God has a magnificent ability to turn things inside out. How often it appears that evil prevails, when all the while God stands in full control, ready to unravel a plan that sets righteousness at the forefront. Working at times in paradoxes, God tells us that we need to give up our life to Him in order to save it (Luke 9:24). He assures us that though we suffer earthly discomfort and loss for His sake, we gain eternal, heavenly reward (Matthew 5:11-12). Most prominently, it is the message of the cross that is the very power of God! (I Corinthians 1:18)
Having studied God’s paradoxical workings for many years, none seemed to crystallize the overall hope we have in Him more than the one I discovered months ago. In preparing to share a Christmas sermon with people of all ages, I came across the famous Luke 2:7 (ESV), “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” We recognize the well-known problem Mary and Joseph faced as they looked to rightly comfort their newborn child, our Savior. Ironically, Jesus Christ – the Creator of the Universe – found no place to rest in one tiny spot on the face of the earth He created!
Ponder for a moment . . . Jesus is the Everlasting God. He chose to put on flesh and blood to come and save us from our sin (Hebrews 2:14-15). He entered the womb of a woman, even though He is infinite. Despite the fact that everything, everyone, and every place derives from Him and ultimately depends on Him for existence, Jesus limited Himself in this way to freely come to us in human flesh. After growing in Mary’s womb for one or two months, Jesus would have been about as big as your pinky fingernail! God . . . that big for our sake!
He came to this universe, to this particular solar system, to this specific planet, to one continent, to a humble town in the Middle East, to one simple house of lodging, and . . . He could not find a place there! Unbelievable! His parents then lay His tiny body in an animal feeding trough, because there was no place for Him in the inn.
May I introduce you to the irony of all ironies? In Revelation 20:11 (NIV), the apostle John is speaking of the vision he was given of Jesus in the future, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.” Did you catch that phrase about the earth and heavens? There was no place for them! When Jesus Christ finally steps to the throne of His judgment at the end of time as we currently now it, His awesome holiness will force even the earth and sky to flee; and when they run, they can find no place to be!
Though Jesus found no suitable location the first time He came to this time-space continuum, He will overtake all locations when He comes back again! The first time, He came as a Servant to bear the penalty of our sin (I Corinthians 5:21). The second time, He will come to judge all of creation and make it right. As Romans 8:21-22 tells us, even this old earth knows it needs remade by its Creator; it needs set free from the curse of sin. As Romans 8:23 and Philippians 3:20-21 informs, we, too, are waiting for Jesus to remake our pitiful bodies into glorious ones.
Jesus Christ will utterly turn things inside out. He who was despised by those He came to save and rejected at the outset to the point of resting in a feeding trough because there was no place for Him . . . this same Jesus will overtake all places in order that He may prepare them for His redeemed. Remember John 14:2 (NASB, emphasis mine), “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.”
If you have not repented of your sin and yielded your life to Jesus, take no comfort in a situation that makes it appear God has no place. No, friend, please understand He rightfully owns all places, and He is coming back to make that clear. If you do now walk with Your Savior, Jesus, take heart! He Who had no place, will take all places, and we shall walk with Him unhindered throughout the world He made!
