I think it is easy to think of God as Santa Claus as we approach the celebration of the nativity. Santa traditions bring kindness to the world. The downside is that we can get the attributes of Santa confused with the known attributes of God.
Santa keeps a naughty list and the good children receive Christmas gifts. God knows our every hidden sin. God took on human form so that Jesus could become the perfect lamb. He would be beaten and nailed to a wooden cross. He called "game over" when he declared, "It is finished."
He chose to die for all of the naughty children, like me.
There is no comparison! One is mostly blended cultural traditions. One is fully documented. One has changed lives for two millennia in spite of every effort to destroy the Good News of His redemption opportunity.
Jesus was prophesied for generations before he came. He came and fulfilled some say over 300 prophecies (I have not counted them). Isaiah 53 is full of them. Psalm 22 is, too. One man fulfilling even 300... what are the odds of that? I am not a mathematician, but I can recognize when the statistics point to truth.
"So Isaiah told him, “Then listen to this, government of David! It’s bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you’re making God tired. So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She’ll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). By the time the child is twelve years old, able to make moral decisions, the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!” -Isaiah 7:14
Because he came as He did, we can be adopted into the family. Forgiven and free is not a bad deal. In fact, the older I get, the more I am humbled by the magnitude of the gift.
Today, I am grateful for the prophecy fulfilled.
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