There is something renewing about waking up Christmas Morning. It is as if there is a magic in the world, a new beginning or a new creation. For my family it means waking up in a wonderland of blankets and sheets. Each year on Christmas Eve we throw air mattresses on the floor and hang bed sheets from the walls, ceiling, doors, and tables. We add Christmas lights and an old TV hooked to the DVD player for hours of Christmas shows. Then my siblings and their spouses or nieces and nephews (depending on which family we are visiting) spend one final night of preparation. Then comes the morning…
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…”
I love to refer to this passage from John as the third creation story. Even though the book of John is in an apocalyptic style, I feel there is a great deal of Jewish tradition in this description of Jesus existing from the very beginning. It seems to take the whole Old Testament and wrap it up… like a gift to receive… if you are just willing to explore it. We start the story of Jesus by going back to creation and seeing that Christ, this Anointed One, was there when it started. When is says in Genesis, “Let us create mankind in our own image, in our likeness…” it is not just the Queen of England talking about herself, but a Triune God at creation. Holy Creator, Holy Messiah, Holy Spirit. For me this is the beginning. This is the passage that makes me want to tear into the Bible to see what cause the Anointed to come to earth, to see where Christianity comes from, so that I can become a child of God, and so that I can understand the grace and truth of the Word.
This is the gift we celebrate at Christmas. This is why we put up forts to sleep in, wreaths on the door, trees in the windows; to remind us that the Word became flesh and there is a gift for you… waiting… in the scriptures… with your families… in your church.
You are a child of God.
Tobyn Wells
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