Manger Throne

You could have stepped into creation
With fire for all to see
Brought every tribe and nation to their knees
Arriving with the host of heaven
In royal robe and crown
The rulers of the earth all bowing down

But You chose meekness over majesty
Wrapped Your power in humanity

Glory be to You alone
King who reigns from a manger throne
My life, my praise, everything I own
To Jesus the King on a manger throne

You could have marched in all your glory
Into the heart of Rome
Showed them splendour like they'd never known
But You wrote a better story
In humble Bethlehem

Creator in the arms of common men

… From heaven to the cradle
From cradle to the cross
Let heaven and nature sing
This is our King
But the grave couldn't hold Him
Our God has overcome
Let Heaven and nature sing
This is our King

Lyrics from part of the song, Manger Throne by Phil Wickham 

Advent is the season of waiting. Waiting to celebrate Jesus’ first coming and looking forward with great anticipation to his second coming. 

For centuries the Jewish people had been waiting for their Messiah to come. Isaiah had prophesied about him 700 years before, and they wanted one who would come in clouds of glory and put everything right. In Jesus’ day it was a Messiah who would drive out the hated Romans, but it could just as easily be the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, any of those nations who had oppressed God’s people. They wanted a Messiah who would arrive as the song above suggests.

However, what no one was expecting was a baby born in humility, born to poor, righteous parents and having nowhere to place their precious baby but a manger. Goodness knows what Mary thought of giving birth to the Son of God in such conditions. 

The first recorded visitors were shepherds, those who were almost certainly looking after the sacrificial lambs for the temple. What wonderful symbolism that they should come and worship the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world by the ultimate sacrifice of his perfect life upon a terrible cross. The great shepherd of the people (Hebrews 13:20) visited by shepherds. 

Then many months later, the magi arrived in an exotic caravan bearing fabulously expensive gifts, no doubt causing quite a stir in small town Bethlehem. 

The Messiah had been born who would not only save the Jewish people, even the poorest but also rich Gentiles. He would save anyone who would come, bow down, and give their worship and adoration to him alone. He would save them not from oppressors but the greatest oppression, sin. 

Jesus could have indeed come the first time in glory and majesty and swept mankind into a slavish obedience to the King of King and Lord of Lords. That path would not have saved us from the bondage of sin. Instead, he showed us the true path of love, service and sacrifice leading to redemption for all mankind. He invites us today to walk that same sacrificial path of lives yielded to him, overflowing with love and thankfulness for all he has done.

And so we also look forward with great anticipation to his second coming this time ‘in great splendour, with the host of heaven in royal robes and crown’ and he will right every wrong. Every oppressor, tyrant, dictator big and small will be dealt with in justice and righteousness, whilst believers will be rewarded and ushered into an eternity with him in the new heaven and earth.  

What a wonderful future we have. God’s reign of righteousness coming to Earth and restoring everything to its original mandate.

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Psalm 85: 10.  What a promise!

Remembering the past, rejoicing in the future

There comes a time in life when you realise that things that you have done in the past, you may never do again. It may be climbing up Snowdon or running 5K or, as in our case, we may never host a family Christmas celebration. These events may come with a huge measure of sadness or maybe relief. In our case, regarding Christmas, it is with huge sadness. 

I would love to host a family Christmas one last time but for all sorts of reasons, it is not practical. Firstly, our family has grown exponentially, and we couldn’t physically sit us all down, even for a meal, let alone to sleep. Last time we had a big Christmas with the mainly older not younger generation there were 14 of us, some of whom were very small and we had a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house. Now the older generation has passed on and the younger generation have families of their own and we number 21. 

There is also the slight problem that half the family live in either Australia or USA so gathering altogether is quite tricky. Even if everyone was able to be in the same place at Christmas, for instance if we hired a big house, it would be wonderful but not the same. 

Am I just being a silly, selfish old lady? Yes, because I have so much to be thankful for. I have a huge family with 11 grandchildren. As a lady in a coffee queue reminded me, I have grandchildren. She would like to have one, but nothing is on the horizon. I have a home and family who are all talking to one another. I can put food on the table. We can give one another presents. We can speak face-to-face via today’s technology. We don’t have to wait weeks for letters to arrive or book a few minutes phone call on Christmas Day. 

The most important thing is to remember with fondness those days of long ago, but not to dwell there. To be thankful for the many, many blessings I have, the most important of which is Jesus. Where would be without him? I don’t know and I don’t want to know. 

My family is held in the arms of a loving Saviour, my destiny is assured not because of any good works that I might do but because of the one supreme good work – Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection. Today I can live a life of destiny and purpose, and I know that eternal salvation is assured. 

For a moment, I feel the pang of sadness for days gone by but with great expectation and hope I life my eyes to a future made glorious by the one who loves me more than I will ever know. And I am thankful.