Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Celebrating Christmas—Angels


There is one thread that weaves through the entire nativity story—the angels. The English word angel comes from the Greek word angelos which means “messenger.” And messengers are important threads that weave the story together. A messenger is someone who carries a message from one person to another and these messengers carried the message or Good News from God to man.

The angel Gabriel told Mary and then Joseph that the baby would be coming. An angel appeared to proclaim the glad tidings of joy to the shepherds and as soon as he made the announcement it was as if the heavens could not be restrained—the joy was more than even heaven could contain and suddenly a whole multitude of angels burst forth in song.

Close your eyes and imagine with me that you were one of those angels. You knew that your Savior had been born. You knew that because of that birth the misery, depravity, abuse, and horrors of a mortal world now had a cure. The Light of the world had been born to put all things right and the joy of that knowledge filled you until like a volcano it erupted out. Imagine how you felt. This wasn’t just good news; this was the greatest news of all time. And you couldn’t contain the happiness you felt. Breaking into song, you praised God by singing your gratitude and joy. What a choir that must have been—the sound of heaven rejoicing.

Heavenly Hands by Greg Olsen

But now you don’t have to imagine. You can rejoice. You can sing or shout or pray your gratitude to God. Today you are the messenger—the angel carrying the Good News from God to man that a Savior has been born. 

(painting can be found at: http://susuangels.com/pro867954.html)

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