“Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!”
– Psalm 144:15

Everyone has a god. Everyone worships something. We were made to worship and we all do. Everyone has something that reigns supreme in their heart. Sometimes people recognize this and sometimes people are completely blind to it. Sometimes people think their god is one thing, but it’s really something else that dominates their thoughts and lives.

Some call their god by the name central to their faith. Some claim they believe in no god, calling that which rules their hearts names like reason, self, independence, science, morality, ethics, money, fame, sex, status, pleasure, or power. Everyone has a god. Many of those gods are cruel, terrible, exhausting, and disappointing. Blessed are those whose God is the Lord.

Blessed are those whose God is YHWH, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the Creator of the Universe. He is supreme in knowledge, wisdom, and power. He is ever-present, all good, and perfectly holy, righteous, and just. He is merciful and gracious, patient, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. He rules the universe and counts the hairs on each head. He loves you and desires to be in a meaningful relationship with you. He made such a relationship possible through faith in His Son Jesus. Believe in Him and enjoy the blessings of having the Lord be your God.

“Lord, part your heavens and come down.” – Psalm 144:5a

God answered this fervent prayer of King David. We call that answer Christmas. The miracle of Christmas is that God the Son, the eternal God of the Universe took on a human body and nature and was born in Bethlehem to a virgin over 2000 years ago. As John’s gospel explains in chapter 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.” Here John testifies to his own personal experiences with Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God.

God parted the heavens and came down. He came down in humility, born as a fragile human baby laid to sleep in a food trough for animals. God came down to experience the trials, temptations, frailties, joys, and sorrows of human life for Himself. God came down to live a life without sin, to die a sacrificial death in our place for our sins, and to rise from death in triumph over sin and death. God the Son came down at Christmas and changed the course of all creation, offering eternal life to all who believe in Him. No matter what happens in this troubled world, we can trust God, because He’s already parted the heavens and come down for us!

“When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.” – Malachi 1:8

Christian, God is asking you a profoundly important question!!! You might not realize it since we thankfully don’t have to offer animals as sacrifices. God gave Jesus as our once-for-all sacrifice of blood to atone for our sins and we praise Him for that. Nonetheless, this question is vitally relevant to your spiritual life and growth! Why? Because we’re commanded to make sacrifices as well. Though these sacrifices won’t save us, they reflect the glorious reality that we have been saved by God’s grace. Therefore, we’re commanded to offer a continuous sacrifice of praise to God (Hebrews 13:5). We’re also commanded to offer up our entire lives to God as sacrifices, living lives of holiness and devotion to the Lord (Romans 12:1). If we aren’t doing that – if we’re just giving God scraps of our time, treasure, talent, and energy, if we’re offering Him leftovers, garbage time, halfhearted and sleepy worship, and lives that aren’t particularly concerned with holiness, then we’re like those Israelites who were offering up blind, lame, and sick animals instead of giving God the very best. Such “sacrifices” are evil!

December is an excellent time of year to assess the patterns of your life. Have you been giving God at least the same amount of time, energy, creativity, and devotion that would please your boss, satisfy your teacher or professor, or support your favorite political leader? You should be giving more! If you aren’t giving God your absolute best, your utmost for His highest, it’s time to reflect on the disobedience of that and commit your whole life – heart, soul, mind, and strength to loving, worshiping, praising, and serving God. May your sacrifice to Him be pleasing and worthy of the God Who has redeemed you, adopted you, embraced you, indwelt you, and empowered you!

“And they sang a new song, saying,
‘Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.’”
– Revelation 5:9-10

As we near the celebration of Christmas and remember the birth of Jesus, the coming of God the Son in the flesh, we should constantly remind ourselves that Jesus didn’t remain a cuddly baby in a food trough. Jesus grew up to live a life without sin, to resist every temptation thrown at Him by Satan, to work miracles, to teach with authority, and to die on a cross and rise from death. Jesus is the Lamb Who was slain about Whom the 24 elders sing in these verses.

Through His sacrificial death and physical resurrection, Jesus ransomed a new family of people for God, setting men and women, boys and girls free from slavery to sin and death through the shedding of His innocent blood on the cross. Through faith in Jesus, God is graciously drawing people to Himself from every nation, language, ethnic group, and tribe. Jesus has ransomed a new people for God from every race, nationality, and background, all of whom are made gloriously new: washed clean, granted citizenship in God’s kingdom, raised to serve as priests to God, and prepared to reign victoriously over the earth when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead.

Advent isn’t just about the run-up to Christmas. It’s a season to anticipate the glorious return of Jesus and to prepare our hearts for that as well, because He is coming and He is worthy!

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
– Revelation 4:11

It’s vitally important for the people of God to remember that God is worthy of all praise and honor simply for Who He is! We shouldn’t praise God simply on the basis of what He does for us (though for those things we certainly should give thanks and praise how they reveal God’s nature). We shouldn’t make our praise transactional and dependent on “What have You done for me lately?” God is absolutely worthy of praise at all times, even when things are going completely terribly in the world and in our lives!

As followers of Jesus, we should praise God because He is the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of the universe. We should praise God because He is all-good, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, and ever-present. We should praise God because He is just, loving, righteous, kind, holy, merciful, pure, gracious, patient, and so much more! We should praise God because He is very near to all His people while also being infinitely above and beyond us in His thoughts and ways. We should praise God because He is love, which means that He sent His eternal Son Jesus into the world to suffer and die to redeem and reconcile fallen mankind to Him. We should praise God because He gives generously to all without reproach, pouring out His Spirit upon all believers. We should praise God because He is sovereign and supreme, which means one day He will wipe away all evil and make His dwelling place with His people.

Worthy are you, our Lord and God!