December 5
Reflect again on Creation, the stars, and the incomprehensible power of God. Think about the distance that separates us, for if he is outside of the known universe, sustaining it, He is a long way away. Even if we could set our GPS and travel toward that place at light speed, we could not get to Him in a lifetime. But He can come to us, and He wants to. The Apostle John, in the passage above, makes it clear that God has worked through Jesus so we may know Him. Paul, in Ephesians 3:8, says that everything he [Paul] had and knew, he considered loss compared to the greatness of knowing Jesus (which is to know God). This knowing is more than information. It is experience; it is indicative of relationship with the possibility of an intimate connection.
It began in the Garden. Genesis 3 shows that God spent time in the Garden with Adam and Eve and met with them face to face. It would seem their relationship was so close that when they ate the fruit and their eyes were opened, they were ashamed. I think their shame was more than an awareness of their nakedness. They fashioned coverings for themselves and still hid from God. I think they were ashamed because they realized that what they had done would lead to a broken relationship with God. They knew Him and had an inkling of what their disobedience would mean for their fellowship with Him. Their relationship with God was indeed broken, and man’s relationship with Him has remained broken since that day.
But now we have the assurance, in today’s passages, that God wants us to know Him. He wants the relationship to be restored, and it can be. In fact, according to Paul, there is nothing greater than knowing Jesus; there is nothing greater than reconciliation with God through Christ; nothing greater than personal knowledge of and experience with Jesus.
December is the time to remember that God is the God of reconciliation and restoration. That despite His power and position, despite His superiority to man, He was willing and able to cross the distance and break into human history so we could know Him. It seems odd to me that as joyful as December is supposed to be, too often it ends up putting stress and strain on relationships with those we love the most. More than once, in my home, we’ve had unpleasant disagreements while preparing and decorating the tree. I remember this happening several times until I realized how absurd it was and began praying, before proceeding, that it would be a time of joy and celebration. Tree trimming is now consistently joyful in our home. This December, I urge you to examine your relationships. Begin with God and work to maintain health in your relationship with Him and others. Where health is questionable, seek God and then seek restoration and reconciliation. That’s what Christmas is ultimately about.
December 4
“And God said…”
Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 14, 20, & 24
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
he created him; male and female he created them.”
Genesis 1:27
God spoke. Out of nothing came light, sun, moon, sea, land, fish, birds, plants, animals, man. That’s power; to make something out of nothing with just a word. Man can’t make something out of nothing, period. Theologians use the word omnipotent to describe this characteristic of God. We translate that as “all-powerful.” How do we see this power unfold?
Over the previous three days we’ve looked at creation and the best response to it — wonder. His power is not limited to creative power, although it is limited in a manner. In the book, The Case for Faith, author Lee Strobel quotes Peter John Kreeft asserting that “Precisely, because he is all powerful, he can’t do some things. He can’t make mistakes.”6 So, it was no mistake when God made man, gave him dominion over the earth and provided for him from every seed-bearing plant of the earth. God uses His power to bring benefit, and He intends for us to use the power delegated to us in the same way. This is the central assertion of Andy Crouch in his book Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power. Power is given to benefit those under the influence or responsibility of the one with the power.
This understanding and use of power is largely lost in our world today. Power is used for personal agendas and personal benefit at the expense of those who do not have such influence. This turn of events has not surprised God, and before the beginning of time He had a plan and the power to see that plan come to fruition. His answer to the problem is what we celebrate this December. The God who created a universe we can’t even really comprehend, who is so big He stands outside of this vast, inconceivably large and variable expanse, is the God who knows you and is attentive to you, and has the power to insert Himself into His creation as a baby. He utilized this capacity to step down from His glory and into our experience. He is neither unaware of nor indifferent to our pain, challenges, disappointments, limitations, joys, or triumphs.
Today, stop for a moment and consider the size and power of God, and then remember that He cares so much for you that He became like you so you could know Him. Today, let the thought that God would and could become a baby help you keep a right focus on all the circumstances December brings. They are just that—circumstances—and the omnipotent God is interested and involved in your day. That’s how He uses power.
December 3
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”
December 2
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
This awe-inspiring opening assertion was written by a shepherd-turned-king who had no education in modern science. I wonder what he would have thought had he known about how perfect the positioning of this planet and the laws of physics that govern it. Consider that earth holds its place in a vast vacuum we call space and rotates around a ball of fire at the perfect distance. A relatively small, mathematical difference, on a universal scale, in how close or how far this planet is from the sun would render life impossible. Now, think of the atmosphere and what it provides. It filters the sun’s ultraviolet radiation sufficiently to keep all life from just burning up. Without this filtering, all things would have a life-extinguishing sunburn. Or reflect on how this atmosphere, in cooperation with green plants, especially trees, holds the carbon dioxide men and animals exhale, which is then converted to oxygen we can reuse. There is enough of each in the cycle to keep us breathing.
Ponder the water cycle. The sun’s heat causes evaporation, particularly in large quantities from the oceans, seas, and large lakes. This water, in gas form, moves through the atmosphere in large quantities then returns to its liquid form and rains back down on the earth to water it and sustain us, animals, and plants, with enough abundance left over to create rivers, lakes, and ponds, most of which run back to the ocean; then around it goes again. What of the earth itself? It has no foundation as we think of a foundation. It rests on nothing. There is no rod through the middle, held at top and bottom, around which it spins like the globe in a schoolroom. Furthermore, not only does it spin, but as it spins daily it also rotates around that fireball at just the right speed to create the perfect year for the lives we live. To keep it interesting, it tilts, and thus we have the seasons experienced north and south of the equator.
In Colorado Springs, we experience this perfection in cold and snow and the crisp clean air we breathe in winter. We experience it in the warmth of sunshine that can melt snow even when the air temperature is below freezing. Today, don’t take it for granted. Thank God for the clouds bringing the snow, the snow that often forces us to pause, and the sun that clears it up again. Don’t miss the declaration of the glory of God. Hear the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Pause and think of Him this December 2. Grasp tightly to the truth that if He can keep the earth in place, He can keep you! Think about Him. You can be sure He is thinking about you.
Jay W. Hill
December 1
then I will meditate on your wonders.”
Psalm 119:27
This Christmas let’s take a journey together considering the wonders of God. His precepts are contained for us in the Bible, so we will begin and end there and, hopefully, be drawn closer to God rather than distanced from Him in the midst of our culture’s hustle, bustle, and hurry. Instead of marathoning through this month, let’s take a long walk toward God and with God. Let’s look forward to December 25 because He is in it, rather than because it means that by the 26th it will all be over. And so, let’s start at the beginning.
Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. This verse speaks of our beginning, not God’s. It’s important to note that God has no beginning nor any end. He is. That single truth should blow our minds because we can’t grasp it. All we know is beginnings and endings. But not God. He knows eternity: no start, no finish. So, in our beginning, God created. His creation included time, and in time His creating included you and me. Pause today and consider Psalm 139, especially verse 16: All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. In the beginning, He knew you. He has always known the time when you would come to be. He has looked forward to your life, to knowing you, to your part in His creation story.
Is this really all true? Romans 1 says it is. Romans 1:20: For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Today, if you live in Colorado Springs, go to a west-facing window, or step out of your house and down the block, and look west. Ponder a snow-capped Pikes Peak and consider that God made it knowing today, at this moment, you would pause to look at it and think of Him. If you live elsewhere and a majestic mountain is not within view, then get up early to watch the sunrise or put a reminder on your phone to interrupt your meeting or dinner to watch the sunset and marvel that God knew you would be there, at that moment, thinking of Him and that He has been thinking of you from the beginning.
If you are reading this in the morning, let the thought of God’s omniscience at creation return to you throughout the day. If you are ending your day here, let this be your final thought of December 1 and your first of December 2: in the beginning, God created. Let what is revealed in creation cause you to begin to meditate on His wonders. Talk to Him about this and about anything else on your mind as December begins.
Welcome to Simply Christmas: Restoring the Wonder
(Beginning November 30)
I also wish to thank Dr. Chris Moore for his partnership in this project. Thank you for reading through it at least three times and making sure I got my facts and theology as well as some grammar and writing correct. Thank you also to my daughter, Jessica Hill, for acting as editor. Thanks for helping me get my words in a form that will communicate to a broader audience than just those who know my “voice.” Additional editorial assistance was provided by Gwen Gunn and Lori Root.
Yours in Christ’s love,
