Well-known radio broadcaster, the late Paul Harvey, told a heartfelt story on air every December that people loved. It portrays why an invisible God sent His Son to earth as a man.
What follows is a condensed version of the story. Enjoy!
Once there was a skeptical, non-religious man who just couldn’t swallow the “Jesus story” about God coming to earth as a man. One snowy evening as he sat by the fire reading, he was startled by a loud thud against his house. Then another, and another.
He went outside to discover a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. Caught in the storm, they had been desperately seeking shelter, and tried to fly into his living room window.
His heart went out to the stunned little creatures. He didn’t want to let them lie there and freeze. He thought about his barn. It would provide a warm shelter—if he could direct the birds into it.
He opened the barn doors wide and turned on the light. He waited. The birds did not go in. He thought food might entice them, so he sprinkled a trail of bread crumbs on the snow to the doorway of the barn. But the birds continued to flap helplessly in the snow.
He tried catching them. No success. He tried shooing them into the barn, but to his dismay they scattered in every direction except toward the warm, lighted barn.
Then he realized they were afraid of him!
To these helpless small birds he was a huge terrifying creature. “If only I could think of some way to let them know they can trust me, that I’m not trying to hurt them, but help them,” he thought.
But how?
Any move he made seemed to frighten them. They would not follow him.
“If only I could be a bird,” he thought, “and mingle among them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. I could show them the way to the safe, warm barn. But I would have to be one of them, so they could see, hear, and understand.”
With that thought—an epiphany!
In stunned silence he dropped to his knees in the snow . . .
For this man the gospel message and John 1:14 suddenly made sense: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
Hebrews powerfully sums up this truth:
“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.
Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.” (Hebrews 2:14-18)
In the life of the man Jesus Christ we see God. And now, for those who believe, we can know the joy of His presence with and within us!
A powerful message that never grows old!
Copyright © 2015 Cheryl Elton
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