God loved us so much that He wanted us in His family. However, our nature was not compatible with being in God's family. It would be like a human family adopting a beetle, cockroach, amoeba, orangutan, or giraffe. It just wouldn't work. Even if we pretended these creatures were part of our families, they don't have the capacity to join in family life. They could be nothing other than pets at best. In the same way, human beings don't naturally have the capacity to belong in God's family.
Consequently, God the Father sent His Son to become a man and make it possible for our human natures to be changed so significantly that we can be adopted into God's family. "Any who did accept [Jesus] He empowered to become children of God. These are they who believe in His name — who were begotten not by blood, nor by carnal desire, nor by man's willing it, but by God" (Jn 1:12-13). "See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called children of God! Yet that is what we are" (1 Jn 3:1).
Jesus was born in Bethlehem so He could die on Calvary. By being baptized into His death, we share in His resurrection and become new creations (Gal 6:15) and adopted children of God. The Christmas season is for children — God's children.
| PRAYER: | Father, thank You for making us adopt-able. |
| PROMISE: | "When you see the Spirit descend and rest on Someone, it is He Who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit." –Jn 1:33 |
| PRAISE: | "This Jesus is 'the Stone rejected by you the builders which has become the Cornerstone.' There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name in the whole world given to men by which we are to be saved" (Acts 4:11-12). |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College