We allow our hearts to be captured by the idol of idols!

"He is Lord of lords and King of kings!" Revelation 17:14

"His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns!" Revelation 19:12

Here is the amazing truth of the Christmas story: that baby in the manger is the sovereign Savior come to earth.

Why would the Lord of lords debase himself in this way?

He was on a single, focused mission, and no amount of poverty, homelessness, or rejection would deter him from his mission. What was this mission?

The sovereign Savior came to earth because sin causes all of us to live as self-appointed self-sovereigns. We all put ourselves in the center of our world. We all are way too focused on what we want, what we feel, and what we think we need. We all want control over things that we will never control. We all get angry when someone or something gets in the way of our self-designed sovereign plans.

We go through days without consciously thinking about God's will or his glory. We allow our hearts to be captured by the idol of idols: SELF.

Jesus willingly humbled himself and lived in poverty, rather than sovereignty, so that through his life and death he would rescue self-sovereigns from themselves. He placed himself under broken and unjust human rule in order to liberate us from self-rule and transform us into people who celebrate and willingly submit to his rule.

And by sovereign grace he calls us to himself, opens our eyes to his glory and grace, convicts us of our sin, forgives us, welcomes us into his family, transforms us by his grace, and expends his power to keep us for all eternity. The sovereign Son became a submitting man so self-sovereign sinners would be rescued from themselves and become those who love and submit to his rule.

[Taken from "Come Let Us Adore Him" by Paul David Tripp, 2017, pp. 126-128. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.]

"Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him." Psalm 2:12