Tonight (and tomorrow) we celebrate the coming of Jesus.  It’s a very special time of remembrance for us.  In order for the relationship to be restored between God and people, Jesus left heaven and came to earth.
You see, for us, it is about relationship, not religion.  Religion is about people trying to work their way into God’s favor.  Christianity starts with us having God’s favor.  John 3:16 tells, us that “God so loved the world, He sent His Son….”  We (Adam and Eve) broke off the relationship God wanted with people when they sinned in the garden of Eden.  We prove we are their offspring by continuing to do things that God does not want us to do.
It’s not just that sin is “bad”; it is bad because it destroys the possibility of the kind of intimate relationship God wants to have with us.  You can think about it from the human standpoint:  Is there someone you know and would like to be in some type of a relationship with, but they just keep doing things that turn you off?  It is the same sort of thing between us and God.

Except that He truly knows what is best for us – He created us after all.  He set things up in such a way that real intimacy could be experienced.  If done His way, we would have no fear of betrayal, breakups, and unfaithfulness – all those things we risk when we establish relationships with other people today.  The very same things that we do to Him all the time when we sin.
Something had to be done, and since God knew we could not do it ourselves (so much for the “self-help” sections of all those bookstores), He was the only one who could – and so He did.  He came to earth, lived among us, taught us about what it meant to have a relationship with Him, and to prove He was who He said He was; performed great miracles.  As if that wasn’t enough, He took our sins upon us and paid the penalty that was required to re-establish the relationship.
And it all started with a baby.
Merry Christmas!  Have a marvelously blessed 2012. 

Bill