“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV.
So often in the Bible, the human condition looks grim. From “In the beginning…” Genesis 1:1, until “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Revelation 22:21, God works miracle after miracle, even when all seems lost. For example, Adam and Eve, the first two humans created by God on earth chose to disobey their Creator to be their own god. Their act of disobedience, which God calls sin, set in motion the cascading and endless downward spiral that would infect every human being thereafter. While our sin nature has been a part of the human DNA since the beginning of time, our story is one of redemption and brings us to how God always makes a way where there seems to be no way.
“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel (an unexpected messenger) was sent by God to the city of Galilee named Nazareth (an unexpected destination for an angel), to a virgin…[whose] name was Mary…Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name Jesus” (Luke 1:26-31).
Nothing about the story in the Book of Luke, resembles any sensible pathway to the redemption of humankind, but then, almost everything about God’s divine methods of interacting with humans makes little sense. An angel? A virgin giving birth? Jesus, the Son of God?
Perhaps you are going through a difficult situation where you do not see a way forward: a diagnosis, a failing relationship, maybe a family or financial crisis. One promise that is tested and proven reliable is that “throughout all generations, according to God’s power within us, to the glory of Jesus Christ He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20-21, paraphrasing mine). During the season of celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus, find comfort knowing that in the world of the “impossible,” we honor the One True and only God Who makes all things possible, to the glory of His Son, Jesus.
Friend, Merry Christmas!