Heaven to Earth

May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven                  Matthew 6:10 (New Living Translation)

…he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.                                                                       Ephesians 1:9-10 (NIV)

Christmas is the season we celebrate the Incarnation of Jesus. Incarnation is a fancy word for “in the flesh”. The plan that God has is for his glory and character to be transferred from heaven to earth. In order to do that, he sent his son to earth to literally bring heaven to earth.

We earthlings have not done such a great job of manifesting God’s heavenly glory and character here on earth. Yet, we are called as Christians to do that very thing- against all odds. We are to mirror those character qualities to others, to demonstrate the plan that God has.

In times past, some zealous Christians decided to forcefully bring people into the Kingdom of God by spreading the message of Jesus to colonized peoples. Others simply walled themselves off from those who were not “believers”, and practiced “separation” from the world. Still others would try to legislate conversion to Christianity by making the “religion of the king the religion of the people.” Hence, the 30 Years War in Europe, and the aftermath of divided people groups. We are well aware that the simple, even audacious, plan of bringing heaven to earth, has been made complex and contentious.

At this season of Christmas, let’s again think of the very basic reason that Jesus came to earth- to reconcile a broken people into the glory of heaven that God has intended all along.

Prayer: On earth as it is in heaven…Amen