Have you ever become friends with someone almost instantly, simply because you and that other person shared some common experience in the past? If I meet someone who remembers watching Magnum P.I. or He Man on TV, I know we’re gonna be friends. If I meet someone who stood in line to get their copy of the Nirvana Unplugged CD the day it first came out and then listened to it four times before dinner, I know we’re gonna be close. There are certain experiences, feelings and cultural events that just make people connect with each other because they both experienced them. One of the best things about knowing Jesus is that He isn’t simply some detached Deity, seated on a Heavenly throne barking out orders and expecting everyone to toe the line. Instead, our God came down from Heaven. He set aside His throne and became one of us. The book of Hebrews says He became “fully human in every way” so that He could know what it’s like down here. That means we have a God who knows exactly what it feels like to be exhausted and depleted but to press on anyway. We have a God who knows what the common cold feels like and what it means to be hungry. He knows the blistering oppression of a blazing sun with no shade and He knows the severity and piercing assault of a cold wind with no shelter. The story of Christmas isn’t just the storybook narrative of a beautiful nativity scene lived out. The story of Christmas is about the God of the Universe living out everything you do because He wants to be friends with you - real, actual, close friends.
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