records some complex and violent history. That history is due to the freewill of man however, and not because of the will of God. Everywhere on this earth mankind’s history is violent, but that is not what God desired, neither for the ancient nations of the Bible nor for any other.
If we want to see through the charades of life, we need to take a closer look at the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. He is the true revelation of the living God. I know that life as well as the Bible can be read as you are reading it, but we need to look beyond the unstable words and meanings of our languages to view the true picture. There are no words that can be spoken that cannot be misunderstood in some way.
Mankind tends to think of itself as the highest form of intelligence in the universe, but we hardly know a drop in the bucket. In my own life, I reached the point where I was willing to admit that if God existed, I needed him. I began to want to know the truth. I began to seek it, and little by little, the more I sought the more I found.
Regardless of this or that, the Bible fits life, science, and all history just too perfectly to be untrue. I am absolutely persuaded that Jesus is the truth. His explanations of life and of the ancient prophecies fit the facts, and make perfect sense.