[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fthrough-angels-eyes":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fthrough-angels-eyes-surround":68},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":13,"columnName":51,"date":52,"description":19,"extension":53,"image":54,"meta":55,"minRead":56,"navigation":57,"path":58,"postType":59,"publication":60,"publicationUrl":54,"seo":61,"stem":62,"topics":63,"__hash__":67},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fthrough-angels-eyes.md","Through Angels' Eyes",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10,11,12],"1 Peter","Philippians","2 Corinthians","Acts",{"type":14,"value":15,"toc":47},"minimark",[16,20,23,26,29,32,35,38,41,44],[17,18,19],"p",{},"The Old Testament prophets \"searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.\" These glories of the gospel, Simon Peter wrote, are things into which \"angels long to look\" (1 Peter 1:10-12).",[17,21,22],{},"I long for a deeper look too, especially at Christmas. I'm intrigued by what I do understand about Christ's coming, and filled with wonder by what I don't.",[17,24,25],{},"I understand why Mary felt amazed by the news that she would be the mother of the Savior and asked, \"How will this be, since I am a virgin?\" I am not surprised by Joseph's reluctance when he first heard about her pregnancy, and his initial decision to end their private pain with as much dignity as his disappointed heart could muster.",[17,27,28],{},"Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem? I can picture what that was like. Who hasn't been inconvenienced by some bureaucratic policy? These two had to comply with a decree issued by a pagan emperor in distant Rome who tinkered with the lives of his subjects in Palestine by insisting they go to their family's home town to register. Then, without an obstetrician, a hospital, or even a motel reservation, the young couple had to make do with a stable for a room and a manger for a maternity ward.",[17,30,31],{},"The biblical accounts of Jesus' birth ring true. They mingle the mundane with the marvelous, the routine with the regal. Terrified shepherds? Wouldn't you have been frightened if an angel interrupted your normal night's work and the glory of the Lord shone around you? After seeing the baby in the manger, the shepherds spread the word about what they had seen and heard. Of course! (How could you keep such news to yourself?) Herod's violent paranoia? It fits with historical records outside the Bible that tell us about this power-crazed, wicked despot. A young mother who treasured her baby's birth and \"pondered these things in her heart\"? Yes, I can understand that.",[17,33,34],{},"But there's much we can't fully comprehend even though it's true. Conception in a virgin's womb. A loving God who sent his beloved Son to walk among us on this tear-stained planet. A Child of destiny, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, soon to be nailed to a cross and laid in a borrowed tomb.",[17,36,37],{},"We can accept it, trust it, and rejoice in it. But who can fully grasp how the eternal Word of God came to earth as a humble servant \"and became obedient to death—even death on a cross\" (Philippians 2:8)? What amazing grace moved him to set aside the riches of Heaven and become poor for our sakes—so that through his poverty we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9)?",[17,39,40],{},"Even more amazing was another angelic message: \"This same Jesus . . . will come back\" (Acts 1:11). First-century Christians looked forward to Christ's Second Coming even while they lived in the still-recent glow of his birth, death, resurrection, and ascension. They understood that since he fulfilled the prophets' promises when he arrived the first time, Jesus will keep his promises and come back again when the time is right.",[17,42,43],{},"If that same blessed hope fills your heart, you can say more than a casual \"Merry Christmas.\" How about a heartfelt \"Maranatha\" (\"Come, O Lord!\")?",[17,45,46],{},"These are things into which angels long to look. Why not take a closer look at them ourselves?",{"title":48,"searchDepth":49,"depth":49,"links":50},"",2,[],"From the Editor's Desk","1998-12-20","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fthrough-angels-eyes","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":19},"articles\u002Fthrough-angels-eyes",[64,65,66],"Biblical Theology","Holy Week and Resurrection","Spiritual Formation","mvoMaNvhnaqlB2xfYCA5pGlJ-YP1-u3eE1r85HUlLNI",[69,74],{"title":70,"path":71,"stem":72,"description":73,"children":-1},"Those Spiritual Ups and Downs","\u002Farticles\u002Fthose-spiritual-ups-and-downs","articles\u002Fthose-spiritual-ups-and-downs","According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian and writer who suffered imprisonment and death at the hands of the Nazis, \"The Psalms are God's gifts to the church, and when we have nothing else to give God, we can give these back to him in the form of prayers.\"",{"title":75,"path":76,"stem":77,"description":78,"children":-1},"Time-Out","\u002Farticles\u002Ftime-out","articles\u002Ftime-out","Some countries have sacred cows. In America, we have sports—a religion that draws throngs of faithful worshipers to stadiums and gyms every week and daily fills the airwaves and newsstands with its gospel of wins and losses, batting averages and power plays."]