"..a new life has begun!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

A Christmas story for sure, more epic than Star Wars.  It tells of new life which has taken root in the life of the believer and Christ is the result, that believer is a new and different creation because of the seed implanted into their life.  That seed changes everything.  There is nothing in the believer's life that is left unaffected, and everything is seen from a different perspective. 

It started As a thought; God wanted to reconcile humanity to Himself. Still, He could only do it as a man because of all of the promises and blessings were declared upon Adam and his decedents, not upon a deity or angels. Satan had previously inserted himself into God’s original plan by deceiving Adam and Eve into surrendering their God-given blessings and handing them over to him.  

God’s original thought angered Satan because He wanted to be in control, not man, and he was quite happy utilizing the law to accuse all of humankind before God of their moral failures and inability to live up the exacting standards of the law. His anger only increased when he pondered the thought that God had considered, for it meant that the law would lose its power and that he could no longer continue in his position as the chief accuser.  Satan enjoyed this position and wanted it to continue, for it gave him rulership over creation and the people groups on the earth. 

Satan was a leader without a cause other than his own gain, he is also over an army of other lower-level celestial beings without a purpose, Satan had recruited many of these other lower rank Celestial beings to accompany him to do this task of monitoring and accusing Lord’s family of their misdeeds.  God had allowed these lesser Celestial beings to rule (as placeholders) until humanity once again is restored as the rightful heirs of the earth. However, these Celestial beings were of lesser rank than say an angel or archangel, they also rebelled and had come to earth and taken on flesh and lusted after women and co-habituated with them and produced the Nephilim children who were half spirit and half-human.  Their directive under Satan's rule was to corrupt and to destroy the Lord’s bloodline so that there would be no future for humanity, they hoped the Lord’s family would be bred out of existence through this aberration.  They also employed every tactic at their disposal to get humanity to destroy themselves by using technology against them.

Many of these rulers were giants who were very large in physical stature. The new life (or utopia) they wanted to create by mocking God was born out of corruption and rebellion to God and His declared purposes for humankind.

When God put His thought into effect by speaking it into existence, Satan reacted violently; No longer was this tolerable for him.  Satan had lost his position and his ability to come and go as he pleased before the throne of God to accuse the Lord’s family of sin. 

The warfare in heaven was on, and met with a strong response by Michael the archangel and other high ranking angels who fought against Satan, which prevailed and won the battle against him and his supporters.  Satan was forcefully removed from the heavenly realm as with all of the lesser celestial forces he had recruited, which amounted to one-third of the celestial beings that were condemned to earth as their punishment for rebellion. 

During this warfare, something else was happening, the thought of God was becoming a reality.  A young virgin named Mary was met by an Angel of God who told her that she would bear the Anointed one and be the recipient of this marvelous gift for her as well as all of humanity going forward in time.  It must have been overwhelming and exciting for her at the same time to see the fulfillment of the promise of the Messiah happening throughout her young life.  

She questioned how this would happen because she had not been intimate with a man, the angel told her that the power of the Holy Spirit will come upon her like a cloud (and overshadow her) and create a genetic seed to be implanted within her womb, and what would be produced will be called the Son of El Elyon the highest God, not compared to these lesser Celestial beings who came to earth as temporary placeholders and had rebelled. 

The cosmic battle against the purposes of God to restore humankind to their rightful position as rulers and kings on the earth was now won, Satan was defeated and cast out of heaven to earth with a wave of furious anger against God and all of humankind, especially the family of the Lord.

Meanwhile, as this victory in the heavens was unfolding to some unlikely recipients in an open field received some good news, for heaven could not contain its joy:

“Nearby, in the fields outside of Bethlehem, a group of shepherds were guarding their flocks from predators in the darkness of night. Suddenly a messenger of the Lord stood in front of them, and the darkness was replaced by a glorious light—the shining light of God’s glory. They were terrified!  Don’t be afraid! Listen! I bring good news, news of great joy, news that will affect all people everywhere. Today, in the city of David, a Liberator has been born for you! He is the promised Anointed One, the Supreme Authority! You will know you have found Him when you see a baby, wrapped in a blanket, lying in a feeding trough. At that moment, the first heavenly messenger was joined by thousands of other messengers—a vast heavenly choir. They praised God.” Luke 2:8-13 (VOICE)

This Heavenly Choir began to sing praises which echoed something like this:  Glory to God in El Elyon, (for He is the Highest God, above all other celestial beings) And on earth, His peace upon all people whom His favor rests.

“As soon as the heavenly messengers disappeared into heaven, the shepherds were buzzing with conversation. “Let’s rush down to Bethlehem right now! Let’s see what’s happening! Let’s experience what the Lord has told us about!” Luke 2: 15 (VOICE)

There was much more going on in the heavens than what we realize by reading the Luke account in chapter 2 alone; Revelation chapter 12 captures much more of the story, for there was a changing of the guard, and Satan and his entourage were deposed from everything that they had claimed for their own.  Now humanity would receive the greatest gift of all, the restoration of God’s purpose for all of humanity that we might rule and reign with Christ on earth with Him seated in our hearts.  

This came through a baby named Jesus.

Emmanuel - meaning God with us, and now in us!

What a priceless gift!

“Although you haven’t seen Jesus, you still love Him. Although you don’t yet see Him, you do believe in Him and celebrate with a joy that is glorious and beyond words.” 1 Peter 1:8 (VOICE)

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett