Jesus came.

The Bible is an amazing collection of 66 books that give us more of an understanding of God than any other religious literature. What does it tell us about God’s posture toward us? Does he love us? Does he hate us? Does he know anything about us? What does he do about our brokenness and all the troubles in our world?

When Jesus began his public ministry around age 30, one of the first things he did was read in front of a crowded synagogue from the ancient book of Isaiah, chapter 61, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

These verses (written some 700 years before Jesus’ birth) actually referred to Jesus himself and give us a clear picture of what God thinks about us. He sees us (metaphorically) as poor, prisoners, blind, and oppressed. But what God does for us speaks volumes about him. He doesn’t look from a distance and condemn us, nor does he turn his back and leave us to figure it out for ourselves. He actually shows up in the person of Jesus. He enters our world; he comes to where we are with a message of good news, freedom, recovery, and the favor of God.

If you have ever wondered what God thinks of you, Christmas is your reminder that God came into our world to be living proof of his favor. He loves you, he cares about you, and he has good news for you. Tomorrow we’ll talk more about that good news.