STILL the REASON for the SEASON – Last January, I inquired of you whether you really know who you are. The answer, of course, is you are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit resides on the inside of you.
This January, I offer a simple reminder lest we move on from Christmas too fast, too soon. By the time you read this, we are into the Church Season of Epiphany. My simple reminder is that the One Who appeared—Jesus the Christ—is and always shall be the reason for every season. Jesus is and always shall be God’s plan for man(kind).
As we may recall, it all began back in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis, the first book of the Holy Bible, the first three chapters). God created the first human, named him Adam, and placed him the Garden. One trait that God built into mankind is the capacity to experience loneliness, so God created a wife for Adam and called her woman or a man with a womb. They had it made in the shade—literally.
God gave them a few simple instructions that they were to follow. For reasons known only to God, a snake was given voice to deceive Adam and Eve into disobedience. Because of their disobedience, God exacted certain punishments on them that also flowed to all of their progeny—us. It is known as sin.
Being the Good God that He is, however, God promised future relief. For hundreds and hundreds of years, eyes, ears, and hearts waited and looked for God to fulfill His promise. We now know that for God, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. And, as the Bible puts it, in the fullness of time, God brought forth a Son and called Him Jesus. Little did anyone know at the time that it was God Himself coming in person to fulfill His promised relief. Little did anyone know that the babe born in a stable in Bethlehem would “wax strong,” become a man, minister among us, and set us free from the curse of Adam and Eve, set us free from sin! God Himself paid our sin penalty for us by giving His one and only Son to die on a Cross for us.
God’s relief of mankind’s sin through the death, burial, and Resurrection of His Son Jesus the Christ is an eternal relief. So, when the Bible tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, it is describing the eternality of His finished work on the Cross. That is why I can say that He is the reason for every season. Without Him, there are no seasons. As you celebrated Christmas, so celebrate Epiphany.
Pastor Curtis
