Author: Kyle Fuller

I love Jesus. I desire to encourage and equip the body of Christ and preach the gospel to those who don't know Him.

Stuff

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“But as for me, how good it is to be near God!” (Ps. 73:28)

It is so easy to get caught up in the pursuits of everyday life and begin to believe that life would be so much better if I only had this job or this home or this car or this relationship. We even sometimes think that if I could only be involved in this ministry or that church our lives would be fulfilled and all would be well. Strange, if you are fortunate enough to obtain your pursuits, you find that in the end; you still somehow think you need more. It seems indigenous to human nature that we are never satisfied and always have to have newer, bigger, and better stuff. While our stuff may not be evil in and of itself, the danger lies in the value we ascribe to it. Our stuff, more often than not, becomes an idol by which we define ourselves: More stuff and life is good. Less stuff and life is not so good.

For the Christian, life is not measured by the amount of things we acquire, but rather by the intimacy we enjoy with God. To those who are in Jesus, who daily drink of his Spirit; stuff takes a back seat and cannot begin to compare with the surpassing pleasure of his company. As we learn more of him, we begin to find that he is all we truly need, and that stuff or the lack thereof is not as important as we may have thought. Stuff can’t save you. It can’t heal or deliver you. A life based on stuff has to have more stuff to be a good life. But the reality is that it is God’s presence in your life that can truly make your life good.

I think of the Apostle Paul, and the fact that when he wrote the words, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” he was sitting in prison with NO STUFF! Now, I bet you Paul would rather have not been in prison, but when you read the book of Philippians; you find that the quality of his life was not defined by anything other than his relationship with Jesus. In fact, he said, “I’ve given up all my stuff that I may know Christ.” (Phil. 3:8 My Translation) The nearness of God was Paul’s good, and it remained so in spite of the context in which he found himself.

Here in America we are constantly being told that we must have more stuff if we are to “live the good life.” Not true! If you want to live the good life, if you want the good stuff; come,  make Jesus your everything and he will be the good in your life.

 

To Tell The Truth

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

For those of you who have pursued in depth Bible study, the term exegesis is one that you are familiar with. When applied to interpreting biblical text, exegesis is the means by which we “draw out of the text” what is contained within it, or, the way we are led through a text into an accurate understanding of its meaning. Exegetical interpretation involves seeking to understand the original intentions of the author and the meaning he attached to those things he has written. In short, exegesis is intended to get us to the truth.  Okay, now before I lose you and you “click” out of here; let me tell you something cool about this exegesis thing: Jesus is the only one who can give us an accurate exegesis of God. John tells us, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (John 1:18) Interestingly enough, the “has made him known” part is the Greek word ἐξηγήσατο or exēgēsato  Do you see it?

In a culture that is all inclusive and proclaims that all religions are the same, leading to the same God, and so forth; John’s assertion that Jesus is the only means by which we can gain the correct “interpretation” of who God is stands in complete contrast. Now we may not agree with what John states in the prologue of his gospel, but there is no doubt as to his meaning: Jesus alone reveals who God is. Like a Bible student “exegeting” a biblical text, Jesus is the one who explains God and leads us to the proper understanding of who God is.

The common euphemisms of, “Well, if that’s the way you see it, it’s true for you.” and “There are all kinds of truth, great that you have found yours.” are the battle cries of both subjectivism and contemporary existentialism. According to these mindsets, one does not  have to remain fixed upon any reality or even his own personal reality. “One must be willing to declare himself against his previous opinions”, as Nietzsche has stated. Or, as Kierkegaard said, “The thing is to understand myself… to find a truth that works for me… the highest truth attainable for an Existing individual [is simply] an objective uncertainty held fast in the most passionate personal experience.” Well, this may sound attractive and truly liberating, but how do these mindsets stand up against John’s claim that only Jesus reveals God?

It is also popular today, in our postmodern society, to claim that we do not even have the capacity to comprehend truth, reality or much less God himself. Before a person can be made to accept  John’s claim that Jesus is the only one who reveals God, he must first be convinced that the truth about God and reality (including morality and religion) can be known and that reality itself is not subject to one’s own personal perception. C.S. Lewis said, “The consequences of subjectivism and relativism of truth are destructive… to intellectual honesty and to life. For if truth is objective, if we live in a world we did not create and cannot change by merely thinking, if the world is not really a dream of our own, then the most destructive belief we could possibly believe would be the denial of this primary fact.”

Beginning in grade school, facts and figures are communicated through teachers that are, for the most part, accepted without question as truth. In their book I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be An Atheist, Norm Geisler and Fran Turek insist, “We also expect to be told the truth when we pick up a reference book, read an article, or watch a news story; we want the truth from advertisers and politicians; we assume road signs, medicine bottles, and food labels reveal the truth.” It seems that in every area of life, truth and reality are looked for and expected. We accept as truth that one plus one equals two, Columbus discovered America, and so on; however, when it comes to God, truth is defined as relative or even unknowable. Why this contradiction?    If a consistent paradigm is to be maintained one would have to acknowledge that just as the reality of mathematical equations and historical facts are knowable, the broader scope of reality, religion, morals, and even God can also be truly comprehended. Perhaps Augustine was right when he said that we love the truth when it enlightens us, but we hate it when it convicts us.

The gospel of John claims that Jesus is the only way to truly know who God is and come into relationship with him. As I previously said, we may not agree with John’s assertions, but it is indeed what he says. John’s statements are either true or false. There is no middle ground. So, what do we do about it? Come to Jesus, receive him, believe on his name, and you will know the truth about who God is. I like how the Apostle Paul put it, “See to it that no one takes you captive by means of philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells in bodily form…”

The Choice Between Two Masters (Part 1) By Michael Andrus

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

In the Gospel of Luke we find Jesus introducing an intriguing teaching on the consequences of an individual attempting to fall under the authority of two masters. The parable that is commonly known as the Parable of the Shrewd Manager finds  Jesus declaring, “No servant can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Luke 16:13 NIV)  While the mention of the word master may elicit a variety of emotional or culturally inspired reactions, especially here in America, it is important to fight against interpretive presuppositions that each of us bring to the Biblical text and desire to understand what Christ was considering from the proper context.

 But let’s back up for a moment

  When we approach much of the New Testament teaching we find very often that the New Testament teacher is addressing contemporary or even historical areas of disagreement amongst the population he or she is addressing.  And in the case of the issue of “Two Masters,” we can find numerous instances in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), where God’s servants are confronting Israel with the exact same issue.  In 1 Kings 18:16-21 we find Elijah calling Ahab (Israel’s fallen king) and all of Israel to Mount Carmel to address this very issue.  After confronting Ahab, Elijah turns his attention to the representatives of Israel and proclaims, “How long will you waver between two opinions?  If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God follow him.” (1Kings 18:21 NIV)  And when we look at the text in Hebrew word for word, we actually find Elijah asking, “When will you stop skipping on (or between) two of the dilemmas?”  This is where context becomes extremely important.  Where we may automatically look to assign contemporary cultural values to the words “opinions”, “masters” and what it means to “follow him”, there are some interesting distinctions between the contemporary Western notion and what Elijah’s audience would have understood him to be saying.

                             The First Break Down                  

            What were the two dilemmas?

 While this question could easily justify an additional teaching, for the purposes of the current conversation I will simply provide that the “Dilemma” was a question of allegiance.  Elijah was simply asking the people of Israel, “Which master will you choose to follow”, and “How long until you decide to follow that master once and for all?” (My paraphrase)  While the American reader may instantly produce a “Master” “Slave/Servant” image within an American slavery paradigm, to the Jewish man such a relationship would be completely foreign.

It is important to reveal a couple important facts about Jewish custom and culture and what it meant to be a slave/servant within 1st and 2nd Jewish temple context.  Unlike the surrounding pagan cultures, Israel did not support a developed understanding of lifelong slavery.  While there were types of slavery existent in 1st and 2nd Temple Israel, the “slave” was not enslaved for life, and in fact still retained areas of freedom within his experience.  Furthermore under the Law of Moses, the maximum amount of time that someone could exist as a “slave”, was 7 years.  After the 7th year he or she was freed.  This distinction can be found in the language of Hebrew itself.  Unlike its Greek counterpart, the Hebrew language only has one word to represent “Slave/Servant.” Where the Greek has 4-7 synonyms; Hebrew has only the word “eved.”   When we look at the word “eved” we find an understanding of a Jewish servant who consciously chooses to align him or herself under the authority of a master.   The word does not denote the notion of oppression that the Western mind may associate with the term. When we look at Christ’s proclamation in Luke then, we can begin to see that there are deeper implications behind the Lord’s Words.

Next time we will take a moment to continue looking at the biblical notion of “Two Masters” by looking at Christ’s invitation to yoke to Him and become His servant  (Matthew 11:28-30), and what the implications of yoking to Christ truly are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dangerous Proximity

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.”

When you read the gospels, the feeling you get is that if Jesus could be said to have had a best friend it would have had to have been Lazarus. It seems that the Lord spent a considerable amount of time at the house where Lazarus lived with his sisters Mary and Martha. Another thing you might observe in Lazarus’ friendship with Jesus is that intimacy with Christ can be “dangerous.”

Think about it, Jesus purposefully allowed his friend to die so that the glory of God could be demonstrated. Remember, it was told to the Lord that Lazarus was sick, and Jesus delayed two days before leaving for Bethany, and by that time, Lazarus had been dead four days. One might be tempted to say, “Uh, thanks friend.” And again, after Lazarus had been raised from the dead, his being a “walking miracle” drew so many people to Jesus that the Lord’s enemies decided they would have to kill him as well. “Uh, thanks friend.”

Something we Western Christians don’t think too much about is that not only have we been given the privilege of believing on Jesus, but also the privilege of suffering for him (Phil. 1:29). We are more than willing to sing “I am a friend of God, I am a friend of God,” but we fail to appreciate that friendship with God may mean that we endure hardship in this life so that the glory of our “Friend” can be manifested to the world around us. Paul put it this way, “[we are] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.” (2 Corinthians 4:10-12) Scripture reveals that friendship with Jesus and being used by him often entails hardship, suffering, and yes, even danger.

Another thing we see in the relationship of Jesus and Lazarus is that although intimacy with Christ did indeed expose him to danger; Lazarus also enjoyed reclining at table with Jesus during dinner. (Remember, to the Jew, nothing revealed intimacy like the partaking of a meal together.) I’m sure Lazarus would have agreed with Paul’s words, “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.” And again, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Through Jesus’ relationship with Lazarus, the glory of God was demonstrated and many came to believe. I pray that we fall so in love with our “Friend” that we allow him to use our lives in what ever manner he chooses. May our intimacy with Him be of such magnitude that it poses a threat to the enemies of God. For even if our friendship with the Lord should result in the ultimate sacrifice, let us not forget the powerful words Jesus spoke to his dear friend Lazarus who had been in the tomb for four days: “Lazarus, come forth!”

 

Little Foxes

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

This New Year’s weekend I had the opportunity to be with a group of men from all over the United States. (I think there were a few from other countries as well.) Anyway, they left their families and homes to come together, and bring in the New Year in fellowship, seeking the face of God. There were many ministers, diverse theological views, egos, and personalities, which were all set aside for the express purpose of crying out to God in intercession. While I was richly blessed, I was at the same time humbled as I rubbed shoulders with these men of God. As I ate with them, worshipped with them, prayed and wept with them; I was touched by their depth of passion and commitment to the Lord. I was also deeply convicted.

Today, back at home reflecting on everything; the scripture that came to my mind was, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards…” Although I am involved in ministry and various “work for the Kingdom,” I saw in these brothers an intensity and singularity of focus that has begun to wane in my own life. I began to see that I have allowed seemingly insignificant compromises, those “little foxes,” to trample the “vineyard” of my life. Strange, these little foxes didn’t look that dangerous at all. In fact, they were kind of cute. However, the reality is; it is their intention to eat up the blossoms that are in bloom and prevent the fruit from reaching maturity. Thank God for his Spirit, his grace, his mercy, and his people! “Catch for us the little foxes!”

Brothers and sisters, we must be sober and alert, keeping watch over our hearts lest the little foxes enter in undetected and began to ruin the vineyard. So often we become complacent, at ease in Zion if you will. And, while we may keep out the roaring lion that seeks to devour us entirely; we ignore the little foxes that seek to ruin the vineyard. Jesus tells the church at Ephesus, “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

Let us, at the beginning of this New Year, pray that God by his Spirit will reveal to us any little foxes running loose in our lives.

Poolside

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda…One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well?’” (John 5: 5,6 NLT)

I used to read this passage and think to myself that it was strange that the Lord would ask the paralyzed man if he wanted to be well. After all, who wouldn’t want to be healed of an infirmity that had rendered them an invalid? What person in their right mind would want to remain in a paralyzed condition? The truth is, as crazy as it may seem, sometimes; we can actually become at ease with our “disease.”

Sadly, many of us are guilty of allowing the pain and hurts we have encountered to produce a “victim mentality” within us whereby we feel justified in using our infirmity to manipulate others. I wonder if perhaps that is why Jesus asked the man lying beside the pool of Bethesda that day if he wanted to be healed. Maybe the man had actually begun to see his illness as a way to manipulate others into giving him money. Have you ever met someone who has actually begun to “romance” their pain and hurt? It’s crazy, but sometimes, we can prefer the familiarity of our suffering over the prospect of being made whole.

You recall the story of how God delivered the people of Israel out of servitude in the land of Egypt. Well, isn’t it strange that when the going got rough, as they traveled through the desert; they actually wanted to return to slavery? They had begun to feel sorry for themselves, thinking that Moses (and perhaps God) had somehow victimized them. They saw the familiarity of slavery in Egypt as preferable to the hardships of a free people. It appears that they sought to manipulate Moses (and perhaps even God) through their whining and complaining. “Let us go back to Egypt; it’s better to be a live slave than a corpse out here in the desert!”

Let me ask you, do you want to be made whole? Will you come and allow Jesus to heal you and set you free? You don’t have to be an invalid resorting to murmuring and manipulation. The sin, the hurt, and the pain that has you paralyzed cannot stand before the One who has come to give you life! Poolside is not the place for you. Put your faith in Him today, and hear Him say to you, “Take up your mat and walk.”

 

Perichoretic Salvation (Dr. James D. Gifford)

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

I want to tell you about a book that I really believe can change your life. I had the privilege of having Dr. James D. Gifford as a professor, and he has written a book entitled,  Perichoretic Salvation: The Believer’s Union with Christ as a Third Type of  Perichoresis, which I think is simply awesome.  I took the  pericope below off of the back cover and I hope it will entice you to click on the provided link, and get your own copy. Perichoretic Salvation by James d. GiffordI know the man, and I absolutely encourage you to get his book!

“For two thousand years, Christian theologians have struggled to explain the believer’s union with Christ. What sort of union is this? How can it fully be described? This book is an attempt to join the conversation to explore exactly what it means to be in union with Christ. This book will argue that the believer’s union with Christ can be rightly presented as a third type of perichoresis. Perichoresis is a word that describes the way the persons of the Trinity interrelate, without losing their essential oneness nor without being absorbed into each other. In short, the doctrine of perichoresis preserves the unity and diversity within the Godhead. It is also used to describe the hypostatic union of the divine and human nature in Christ. In Perichoretic Salvation, James Gifford argues that the union of the believer and Christ is a relationship of the same kind, though of a third type. Arguing from a perspective that is rooted biblically, historically, and theologically, the book will allow the union to be explained more fully than in the past while remaining within the bounds of what the church has taught over the centuries. It mat prove to be a basis for understanding the work of Christ afresh for the twenty-first century.”

http://www.amazon.com/Perichoretic-Salvation-Believers-Christ-Perichoresis/dp/1610971140

Bethlehem: The House of Bread

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

[Jesus was saying to them] “Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.” (John 6: 50,51 NLT)

When you read John 6, you definitely don’t see a picture of Jesus trying to win followers with an “ear tickling” message. In fact, we find that as a result of some of the things he said to the people that day; many stopped following him. He began to speak of “eating his flesh,” and “drinking his blood,” and it freaked a lot of folks out. But really, God had provided hints of all of this that first Christmas night when Jesus was born.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And do you know what the word Bethlehem means? It means “house of bread.” Let’s go a bit further. We are told that on the night of Jesus’ birth he was laid in a manger. And a manger is where the animal’s food was placed. I don’t think this is a coincidence. I believe that God was giving some clues in how and where Jesus was born. The child that lay in the manger that night in Bethlehem is the “food” God has provided for man to eat resulting in eternal life.

See, that’s the point of Christmas, God the Son becoming man and giving himself for us.

In John 6, the people reminded Jesus that Moses had given them manna to eat when they had come out of Egypt and wondered through the desert. The Jews that heard Jesus speak that day in John 6 were an oppressed people, suffering under the hands of the Roman Empire, and they were trying to manipulate Jesus into giving them bread under the pretense of “just wanting to believe.” Jesus told them that though their fathers had eaten the manna, they had nevertheless died. He corrected them by saying, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the [O]ne who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” He continued with, ““I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again…”

Listen, if all Jesus is, if all Christmas is to you is the little baby born in Bethlehem that night long ago, you have missed it. The Son became flesh so that you might participate (“eat my flesh” and “drink my blood”) in the very life of God. He was born in Bethlehem, the “house of bread,” and placed in a manger from which the animals ate their food, and he now invites you to come and partake of him so that you may live.

 

 

“Divine Therapy”

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“As God prepares remedies for the body from therapeutic herbs wisely mixed together, so he also prepared for the soul medicines with the words he infused, scattering them in the divine Scriptures…. God gave yet another medical aid of which the Lord is the Archetype who says of himself:  ‘It is not the healthy who have need of a physician but the sick‘. He is the excellent physician able to heal every weakness, and illness.’” (Origen, Homilies on the Psalms.)

 The holidays are that time of year that affords many the opportunity to interact with family members and friends they don’t often get to see the rest of the year. And with that opportunity comes the realization that, “Man, I think Uncle _ needs some therapy!” Chances are that it’s not just Uncle _ who needs some help, but we ourselves could use a little “couch time” as well. Praise God, Jesus offers complete, holistic salvation. Take it from a guy that use to be Uncle _ (and still is at times), God is able to go deep inside of you and minister to those broken places that hurt you so.

Our lives are made up of things we have done to ourselves as well as things others have done to us. I think back to being sexually abused by my grandfather (and others), memories of things I saw and heard as a child, sexual issues, drug addiction, the way I hurt and used others, and the overall brokenness that sin brought into my life, and now; it causes me to fall on my knees and worship the One who saved and healed me. Because of my “Divine Therapist,” I am no longer held captive by shame and guilt. Because of the grace, mercy, and forgiveness Jesus extends to me; I can now be used as an instrument of reconciliation in the lives of others. But it was not always like this.

There was a time when I found it hard to talk about the past, about the sin, and addiction I had endured. I felt dirty and ashamed. I remember even feeling that somehow, my grandfather’s abuse was my fault. I was defensive and disingenuous. But where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. Looking back, I can see how that all of my life, God was there, wooing, healing, and drawing me to himself. Then, that night came when I was truly born again by his Spirit! Now, because of his love, salvation has come. And as a result of the deliverance he gave (and continues to give) to me, I can be open and honest with others, letting them “in” so they can see the salvation of the Lord. There are people that need to hear about how Jesus has saved and healed you. They feel like they are all alone, different, and that no one understands. But if you will come to Jesus for the “divine therapy” that only he can give, and allow him to save and heal you; you will experience the freedom that allows you to open your mouth and tell them of the beauty of the Lord.

So this year, as you gather with your family for the holidays, and good ole crazy Uncle _ is in rare form; why not share with him some of what you have learned from your “Divine Therapist.” Let the healing Jesus has given you be that which affords you the freedom to extend His love to your family and friends.

“Away in the Manger”: The Divine Assumption

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

The Lord only knows how many times “Away in the Manger” will be sung this holiday season. I guess millions will sing about how the “little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head,” but I wonder how many of us actually give serious thought as to what this really means. We’re all familiar with the old saying about what happens to the man who makes assumptions, but that’s exactly what Jesus did at his incarnation. He assumed it all! But what does it really mean that the Creator of all things would come and assume every bit of what it means to be human, walk among us, and offer himself upon the cross as a sacrifice for our sins? Do we truly understand what was going on and who it was that lay “asleep on the hay”?

First, we must understand that this baby in the manger was God- God the Son. It was neither the Father nor the Spirit that assumed humanity, but the Son. John tells us in his gospel that “The Word [Jesus] was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created,…” In his first letter John further explains that “the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him.” That night at the manger, the Creator had come to his creation. We must understand that Jesus was fully God, in and of himself. He was not adopted as God’s Son because of the good life he lived, nor was it at his baptism that he was then indwelt by the Holy Spirit and equipped to be Messiah. No, the child in the manger was the second person of the Trinity, God almighty in and of himself.

This One who lay in the manger was also fully man. He did not merely appear to be man, pretending to be human while his divinity somehow “absorbed” his humanity. No, this baby was a real human being. An early Church Father, Gregory of Nazianzus, drove home the importance of the fact that Jesus was a real man when he said, “That which has not been assumed cannot be redeemed.” Jesus became every bit human so that he might redeem every bit of us. Any part of him that was not man is a part of us that was not redeemed. Though the child in the manger was indeed God, at the same time; he was indeed the Son of Man. The writer to the Hebrews tells us, “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.” (Hebrews 2:14,15 NLT)

When we sing of the baby in the manger we must realize that this child is God who assumed every bit of what we are so that he might share “every bit” of who he is with us. The fact that the Son became man makes it possible for we who are men to partake of the divine nature and participate in the very life God possesses within himself, for the One who slept in the manger that night is life itself. And because he is Life, he could be the perfect sacrifice and give his life in atonement for our sins, and be the way for us to once more commune with the living God. John of Damascus said, “For since [Christ] bestowed on us his own image and his own spirit and we did not keep them safe, he took himself a share in our poor and weak nature, in order that he might cleanse us and make us incorruptible, and establish us once more as partakers of his divinity.”

I pray that this year when you hear or sing “Away in the Manger,” you will be more cognizant than ever that the One of whom you sing is the God who assumed our humanity and invites us to share in his eternal life.