Augustine on God's fullness and nature

Do heaven and earth, then, contain the whole of you, since you fill them? Or, when once you have filled them, is some part of you left over because they are too small to hold you? If this is so, when you have filled heaven and earth, does that part of you which remains flow over into some other place? Or is it that you have no need to be contained in anything, because you contain all things in yourself and fill them by reason of the very fact that you contain them? for the things which you fill by containing them do not sustain and support you as a water-vessel supports the liquid which fills it. Even if they were broken to pieces, you would not flow out of them and away. And when you pour yourself out over us, you are not drawn down to us but draw us up to yourself; you are not scattered away, but you gather us together...What, then is the God I worship? He can be none but the Lord God himself, for who but the Lord is God? What refuge can there be, except our God? You, my God, are supreme, utmost in goodness, mightiest and all-powerful, most merciful and most just. YOu are the most hidden from us and yet the most present among us, the most beautiful and yet the most strong, ever enduring and yet we cannot comprehend you. You are unchangeable and yet you change all things... (Confessions, Book 1;3&4)

A Prayer for Christmas Morning

Father,

We come this morning in true humility and repentance, only as we look to you to grant us the gift of seeing ourselves as you see us. Give us true insight into the condition of our hearts; free us from the deceit of our sinfulness. We thank you Father, that in the fullness of time you sent your Only Son to come into this world of darkness and that by his perfect life and complete sacrifice on the Cross you displayed to the world the true wisdom that comes from You. We confess that like the world, we do not recognize your truth and your presence. We are quick to judge others and see ourselves as better. We are lost and undone, break us, and then remake us according to your mercies in Jesus Christ.

A prayer for Worship by Calvin

Almighty God, You do not dwell this day in a temple of wood and stones, but the fullness of your glory dwells in your only begotten Son and He by His power fills the whole world, and dwells in the midst of us, and even in us. Grant that we may not dishonor the Lord’s sanctuary by our habits and sins, but so strive to set ourselves apart for your service, and that through the Name of Jesus Christ You may continually receive glory, until that day when we receive that eternal inheritance, and we see openly, face to face, that glory which we now see in the truth found in your Gospel. Amen. (adapted prayer by John Calvin from studies on Jeremiah, pg. 337)

God's Unique Giving

JN 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3,14

In John’s Gospel, the story behind the story of Christmas is given to pull back the veil of history, as it were so we might catch a glimpse into the very eternal purposes of a Sovereign God, who planned to come into a world He created, so that He might save it. The Word became flesh is the truth of God’s giving Himself in the person of His Son, born of a Virgin, but from the beginning the God who made the Worlds. God gave us his Son - That is, God gave Himself – the very giving of God for a world that despised and rejected Him.
The British minister, J. Sidlow Baxter describes the indescribable nature of God’s gift.
“Was ever a gift like the Savior given? He leaves the bosom of the eternal Father, and comes to the bosom of an earthly mother. The Son of God becomes the son of Mary. The Infinite becomes an infant. He who holds the world in his arms is held in the arms of a frail woman. He whose garment is space, whose house is the universe, whose chariots are the clouds, and whose diadems are the stars, is wrapped in swaddling bands, and laid in a mangers…He leaves the throne of heaven, for the Cross outside the city wall. He who is the Prince of life bows his head in death. He who is without sin becomes the Sinbearer. The Christ of God becomes the Crucified. He who is the Father’s delight becomes the God-forsaken.”
We will do all we can this shopping season– stand in line, squeeze an already tight budget tighter, give up what we can – just to give gifts to people we love, this Christmas.
But, God‘s giving is beyond our comprehension. He gave the gift of his very being – the Son of His own Heart and Divine Essence - not to people who love him, but to a rebellious and ungrateful people - He gave to his enemies.
“This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins” 1 John 4:10