Christmas From Heaven’s Side

Dec 25th 2018

John’s Christmas story is not usually the go-to for the Christmas season. It’s a somewhat theological, philosophical, 30,000-foot view of Christmas. No manger, no angel choir, not even a mention of baby Jesus. Instead, John gives us a peek at Christmas from heaven’s side. In John 1:1-5, the apostle John writes,

In the beginning was the Word (that’s Jesus) and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can not overcome it. John 1:1-5

There is a light that shines in the darkness, his name is Jesus, the light of the world. AND he’s not just some cute little candlelight. Not even a mega-watt searchlight. He’s the light of the world. The full moon cannot compete on the clearest of nights. The sun…the sun bows it’s knee. It’s simply a placeholder till the true light comes. Because Jesus is the light of the world. His life is the light that gives life.

One of my favorite parts of Christmas Eve is singing Silent Night, Holy Night.  It never gets old. We light our little candles and as we sing, my heart gets grabbed. It always gets grabbed. I mean there’s just something so sweet and peaceful, so holy and wondrous in that scene of mother Mary & baby Jesus.

But you know there’s another side to Christmas right? I mean on our side, he came as a baby born in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. But on heaven’s side… On heaven’s side, he left as the Creator to become part of the creation. On heaven’s side, he left as the Son of God to become a servant of people. On heaven’s side, he left as the King of the Universe to become our Savior by giving his life on a cross. On heaven’s side, he left as the light of the world to do battle against our darkness.

And I believe, with all my heart, I believe this… When he left heaven, when he was born, all of heaven cheered. The angel choir belting it out in the heavenlies, didn’t start with a song, they started with a cheer that overflowed because heaven could not contain it. A resounding cheer arose when the light of the world entered the darkness…to bring life to the dying.

So take a moment, imagine that you are on heaven’s side, that first night. You are one of the citizen’s of heaven that the carol references. You are on the side that knows what this baby gave up; the side that knows what he has left heaven to do; the side that is awestruck to see the Son of God become a baby of man; the side that is already beginning to grasp the unimagineable love of Father God for the people of earth. When he did what he did, how could heaven not cheer!

Perhaps this year, we might choose to see life from heaven’s perspective. Perhaps we might allow the cheers of heaven, resound throughout the halls of our hearts!