Everyone loves Christ in the cradle. The image of baby Jesus in the Bethlehem barn warms our hearts. Each December we recreate the moment on our lawns and beneath our Christmas trees. Stores sell plastic donkeys and wooden mangers. People collect hand-carved images of Mary, Joseph, and the newborn child.

We love the Christ in the cradle.

We are fine with Christ the gentle Messiah. Children sitting on his lap. Sheep gathered around him. The apostle John reclining on his chest. Mary anointing his feet. No one has an issue with a pleasant rabbi who offers sage advice, feeds crowds, and replenishes wine at a wedding. 

HOW TO SAY ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ IN 10 LANGUAGES TO FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD

Christ in the cradle? Wonderful. Christ the kindhearted? Delightful. But Christ the coming King? On a stallion? Roaring out of heaven? Crowned with the crowns of his enemies? On a mission to destroy those who destroy his children? 

The world is less familiar with this view of Jesus. Yet this is the Jesus the world will soon see.

Did you know that the second coming is mentioned more than three hundred times in the Bible, an average of once every twenty-five verses?

Scripture gushes with the news of Christ’s return like water in full spate. To the depressed disciples Jesus assured, "I will come again" (John 14:3 nkjv). When Jesus ascended, the angel told the witnesses, "[Jesus] will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Paul referred to "the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Tim. 6:14). Peter affirmed, "The day of the Lord will come" (2 Peter 3:10). Jude announced, "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones" (Jude14). 

We are in the season of Advent. Advent leads us to the beautiful culmination of Christmas, where we celebrate the incarnation of God.

ADVENT 2024: AS PEPPERDINE PRESIDENT, WE LEARNED THROUGH HARDSHIP CHRIST BRINGS LIGHT TO END THE DARKNESS

Are we ready for the hope of what will come when Jesus, the very child born in Bethlehem will once again come to reign for eternity?

We wait but we must be ready.

Ready for the arrival of our coming King. Ready. Waiting. Vigilant.  Like the soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. The men and women who stand guard there display a level of unparalleled fidelity. They devote eight hours to the preparation of their uniforms. Gloves are worn wet to improve the grip on the rifle. Shanks are attached to the inside of each shoe so the soldier can click his or her heels.

The sentinel repeats the same walk over and over: twenty-one steps, then a twenty-one-second pause, the rifle is shifted to the other shoulder, then twenty-one more steps. He or she repeats this until being relieved at the changing of the guard. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

During the summer months, the soldier is on duty for thirty minutes. During the winter, 60 minutes. They fulfill their task in the heat of August and the chill of January. The routine never varies, not even at night when the cemetery is closed. When Hurricane Isabel moved through the area in 2003, the soldiers never stopped. Not once. Trees fell and the wind-whipped, but they kept their post.

They have maintained this vigilance every day of every year since 1921.

Remarkable. 

Question: If they can display such allegiance rightly given to unknown, dead soldiers, can we not do the same for our living, coming, ruling King? If these sentries are willing to patrol in honor of those who sacrificed, can’t we do even more for our King, who gave the greatest sacrifice? We are members of his battalion. We are enlisted in his regiment. We are returning with him someday. Can we not serve him on this day?

Let me be specific. What can you do today in honor of your King? What kindness can you perform? What offense can you forgive? What temptation can you resist? What gift can you offer? What discipline can you begin? What sacrifice can you make? What act of love can you show? 

Let’s behave like the people we have been called to be soldiers in the returning army of the King of kings.

The Christ of the cradle is now the Christ with the crown. He is coming soon.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MAX LUCADO

So many holidays incorporate the theme of love. When you hear the word love, your mind probably goes to Valentine’s Day. That’s a common and understandable association, but I think it’s built on a misunderstanding of, to use the cliche, the true meaning of Christmas. 

Charlie Brown had it right: in many ways, Christmas has "gone commercial." No matter where we go, we’re inundated with messages about what to buy, where to shop, and how to spend money during the holidays. Sadly, it seems that Christmas has become merely a reason to shop. 

While there is tremendous value in giving gifts, a superficial and commercial focus misses the central message of Christmas. The message that began the tradition of gift giving in the first place. 

ADVENT 2024: AS PEPPERDINE PRESIDENT, WE LEARNED THROUGH HARDSHIP CHRIST BRINGS LIGHT TO END THE DARKNESS

It’s time we reclaim the real reason for our Christmas celebrations. It’s time we remember that Christmas is first and foremost about love. 

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." This is the most quoted, most well-known verse in the Bible. But many of us fail to realize these words' incredible impact on the Christmas season. 

That’s why I want to draw your attention to a little, often overlooked word in this most famous of verses: "that." This word says so much about God and about the nature of love. God loved the world, loved each of us, so much that. This love acted powerfully to restore what was broken, bridging a gap between a fallen humanity and a loving and holy God.

He didn’t stop feeling love. That love prompted Him to radical action. It prompted Him to give up His beloved Son to be Emmanuel, God with us. It prompted Christmas. That's the thing about love. If love is genuine, it always prompts action. Just as God acted to restore us from the ultimate sin which led to our separation from Him, we as Christians are called to act in such a way that we are restoring biblical justice to a broken world. 

That’s why we give gifts each Christmas. It’s a tangible way to show those closest to us that we love them.

But if love stops with those closest to us, we are not truly living out God's love. Notice the object of God’s love in John 3:16. It’s the world—a world that notably did not love God in return, a world that did and does everything possible to live apart from God. 

And yet God loved. 

You see, God’s love is intertwined with biblical justice. Love extends to everyone, even those we disagree with and don’t particularly like. The story of Christmas makes it clear: Love crosses divides, overcomes obstacles and makes a difference. It actively confronts wrongs, protects the vulnerable and builds a foundation for reconciliation. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Each of us is called to this kind of love this Christmas season. And there truly is no better time to put it into practice because, despite the frantic shopping and consumeristic messages, the holiday season is ripe with opportunities to demonstrate love for others.

So, this year, seek out opportunities to get involved in service projects that make a difference in the lives of those in your community. Instead of spending more money on presents for family and friends, find creative ways to bless those who can’t afford gifts this year. Get a group together and go caroling at the local nursing home. 

But go and make a difference. Go and live out that love that has given us the reason for our celebration. This is what makes the Christmas season so special. I believe it gives us this magical time of year and the wonder we felt as children.

It isn’t just the presents and the lights and the time spent with loved ones, though those are deeply good. It is also the acts of love and sacrifice. The little moments where we have the chance to really be the hands and feet of Jesus to those around us by practicing love through our actions. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM REV. SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ