Unto Us

UNTO

US

Daniel A. Brown, Ph.D.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11 There are almost no other words in all the Bible as poignant and meaningful as these, because they contain the message of all God's dealings to all humankind. It was "unto us" that the heavens and earth were first made, a home in which to live, a marvel at which to wonder and a vast storeroom of provision for the sons and daughters of God. Neither the Lord Himself nor His angels needed creation, and though all the heavens and the earth were expressions of the Lord's creative dynamic and love, those expressions were uttered unto us. God has been giving gifts unto us from the beginning. He gave us life and the breath of His Spirit. He gave us the sun and moon to grow the gift of His harvest bounty unto us. He gave us laughter and love, feasting and flowers, rainwater and snowflakes. We gave Him nothing. We returned curses for His blessings, and evil for His goodness. We took all that He gave unto us away from Him without acknowledging or loving Him. We separated ourselves from Him while still demanding that we be allowed to enjoy His original purpose to give everything unto us. For Him we cared nothing; from Him we expected everything. Turning away became fashionable; spurning and cursing Him was vogue. We flaunted our distance from Him and did our best to hide our eyes from the radiance of His light. We grew perverse and deformed, filthy, unkempt and wretching forth bile and blood as we claimed that all He gave unto us was really gotten by ourselves unto ourselves. Yet, in the midst of every imaginable insult, disregard, disrespect and act of hatred on the part of us unto God, the Lord gave still another gift (a child) unto us who would be a Savior, restoring unto us all that God had been giving since the beginning unto us. This last gift from God unto us renewed every other gift and made possible once again a constant flow of life, joy and peace unto us. All the gifts that God has had ever wrapped for us since before all time are to be found beneath that first and forever Christmas tree—the one upon which God hung singly, the most precious and costly adornment there could ever be. So join me at the foot of that tree and open gift after gift that has been given unto us.

The Coastlands, Aptos Foursquare Church