Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

A Savior Has Been Born to You {No Matter What Monday}

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Every December, I read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with my kids. We sit by the Christmas tree and read about how everything went wrong, starting with Mrs. Armstrong’s broken leg and ending with the Herdmans bringing their ham to the baby Jesus. (That part always makes me cry!)

When we get to the line that the feisty Gladys Herman screams at the trembling shepherds, my kids and I love to yell it together: “Hey! Unto you a child is born!”

Luke 2:11: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Many of us have heard these words so many times that we fail to recognize how bizarre, how profound, how amazing they truly are.

When the angel says to the shepherds that unto them a child is born, that had to be shocking news. (And not just because it was delivered by an angel in the middle of the night.) Shepherds weren’t celebrities or powerful rulers or the religious elite. And yet, this Savior was born to them. Christ’s arrival was turning all the social norms upside down.

Next, the angel says the child is born this day in Bethlehem. The birth of the Son of God was an actual event in history, on a specific day, in a specific place. It unfolded according to centuries-old prophecy so there would be no doubt Who this baby truly was.

Then the angel delivers the really good news: this baby is a Savior, Christ the Lord, the promised and long-awaited Messiah. But He’s not only divine. He’s human, born of a woman, a baby lying in the animals’ feeding trough.

The shepherds knew the only appropriate response to this bizarre news was to run to the baby Messiah. I pray that no matter what you face this week, you will run to your Savior and Lord in worship and praise.

Merry Christmas, friends. Unto you a child is born!

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God Sent Forth His Son {No Matter What Monday}

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What comes to mind when you think of Christmas? Smiling family members sitting by a lighted tree, a fire roaring in the fireplace, hands wrapped around mugs of hot cocoa as you sing “Joy to the World” together? Kids dashing downstairs at dawn to find everything they ever wanted under the tree? Or maybe you think of the family members you’ll be missing this Christmas because you’re separated by distance, disagreement, or death. Perhaps your Christmas memories are painful, your current holiday situation is stressful, or your joy is clouded by the sadness of friends and family who are walking through the holidays without a loved one.

No matter where your family falls on the spectrum from delightful to dysfunctional, Christ was born to redeem you and bring you into God’s family.

Galatians 4:4-5: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

This is why Jesus came. Not just to heal the blind and change water into wine. Not only to tell us how to love others. Not to start a new religion. He was God’s Son, born of a woman to redeem those who were under the law. We were living under the curse of our inability to keep God’s law, so Jesus came to redeem us with His perfect life and to die in our place.

And as He redeemed us, we were adopted into God’s family. As God’s children, we are loved fully and perfectly. Not because we are good children, but because we have a good Father. No matter how messy our earthly family interactions get, we can rest in our Father’s love demonstrated to us in our redemption and adoption through Christ.

No matter what you face this week, you have been redeemed and adopted because God sent forth His Son.

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The Grace of God Has Appeared {No Matter What Monday}

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Do you have days when you wonder if God exists? Even though Christ grabbed hold of me decades ago, even though I’m completely convinced of the truth of His Word, even though I’ve seen evidence of His Spirit at work in me . . . I still doubt. I still struggle to understand the nuances of the Christian faith. I wonder if it would be easier to believe if I could see God face-to-face. Wouldn’t it be nice if some of these abstract concepts of our faith were a little more concrete?

Throughout the Old Testament, God gave His people visible, tangible reminders of His presence with them. Noah’s rainbow. The burning bush that didn’t burn up. Manna falling from the sky. The tabernacle. But His people still waited for God’s plan of salvation to be fully revealed.

And then, God sent a visible picture of His love. God the Son became man and walked among us. He was the embodiment of the grace of God.

Titus 2:11: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.

The baby in the manger is the grace of God. The man who fed thousands, healed blind men, raised the dead, and proclaimed God’s Kingdom is the grace of God. The Lamb of God who suffered and died on the cross and rose again—our Savior is the grace of God, a gift given to show God’s people His plan for redeeming the mess of sin.

God’s grace is no longer vague, abstract, or mysterious. We see His grace clearly in the person and life of Jesus. The gift of salvation given to us through a baby in a manger strengthens us to face life’s uncertainties.

No matter what you face this week, in Christ, the grace of God has appeared.

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The Resurrection

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This post is a little late in getting written, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Resurrection of Christ. I often think about the Cross, but before last week, I hadn’t spent much time thinking about how different my life would be if Christ hadn’t risen from the dead. What if my college professors were right, and the Resurrection is just a metaphor, an encouraging story about the peace and joy God brings to our lives? What if Christ did not literally die, lie in a tomb for three days, and then rise again and appear to the disciples before ascending into Heaven?

If there is no Resurrection, there is no eternal life. There is eternity, for our souls will last forever, but not eternity with God. As my pastor said on Sunday, without the Resurrection, there is only eternal grief.

If there is no Resurrection, this world is all we have. There are no treasures in Heaven, nothing beyond what we can store up for ourselves in this life. So I better focus on making this life as good as it can be.

If there is no Resurrection, this world is a chaotic, depressing, fallen place without any hope that God has won over sin, evil, and death. You live, try to avoid as much pain as possible, and then die.

If there is no Resurrection, then Christians are to be pitied, because we are following a dead guy, a prophet who spoke inspiring words but was powerless at the hand of human soldiers.

Praise God that the Resurrection is a reality! God has conquered sin, evil, and death. As my kids’ Jesus Storybook Bible says, God is making everything sad, even death, untrue. While we still live in a fallen world, we have hope. God is in control, He has already won, and those who are in Christ will spend eternity with Him.

If the Resurrection is true, how should I respond? It proves that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, and therefore deserving of my faith, praise, and devotion. It compels me to have an eternal perspective, knowing that this world is not my true home. It should instill unending gratitude that Christ bore the punishment for all my sin and conquered death and hell for me.

One of my favorite songs from our church in Indianapolis describes the impact of the Resurrection so well. Please spend time reading the words and/or click here to listen (wait for it to load and then click play):

Praise the Savior now and ever; praise him, all beneath the skies;
Prostrate lying suffʹring, dying on the cross, a sacrifice.
Victʹry gaining, life obtaining, now in glory he doth rise.

Manʹs work faileth, Christʹs availeth; he is all our righteousness;
He, our Savior, has forever set us free from dire distress.
Through his merit we inherit light and peace and happiness.

Sinʹs bond severed, weʹre delivered; Christ has bruised the serpentʹs head;

Death no longer is the stronger, hell itself is captive led.
Christ has risen from deathʹs prison; oʹer the tomb he light has shed.

For his favor, praise forever unto God the Father sing;
Praise the Savior, praise him ever, Son of God, our Lord and King.
Praise the Spirit; through Christʹs merit he doth us salvation bring.

 

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