10th December

Written by Calum Piper

Good Christians All Rejoice

‘He hath opened heaven’s door, and we are blessed for ever more.

One of the most important parts of the Christian faith is that God is not distant, but God has come near to his people, those whom he loves.

The story of Pentecost, jumping a little bit further ahead, is that God comes and lives in each one. As we read the story of the Old Testament for thousands of years, God had chased after the people he loved. He made a promise with the Israelites that they would be his people. They would be his chosen people, and he would chase after them. He would love them. He would pour out his blessings upon them.

But being humans, they got things wrong meaning they became divided and separated from God.

But that did not put God off.

God loved them so much he chased after them time and time and time again. The story of Christmas is almost a story of God putting his foot down and saying, “do you know what? I'm coming as close to you as I can possibly get so that you can't push me away anymore”.

The story of Christmas is God becoming a human, and I mean, just how remarkable is that? God, the source of all creation. The person who created the world. The person who lives in heaven, enthroned with all beauty and splendour and majesty, chooses to become a human. You'd expect him to be born in a palace and with all sorts of riches and yet he becomes a humble carpenter's son, born to a family of the house of David.

Its in that simple moment, as God becomes human, as divinity takes on mortal flesh, the whole of heaven rejoices. And as our carol today says, ‘the door of heaven is opened’. We see the door of heaven being opened slightly for the people whom God loves at Christmas. The story of Easter, that we'll celebrate in a few months’ time, is of that door being opened wide, and all those who choose to love the Christ child welcomed in. As we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the start of a story that will change the world. We celebrate the start of a story that changes the world. Today, we celebrate a story that invites you to know the glory and majesty of heaven, not just when life is over, but right now, in this moment.