BY BYARD PARKS
HE SHOPPING MALL LIGHTS CAST A multicolored rainbow over the baby Jesus. Lying in a manger between the jewelry shop and the food court, the infant doll is smiling. Kneeling before the babe are stiff statues of Mary and Joseph, a single cow, and Rudolph. The Nativity scene is part of a larger Christmas tree display in the center of the mall. A train conducted by pointy-nosed elves and loaded with toys circles the whole spectacle, lighting Rudolph's nose as it passes, and sounding its whistle. Shoppers hurry from one store to another, momentarily stopping to admire the decorated tree, the train, and the baby. Stereo speakers wrapped like giant Christmas gifts buzz out melodies about Frosty the Snowman, good little boys and girls, and angel choirs.
Angel Choirs
Angel choirs hush in adoring expectancy. Far away, nestled in the Orion nebula, a Father and Son make preparations for Advent. The Second Advent. A hundred billion galaxies spread out before the feet of the coming Christ. The artisan at His Father's side from eons past has a long-awaited appointment in the holiest courts of the Most High. The galaxies birthed by Jesus' hand make way for His advance. Clusters of worlds and the hazy, fiery gleams of space that began as a joyful wink in the eye of Jesus, their Creator, now turn like a wedding party at the sight of the groom. The cocoon of the vast heavens stretches open to birth their Monarch. The wings of this dazzling King are a billion angels. They unfurl their gilded sails to transport Jesus to the throne of the Ancient of days. The Father's voice tames the roar of the river of fire pouring from beneath His judgment seat. He calls out, "My Son whom I love, I am pleased with the report given in Your Lamb's book of life. The names that are there I well know." The Father nods in affirmation. Neither Father nor Son removes His gaze from the other. Taking Christ's hands and turning them palm up, the Father declares, "Into Your hands, My dear Son, I have placed all dominion and glory. I now grant Your request to be wed to this people, that You and they shall be a kingdom, a holy nation without end. Go and secure this chosen generation."
Chosen Generation
Generation after generation had groaned under the whip of sin without seeing the fulfillment of the promised Messiah. Earth had been known to other worlds simply as the dark planet, for here alone had death been bred and boarded. A strange prophecy spoke of rescue through the "seed of a woman." Every baby is a miracle, but no one suspected the Miracle Maker would turn the mighty mountain of His own being into a seed. This turned the heads of angels! This was something to sing about! "Have you heard? The Creator Jesus has become a human seed!"
Though inconceivable to us who have known only finite love, it was conceivable to Him who is Infinite Love. Earth needed a new and pure genetic code. When Adam our forefather tainted our genetic substance with the poison of rebellion, humanity became bent toward self-destruction. Every baby born was poisoned, never to know the joy of holiness, never to delight in seeing God face to face. Eternal separation from the Father became each child's certain destiny. This thought made even a King despise His luxury and surrender His commanding power. Jesus would descend so that all who would choose Him-the Second Adam-as their new and living ancestry could be free forever from the inherited poison of sin. Intent on setting the captives free, Jesus was born into the land of the shadow of death.
The Shadow of Death
The shadow of death hangs over St. Anne's Children's Hospital like a black shroud over an infant casket. Jennifer, a young mother, enters the emergency room in hysterics, holding her motionless baby, who has been badly shaken by the drunken father. It is Christmas Eve, and the emergency room is crowded and confused. A ruptured eardrum, a second-degree burn, a baby vomiting blood. Each young family is scared and pleading for instant help.
Jennifer had thought that leaving the house of abuse and seeking medical help would save her baby, but pain and panic are the certain signatures of Satan, and he had arrived at the hospital long before she. Satan delights in the death of the meekest, so children attract his deliberate attack. Demons jangle the nerves of nurses and confuse the doctors, turning delay into despair, frustration into fear, and lack of attention into abject loneliness. Jennifer slumps in her chair, her body shaking with remorse. The doctor pulls his stethoscope from Jennifer's baby's heart and, laying a hand on the mother's shoulder, whispers, "I'm sorry. He's dead."
He's Dead
"He's already dead," the Roman soldier grimly commented to his captain. He placed the tip of his spear between two ribs and thrust it deep, to the man's heart. Withdrawing the blade quickly, he jumped back as a sudden flow of water and blood poured to the ground. Amazed, he shook his head and told his captain, "This day has been mysterious indeed." Indeed! The capture of a gentle man, the trial of an innocent man, the torture of a submissive man, had all been jarring to the deeper senses. But on this day the universe realized the cleansing that came from the piercing of God, and the transfer of every dark, perverse, and ugly sin onto the heart of Jesus. On this day evil had met certain doom, for God had died in a human body, carrying the world's sin without a fault or lie of His own. Jesus sighed, "It is finished," and hell screamed in defeat. Jesus could now offer victory! A way had been made for sinful humanity to see God face to face. Without a second's hesitation God laid open the invitation to come to Him: an unseen hand ripped the towering Temple curtain in two. It was the divine Father's eager gesture to all humanity that a new and living way had been opened to celestial fellowship through the torn body of Jesus Christ.
The Body of Jesus Christ
"The body and blood of Jesus Christ" was a concept hard for Kevin to grasp. He ate the bread and drank the wine-but he didn't understand why. Nodding to the priest, Kevin stepped outside to walk beneath the dark spires of the cathedral in the center of his university campus. The snow fell fast, the cedars bending under the snow's weight. Kevin thought of the heavy burdens upon his own shoulders. His life was a maze of confused relationships, a growing pit of debt, and he felt like a slave to his own habitual sins.
As he walked in the still night he glanced toward the Nativity scene nestled beneath the flagpole. He thought he saw movement among the painted plywood props. He stopped and looked closer. A young girl-8 or 9-was bent over the manger, kissing the Christ child! Through the deep snow he curiously made his way toward the girl and the manger. She was talking incessantly without taking her busy hands off the doll. "Someone needs to care for this doll. Who would think of leaving such a pretty doll out in the snow like this?" The girl had taken off her coat and laid it over the baby. Having no authority to do so, but only the impulse of the moment, he asked, "Would you care for such a doll if I let you adopt it?" Looking up, with joy she responded, "Yes! Yes!" Carefully pulling the babe from its nest, he handed it to her with a bit of ceremony. "Because you vow to love this doll, and because its previous owners showed only neglect and abuse, I now pronounce you to be the rightful parent. This baby doll now has a new family, a new heritage, a new home. Congratulations." The girl took the baby Jesus with delight.
Suddenly Kevin's words sank home to him. I am a slave under the cold parenting of Satan, he thought. I am in need of a new family, a new heritage. Dropping to his knees by the manger, Kevin prayed in a whisper, "Heavenly Father, will You adopt me?" Opening his eyes, he saw the huge snowflakes fall from heaven like an angelic ticker tape parade. He felt the rush of acceptance, forgiveness, and love. As he looked into the starry heaven he felt the romantic wonder and simple joy of having a new family. Scooping snow in his hand and throwing it in the air, he jumped to his feet! New freedom in a new family! Looking at his hands that had so recently taken the bread and wine, he laughed. "I am more than adopted! The body and blood of Jesus within my own veins now proves my royal heritage!"
Royal Heritage
Royalty moves swiftly when on a mission of love or war-and this occasion serves as both. Vast battalions of angels circle about Jesus Christ, the commander of the heavenly hosts. With a signaling shout Christ is off like a comet through the constellations, His heart intent on rescue. Heaven empties and is left silent as every angel with unbridled joy chases Him in swift formation. Christ's two kingdoms are about to embrace-the visible will view the invisible for the first time, and the angels are as giddy as children.
But for the people of God who remain yet amid the darkness of earth, the trouble is suffocating. Violence and disease, famine, war, persecution, and misery have multiplied to their hideous and nauseating crescendo. Satan has already manifested himself as a false christ, and billions have desperately bowed their dizzy heads to acknowledge him as their savior and solution to the world's chaos. Satan appears with beauty and peace and is granted homage by all who had not thoughtfully and intimately known Jesus before the jumbled terror of the last days befell them. Small companies of believers are hidden in caves, in abandoned buildings. Many are kept in prison cells. These faithful groups are singing, reciting Scripture, and praying. So earnest are the hours that it is nearly forgotten that it is the season of Advent. A believer in one of the hidden groups begins to hum. The song seems awkward and out of place, but it lightens the hearts of the pray-ers. "Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King."
Joy to the World, the Lord Is Come!
Let earth receive her King. Suddenly, with volcanic power, the earth convulses and the sky erupts with a thousand bursts of lightning. The electrifying joy of 10 billion angels is released upon earth in a stereophonic thundering chorus. "Hallelujah! Jesus has come!" At the pulsating heart of the celebrating cloud of angels is the champion Jesus Christ, the resurrected Son of God, glowing brighter than the noonday sun. A shimmering rainbow arches over His head as a symbol of grace and mercy, and at His feet are the Ten Commandments, illuminated as the unchanging foundation of His kingdom. His smiling face beckons. "Come, beloved of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Like a magnet over steel filings, Christ empties graves, and His friends from over the whole face of the earth are ushered by angels to their Savior's side. All who remain are wicked. Having chosen to keep the poison of sin within their own souls, the wicked realize they have cursed themselves. Now they curse their negligence in pursuing truth, and they curse Satan, whose lie they lazily accepted. To them Christ painfully speaks the terrible words "Depart from Me."
Turning His head from those below, He looks with wonder and affection at the vast multitude of sinners-turned-saints before Him. Christ's eyes twinkle with delight as He envisions the eternal eons of forever friendship, adventurous learning, and abundant life ahead. The teary eyes and adoring gaze of Jesus the God-man hush the angel throng. With immense affection He extends His arms to the great company of redeemed, and with the singular emotion of a man who has died for a friend, He whispers, "I told you I would come again. Thank you for believing. Thank you."
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For further study you may enjoy reading the following scriptures on which these vignettes are based: Daniel 7:9-14; Hebrews 1; 2; Ephesians 2:1-10; Matthew 24; 25; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; Romans 5; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10; 2:3, 4; Revelation 19:1-14.
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Byard Parks is an entrepreneur living and working in Turkey.
