Christmas makes the Christian life an after party …

One of the aspects of the first Christmas as recorded in the Bible that perpetually astounds me is the party the citizens of heaven threw when Jesus was born.

It astounds me not because it wasn’t called for — oh it was! — but because the citizens of heaven don’t go around revealing themselves to citizens of Earth. Not only did the birth of Christ give cause for all of heaven to party, but for a moment, they threw back the veil to earth and let their party spill out in front of some frightened human beings …

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior — yes, the Messiah, the Lord — has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others — the armies of heaven — praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased,'” Luke 2:8-14.

The birth of Christ was just enough to cause “the armies of heaven” to party with abandon, but we live on the “other side” of the Christmas story. We know the whole story of how Jesus grew to become a man who fulfilled the Law by living a perfect and sinless life, and how He took the sins of the world upon Himself on the cross, died in our place, and defeated sin and death with His resurrection.

— Side Note — Considering how heaven partied at the birth of Jesus, can you imagine how crazy the heavenly hosts went when they saw Jesus arise and walk out of that tomb?! —

We know the entire story that launched on that first Christmas morning, and the whole story is so great that the Christian life is, in one way, an after party to that first big Christmas bash! Heaven celebrated once when Jesus was born, but what God has done through Christ for us is reason to praise and worship the Lord every day of our lives!

And every week, the children of God (called the “church”) gather as His family to extend the after party, to continue to celebrate together the salvation, grace, and love we receive from our God who has reconciled us to Himself and adopted us into His own family. If heaven had reason to party that first Christmas, look at all the reasons we have for an “after party” from that Christmas!

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 (NASB).

Scotty