Bing Crosby may have dreamt of a glittering white Christmas, but long before he sang that song people were dreaming dreams of Christmastide. In fact, I've always thought that one of the very first recorded dreams in Scripture was a sort of Christmas dream.
Picture this: along and far from home, Jacob is tired from his journey. He is a fugitive, in a sense, running away from his brother’s anger. His mother is manipulative and has pulled him into her disgraceful schemes, tricking his father, disinheriting his brother, and behaving deceitfully in all. An unlikely candidate for a comforting dream from God, you say? Well, yes, seen from our perspective! Jacob would not have been my top candidate for ancestor of Christ at that moment. Thankfully, God has a better view on the annals of time.
So, when Jacob made a pillow from a stone and closed his eyes, God sent a dream. This was not just any dream, either; it was a dream of Christmas. You see…Jacob dreamed of a ladder – a ladder filling the expanse between heaven and earth. On the one end stood poor, helpless, troubled Jacob – just like the rest of mankind. But on the other end, on the heavenly end, ah…there stands the Lord himself.
God sent Jesus to provide for us – poor, troubled mankind – access to Him. Because of Christ’s incarnation and death, that uncross-able gulf betwixt God’s presence and our present was filled. Jesus fills the gap; He literally stands in the gap for us. Dreaming of communion with God, of fellowship with Him, Jacob was in a sense dreaming of Christmas.
That’s what Christmas is, friends! Christmas is Jesus, coming to bridge our way into eternity. Christmas is sin, conquered. Christmas is God’s great love reaching out to poor, troubled, disgraced mankind in tenderness and compassion! Praise His Holy Name – Jesus is come!
“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15
Merry Christmas to All!
Cara and Patti
Classic Christianity
Picture this: along and far from home, Jacob is tired from his journey. He is a fugitive, in a sense, running away from his brother’s anger. His mother is manipulative and has pulled him into her disgraceful schemes, tricking his father, disinheriting his brother, and behaving deceitfully in all. An unlikely candidate for a comforting dream from God, you say? Well, yes, seen from our perspective! Jacob would not have been my top candidate for ancestor of Christ at that moment. Thankfully, God has a better view on the annals of time.
So, when Jacob made a pillow from a stone and closed his eyes, God sent a dream. This was not just any dream, either; it was a dream of Christmas. You see…Jacob dreamed of a ladder – a ladder filling the expanse between heaven and earth. On the one end stood poor, helpless, troubled Jacob – just like the rest of mankind. But on the other end, on the heavenly end, ah…there stands the Lord himself.
God sent Jesus to provide for us – poor, troubled mankind – access to Him. Because of Christ’s incarnation and death, that uncross-able gulf betwixt God’s presence and our present was filled. Jesus fills the gap; He literally stands in the gap for us. Dreaming of communion with God, of fellowship with Him, Jacob was in a sense dreaming of Christmas.
That’s what Christmas is, friends! Christmas is Jesus, coming to bridge our way into eternity. Christmas is sin, conquered. Christmas is God’s great love reaching out to poor, troubled, disgraced mankind in tenderness and compassion! Praise His Holy Name – Jesus is come!
“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15
Merry Christmas to All!
Cara and Patti
Classic Christianity
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