THINK TOGETHER
Have you ever felt confused? What confuses you?
READ TOGETHER
Sometimes life can be pretty confusing can’t it? There are a lot of things in life that might not make a whole lot of sense to us. Or sometimes we just don’t have all the information we need to know what to do.
Jesus’ earthly dad, Joseph, must have been pretty confused. When Mary told him that the Holy Spirit had put the baby Jesus inside of her and that she was going to give birth to God’s son, that must have really confused Joseph. Everything Mary said to him was impossible. It made no sense.
But then God sent and angel to explain things to Joseph. Here’s what he said:
Matthew 1:20-23. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
Not only did Joseph get an explanation from God about how Mary could be pregnant, he also received an explanation about the meaning of all of life – “God with us.”
These three little words are everything. These three little words explain all of history, all of life, all of existence. God in his great grace has chosen to break into time and space and enter our earth. We call this the incarnation. Can you say incarnation? When Jesus became a person he became flesh and blood. That’s what incarnation means – “to put on flesh.”
And when Jesus put on flesh and became a little baby that would grow up and live a perfect life, and suffer through all kinds of trials, and die on the cross for our sins, that’s when all our confusing questions were answered?
Why did God make us?
Does God really love us?
What about all my sins?
What happens when we die?
All of these questions (and many, many more) are answered by our three little words – “God with us.”
If God would come to be with us by being one of us, then we know that he loves us, that he will forgive us, that he wants us to be like him the same way he became like us.
And if God would come to be with us and be like us, then that means that now we know how to live our lives – by being like Jesus. Life doesn’t have to be confusing. We know what God wants. He wants to save us and make us like Jesus.
Because of Jesus God is always with us.
With Jesus we can know what God wants and not be confused.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Do something WITH each other. It doesn’t really matter what it is as long as it’s pleasant. Talk about “WITHNESS” with your children. Talk about how being WITH someone answers big questions: am I loved? Am I safe? Do I have a place to be?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus,
You are “God with us.” Because of you we don’t ever have to confused about God’s love and God’s plan for us. Thank you for letting us understand life.
Amen.
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