12/24/21 IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH

12/24/21 IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH

Many (maybe most) people in the USA are so use to getting nice gifts that they don't always appreciate the value of a sacrificial gift or a relational gift (a gift that is related to a sacred relationship). This is part of the reason that God's gift of His Son, God's gift of salvation is treated so lightly and carelessly by so many people. If you don't realize the cost of the gift to the giver and you don't realize the dedication expected from the recipient, then the meaning and the value of the gift is treated crudely and cheaply.

We celebrate the birth of Christ into the world with pageantry, music, generosity to other people. If the true values of the gifts or the relationship is not understood, then the celebratory activities are trite and trivial.

This is why so many people receive the Lord's Supper (aka Communion) without examining their own hearts, without making total commitment to follow Jesus fully. To receive the Lord's Supper without absolute surrender to the Lordship of Christ, without yielding our will completely to the rule of God, is to mock the gift, to treat Divine provision for salvation as though there is no value in the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.

The principle of recognizing the spiritual meaning in Christian celebration is evidenced in the Lord's Supper. Going through the outward steps, while being inwardly unaware of the spiritual meaning is not only a waste of time for us to take, to receive the Lord's Supper, while in an unworthy spiritual condition, but it is to drink and eat condemnation (God's judgment) to yourself.
1 Corinthians 11:27-29
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

This passage indicates that a person who participates in Christian celebration, without having the right relationship with God is presuming and actually dishonoring God.

The principle applies to other aspects of Christian celebration.
For instance, to claim the name of Christ as your Savior, while living in known sin is taking the Name of Christ (God) in vain.
In the Old Testament, God warned and instructed His people that sacrifices were not what God wanted, but rather a broken and contrite spirit.
It is blasphemous to use holy realities for personal gain or pleasure.
We must not take the holy things of God and then repackage them for our own gain.

God is looking for folks "to worship Him in spirit and in truth."
Don't use the Incarnation of Christ, don't use the fact that God became a Man, for temporal, carnal pleasure or gain.
Enjoy the season, but don't repackage the Incarnation of God, or His ministry as a platform for personal aggrandizement.