Week Fifty-Two - Adoration

The night skies blazed with the splendor of heavenly angels announcing the birth of a Saviour, and there in that lowly manger, creation knelt in adoration of Immanuel, God with us. The Christmas story incites such adoration and wonder that words often fail to capture the beauty, so today, let's look at one thought - love.

Within the manger lay the fulfilment of prophecy, the expression of humility and sacrifice, and the promise of eternal love. Do you love Him? 

Spurgeon wrote, "It is a wonderful thing to be able to say with assurance, without any ifs, ands, or buts, that you love the Lord. Saying you hope you do, or trust you do, is a poor and shallow experience. Don't stay there. Don't let your spirit rest until you are sure you love Him. Don't be satisfied with a superficial hope that Jesus loves you and a faint trust that you love Him. That's not enough."

The apostle Paul said positively and plainly, "I know who I have believed." Job said, "I know that my redeemer lives." Do you have that confidence? Solomon wrote, "I have found him whom my soul loveth." Have you found Him? If you have, or when you do, you gain a positive knowledge of your love for Jesus. You embrace a joyful certainty of your love for Him and will adore Him.

Spurgeon said, "True love for Christ is, in every situation, the Holy Spirit's work, and must be wrought in the heart by Him. He is the efficient cause of it; but the logical reason why we love Jesus lies in Himself. 

Why do we love Jesus? Because He first loved us. 

Why do we love Jesus? Because He gave Himself for us. We have life through His death; we have peace through His blood. Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor. 

Why do we love Jesus? Because of the excellency of His person. We are filled with a sense of His beauty! an admiration of His charms! a consciousness of His infinite perfection! His greatness, goodness, and loveliness, in one resplendent ray, combine to enchant the soul until it is so enraptured that it exclaims, "Yes, He is altogether lovely.

Blessed love is this - a love which binds the heart with chains softer than silk, and yet firmer than the hardest metal."

Do you know this deep, deep love of Jesus? Is it real in your heart, solid and confident? Such is the love of God toward you, and He longs for your love in return, a love that adores the Saviour.