The little baby boy cooing so mildly in the manger made of weakness and nakedness and poverty a crown. The Son of Man, the Son of God, smiling so sweetly in the manger affirmed that He had not forgotten His promises.

But before the manger—the Garden.

Our need arose in the Garden of Eden and was soothed in the Manger. Our weakness and our helpless condition begged His mercy and He did not despise our need. It was our cry He uttered at birth, and our pain He came to bear. It was we who were naked and poor—so the Son of God joined us in our misery.

Beyond the romantic sentimentality of ribbons and bows, beyond those things we want and will not get, we know and believe that God has come to be—with us. That makes all the difference on Christmas Day.

But before the manger—the Garden.

For in the Garden the human drama took a turn for the worse. In the Garden it became all too obvious that the works of our hands yield death. In the Garden our nakedness was exposed and our wickedness made known. In the Garden our sins cried out to a loving God and in His love Continue Reading >>