A Christmas dream

When you think of Christmas, what comes to mind?  Doesn't presents, joy, Santa, or even the birth of Christ come to mind for most people?  I think Christmas is a really great time of joy and celebration and is meant to be shared with family as well as a sense of worship for Christ's birth.  I love this message of real joy that is found within family and the worship of Christ.  I would like to bring to light one thing that I think is also found in the joy of Christmas, and that is the hope of the kingdom that Christ has brought to us.
In my last blog, I talked about praying for God's kingdom to come.  The kingdom is here, and we are to be apart of bringing about the kingdom to earth.  This is an amazing hope that all of humanity can experience with each other as well as with the God of the universe.  This is a great joy that we can see through the Christmas narrative where the King, the God of the universe, comes in the very form of a human child.  When we picture that scene, I believe that we can see the kingdom come to earth as a possibility.
When Christ began his ministry to the disciples and the people of Jerusalem he would often use the phrase, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is near" (see Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15; Luke 3:8; 4:18-19, 43).  If this was Christ's message, then doesn't this also show us that Christ's birth was an invocation of the coming kingdom of God?  I believe, that Christ brought the kingdom of God to earth when he came in human flesh because this allowed for humanity to be relatable to God.  This does not mean we our ourselves little Gods running around the earth, but we have an example to live by from his message and life.
A really cool way to see this as well is through the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Father brings about the Son to earth, the Son is one who relates to both God and humanity, and the Spirit is the one who works within Christ's ministry and within our lives today!  All three persons wrapped up in the nature of the Godhead invoke the beautiful kingdom of God unto earth and are calling humanity to participate with the Godhead in bringing about the kingdom!  This is great hope to us today as we can be involved with this kingdom that is already here, but is in need of our participation for the fulfillment of the kingdom.
I have an extreme passion for understanding the kingdom of God, the beauty that this kingdom brings to humanity.  It is so hard to understand how this can be lived out.  I find myself asking the question saying, okay, so what?  This question has had me wondering just what to do, but understanding that the kingdom does not come by our hands alone is important.  I do not wish to state at the end of this a list of things you must do in order to bring about the kingdom.  I do believe things like reaching out to the poor, helping the hurting, reaching out to the lost, and etc. are very important in bring about the kingdom.  Try to do these things and really listen to peoples stories because we all have them.  I really believe though, that when each of us prays that God's kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven, we can really see what the Christmas narrative is all about.
Let us all pray for God's kingdom to come.  Let us live an example of what Christ has done.  Read what Christ did, live by Christ's example.  We do not have to actually die on a cross to prove a point to people.  Nevertheless, let us show one another love and the joy that we can have this Christmas by reaching out to others and really praying that this kingdom may come.