“Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!” (Isaiah 64:1-2).
Things were not going well for God’s people in Isaiah’s day, and many had become despondent and hopeless. In these verses we hear Isaiah crying out for God to intervene, to come down and break into the sufferings and injustices they were experiencing and set things right.
“For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” (Isaiah 64:3-4).
Today we are living in terribly similar times of darkness and despair, and many are filled with a longing to see God coming to act on our behalf. Isaiah gives voice to our longings for God to show up in our world as He did in the past.
Do we hunger for the transforming presence of God in our world, church, and families? Do we feel threatened by the evils of wars, violence, and injustices? Do we feel powerless against corrupted authorities and selfish leadership, politically touting their lies and conspiracies theories?
Sadly, many of us are weeping in anguish, thinking the Christian church is also being swept away with disputes, divisions, and disregard for God and neighbors. We secretly and publicly cry out for God to come down to save and heal us?
To all of you and myself, I retell the story of the grandpa who found his grandson jumping up and down in his playpen, crying at the top of his voice. When Johnny saw Grandpa, he reached out his chubby little hands and said, “Out, Grandpa, out.”
Filled with love, Grandpa reached down to lift his grandson out of his predicament, but as he did, Johnny’s mom came into the room and said, “No, Johnny, you are being punished; you have to stay in your playpen.”
With undeterred love Grandpa’s heart and mind searched for a way to satisfy the child’s cry. His grandson’s tears reached deep into his heart. But mom’s firmness could not be taken lightly. It was then that love found a way. Grandpa could not take his grandson out of the playpen, so instead, he climbed into the playpen with the little boy.
For me, that story vividly illustrates the true essence of the Christmas story. From His eternal glorious heavens God looked down upon us and heard our crying for help and hope. And because God so greatly loved us, He left the glories of heaven and came down to earth, climbing into our world with us. Taking on human flesh, becoming fully one with us, God in Jesus, was born into our world to live in our midst.
The eternal significance of this love-event was so amazing that God rolled back the heavens to make space for the angelic choir to burst forth in song announcing the birth of Jesus, our Savior, Messiah, Lord. The good gifts he brought to earth with himself were love, joy, peace, and hope. The grand good news was that these gifts were for all the people of the world. Yes, God came down in Jesus, and now lives and walks among us.
When we, in our sin, could not come to God, He came to us in the flesh. He came in the person of Jesus. And what Isaiah and the other prophets could only hope for based on God’s word, we look back on as the hope that has already come! The world still trembles in awe and wonder at the miracle of that birth. God came down and, through the infant Jesus said to each one of us, “I dearly love you.”
Yes, the world is full of hardship and suffering and brokenness, but Jesus has come and walks besides us to share our pain and encourage our healing. Yes, there is much sorrow, grief and fear, but Jesus has come and weeps with us.
Yes, there are horrors, devastations, and tragedies playing out all over the world, but Jesus has come and moves among us to comfort and restore hope. Yes, there is much painful struggle and despair, but Jesus has come and walks besides us to strengthen and encourage!
Yes, there are wars, and rumors of wars, earthquakes and tsunamis, but Jesus has come and moves among us to heal and establish peace. Yes, there is loss, death, and overwhelming grief, but Jesus has come and embraces us with His amazing love and eternal reassurance that He will never leave nor forsake us! Amen!
May God’s Christmas gifts be forever enjoyed in your life and mine!
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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – December 22, 2021
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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