God Laughs at His Enemies!

Celebrating the coming of Jesus is one of life’s special times, for those who belong to Him. The excitement the world sees in Christmas has shifted the celebration to be wholly self and man focussed. But for those of us who know the Son of God, our hearts are full of gratitude at this time of year for the gift of our salvation, the joy of being called a son/daughter and the privilege of being co-heirs with Jesus in the promise of an inheritance incorruptible.

All those years ago, when the Father planned to send a very precious part of Himself, in the form of a human baby, another plan was being hatched. God’s enemy, Satan, knew that His territory and Kingdom would be under threat. So he stirred up Herod to kill all the baby boys in the region. But did he really think he could stop the eternal purposes of Almighty God? In his deception, he certainly caused much torment, cruelty and pain, but our God is the Master of working His purposes out in ways far beyond the wit of man - and certainly way beyond the reach of Satan.

What brilliance it was to bring the baby Son of God into the most unexpected, unlovely and lowly place. Even Mary and Joseph, God’s chosen vessels, couldn’t find it! They had to keep knocking on door after door! But God had His place where no one would ever dream of looking! God laughs at His enemies, not in a mocking derisory way but in a Holy laughter which places Satan firmly under His feet, and even goes as far as using the enemy to extend His purposes! We are not in a dualistic battle. For God always has a win/win plan for an individual as well as in the big picture.

We can be sure that God is working His purpose out in our lives, whatever the circumstances are. He has His way of outwitting the enemy and we can look to Him, trusting that He will bring about what we can never do through our own cleverness and human logic.

Today, as we see the big picture, the god of this world has pretty successfully killed off the true meaning of Christmas and replaced it in people’s hearts with any kind of god. We can and do bemoan what seems to be a losing battle. But God has a plan! Satan is once again being stirred, this time by the second coming - the imminent return of the King of Kings! Trying to kill off the real celebration of Christmas is just one aspect of what Satan is trying to do today.

The god of this world has plotted out a pretty good destruction plan. Eliminate those nativity plays, they are boring and religious. Get rid of the word Christmas and replace it with winter holidays. Replace the joyful bells ringing out the good news, with glitter and glamour worship. You could say his plot has worked!

But, once again he has been deceived! The Father is watching over His plan. Let us who hold fast to the truth, never let go of celebrating the true Christmas and all that it holds in the promise of the return of our Saviour. He is coming soon! We will celebrate the Incarnation like never before and allow the light of the world to shine yet brighter in the midst of the coming darkness. Keep holding up the light and truth of Christmas, its promise is the answer to the cry of every human heart.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we lift You high in our hearts today and every day and it is a joy to celebrate You and Your coming. Help us to never let the enemy rob us of the significance of this precious time of year and its true meaning for the world. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.