HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2012 / WINTER / THE LIFE AFTER WITH CHRIS LEE
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VOLUME 13, ISSUE 4
D E P A R T M E N T S
The life AFTER with Chris Lee
The snow fell softly in fat flakes, illuminated against the night sky by thousands of golden Christmas lights. I nibbled on a minced meat pie at a cafe table under a striped awning. It was cold, but the scarf from Harrods and the hot mulled drink in my hand staved off the worst of the chill. In fact, I barely felt the temperature. What I felt was a sense of wonder. Earlier in the day I had bought roasted chestnuts from a street vendor in Trafalgar Square; now I was ending the day in Covent Garden watching the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers. Christmas time in London felt like stepping into a Dickens story. There was a sense of past and present colliding. I remember feeling joy at just being there and also a sense of peace and contentment. Everything seemed just right.
That will always be one of my favorite memories of the holiday season, but upon reflection, it’s emblematic of what Christmas has come to mean to me. I was enthralled by the historic nature of London and the way in which ancient buildings were still in use in the present. In the U.S., history had seemed interesting, but “distant”, for lack of a better word. There, history was continually before me, behind me, and under my feet. It was imminently relevant. Isn’t that the case with Christmas? Christmas spans all the way back to the Garden of Eden, to the promise of a seed who would come and set things right. The theme of Christmas runs through the story of Abraham as the promise made in the Garden becomes a promise to Abraham that his seed would bless the nations of the earth. The promise is renewed to Isaac and Jacob. The promise is illustrated in symbols and shadows to Israel. The promise travels through David and Solomon and is proclaimed by all the prophets. Finally, the promise culminates in a lowly birth in a stable under a miraculous star.
That baby, born two thousand years ago, lived a perfect life and credited His righteousness to our account as if it were our own. He died upon a cross as a propitiation for our sins, removing our debt. If we stopped there, perhaps this would all sound like distant history, but that’s not the end of the story. He rose again and ascended into Heaven where he sits in the place of greatest power and honor. When we believe, we are with Him in the heavenlies even now. Through him, we enter into the very presence of the Father; we become adopted children of God and heirs to the kingdom. We are sealed with His Spirit. We possess salvation and eternal security in the present and always. The past meets the present and is oh, so relevant, because the one who made the promise in the Garden came two thousand years ago and lives today.
The sense of wonder, joy, and peace I felt that winter in London doesn’t even come close to what I experience in Jesus. In London I had the situational contentment that comes when everything seems to be just perfect in that moment. It’s a feeling I sometimes refer to as “the warm fuzzies”. Unfortunately, warm fuzzies are transient, and the feeling goes away. What I experience in Jesus is so much deeper because it’s a peace and joy that is present even at some of my lowest moments. That sounds like a contradiction, and yet it’s a reality that surpasses comprehension. It’s true, because Jesus lives in me even during those dark times.
Christmas is the time of year when we celebrate God coming as a man to dwell among us. It’s a wonderful celebration, but let’s never forget that He dwells every single day in us who have been born again. Because of His life, death, and resurrection, every day is Christmas. †
Copyright 2012 Life Assurance Ministries, Inc., Casa Grande, Arizona, USA. All rights reserved. Revised December 17, 2012. Contact email: proclamation@gmail.com
Chris Lee lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with his wife, Carmen, and daughters, Ashlyn and Alyssa. They attend the Lincoln Berean Church. Chris is a self-described "theology junkie" whose mission is to proclaim the unfathomable grace of Christ in a clear, understandable, and Biblical way. Chris is the editor of the Proclamation! Blog at ProclamationMagazine.com. You may contact Chris by email at ambulater@gmail.com.
