Christmas 365
Christmas 365  
Podcast: Lisa Harper's Back Porch Theology
Published On: Mon Dec 25 2023
Description: Learn more about Operation Christmas Child here.Save 25% off an annual subscription to Dwell here.Our Highest Good is available for purchase here.AccessMore presents Wonder. Live with Lisa Harper. Find out more here.Discover the way ahead at Indiana Wesleyan University. Learn more here. Find your nearest Operation Christmas Child drop off location here. Click here to get a 25% discount on the Dwell Bible App. During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, the whole gang – Alli, Dr. Howard, Belle, and I - have gathered together to celebrate Christmas! We’re talking all things Yule with y’all – okay, I know that was so cheesy but eggnog and fruitcake tend to activate my dorky sentimental side! And while we are going to take a stroll down memory lane today, we’re also going to talk about how the miracle of the Incarnation should inform and permeate the other 364 days of our calendar. J.I. Packer explained the magnitude of Christmas like this: It is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the profoundest and most unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie. ‘The Word became flesh.’ God became a man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation. I’ve thought about Dr. Packer’s observation often these past few weeks of Advent – about how our holy, transcendent Creator Redeemer condescended to earth in a suit of skin to be born in a Bethlehem barn. Australian theologian John Nolland actually refers to the Incarnation as the divine condescension. I can’t quite wrap my mind around a love so vast that it compelled the King of all kings to lay down His ruling scepter in glory and lower Himself not only to human form but ultimately to be nailed to a cross. King Jesus became like us in order to rescue and redeem us. Goodness gracious, Christmas is SO MUCH BIGGER than December 25th y’all! So please grab a spiced apple cider, a peppermint mocha, a tumbler of eggnog, or some other Yuletide beverage concoction and your Bible – unless you’ve got both hands on an electric knife and are making...