Sunday Service | 12 Days of Christmas: December 27, 2020
This message from Brian & April introduces us to this transition week between Christmas & New Year’s, otherwise known as the 12 Days of Christmas, lasting through December 25th-January 5th and ending with Epiphany on January 6th. These are days celebrating the nativity scene, and that Jesus is more than just a baby; he’s God himself.
Galatians 4.4-7 (TPT)
But when that era came to an end and the time of fulfillment had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the written law. Yet all of this was so that he would redeem and set free all those held hostage to the written law so that we would receive our freedom and a full legal adoption as his children.
And so that we would know for sure that we are his true children, God released the Spirit of Sonship into our hearts—moving us to cry out intimately, “My Father! You’re our true Father!”
Now we’re no longer living like slaves under the law, but we enjoy being God’s very own sons and daughters! And because we’re his, we can access everything our Father has—for we are heirs of God through Jesus, the Messiah!
These verses help us understand the impact that Jesus has upon us, and can ready us for 2021 if we let them.
It’s easy, because of the nature of 2020, to want to protect ourselves going into 2021. But we are made for more than survival; we’re made for abundant life. It takes vulnerability to live presently, to participate in the abundance we’ve been given in Jesus.
We must raise our eyes, heart, and mind up to the Lord to know that we are loved, that we belong, and that we can participate with God as his Kingdom, his Church, and his Bride.
2 truths from this passage:
Jesus brings us into his family, his Kingdom--His Kingdom is marked by abundance, by generosity, by gift-giving, and lots of grace. Our lives get to be reflections of this.
We are set free from slavery & called his sons & daughters--Israel celebrated their freedom from slavery in many different celebrations. One such celebration was the Year of Jubilee.
The Year of Jubilee was all about forgiving debts, doing justice, giving liberty to all people, and rest, both for the land and for the people. It was about leaning into God’s provision as other means of provision were set free to rest for the year.
The truth is that Jesus is our ongoing season of jubilee.
This year is not the defining moment of our lives; Jesus is. And we get to be brave going into a new season, a new year, by giving the gifts of freedom, hope, and love that he has given us to others. We get to be people of the jubilee.
Remember that faith is a gift--it is not earned or fought for by us. According to these verses in Galatians, our faith gives us access to everything of God. This faith enables us to navigate how to walk into the new year. Our utmost call, as it has been through this entire year, has been: be faithful. Reflect God’s faithfulness to us.
As we transition to 2021 this week, consider these questions:
What are the gifts you were given in 2020?
Where have you seen God’s abundance in 2020?
And ask God:
What do you have for me in 2021?
How can I live as a person of jubilee?