Genesis 12:3. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
When Adam and Eve crashed in the Garden of Eden, bringing death and evil into the hearts of mankind, God promised the world that he would send us a rescuer. The seed of Eve. The promise of Genesis 3:15 would survive the flood of Noah and be brought to the forefront of history once again with the call of Abraham.
in you all the families of earth shall be blessed.
And here is one of the great statements of comfort in our apocalyptic advent, our waiting for God to break through: God has not and will not ever abandon humanity. In Abraham all the peoples of earth will be blessed. All are savable. All are welcomed into God’s grace.
Our comfort this Christmas comes from this work of God himself, a work that continues from Adam and Eve to Abraham and Sarah. A miraculous work. The offspring of Eve will be the offspring of Sarah. An old barren woman. Through that miraculous birth all the nations will be blessed. That work continued unto the birth of Christ and the new birth in your heart. This is the comfort our hearts long for. All lesser comforts point to this final comfort.
Any command, or act of obedience, you might try to tackle this Christmas will fail until you embrace the comfort of the call of Abraham. The comfort of the blessing that comes, not from obeying the commands, but by the blessing of simply being IN Abraham’s descendant – Jesus Christ.
The comforting call to Abraham came before he did a thing. He was blessed before his obedience. He was blessed by sheer grace. In Christ so are we. That’s the comfort of Christmas. That’s what allows us to rest in the waiting of advent.
Buddy comforted by Papa Elf
Let this Christmas season remind you of this ultimate comfort. We want the Christmas season to make us comfortable. But the stress reveals that we have made the season itself our hope and comfort. If this Christmas season can make you uncomfortable, then you have made something other than Christ your comfort.
To rest in the comfort of Christ is to give up the control that comes from the things or situations that bring you comfort. Including Christmas.
“To live is Christ” is to embrace the comfort of being in Christ. The blessing that is imputed to those of us who deserve no blessing. It is to denounce all else as our source of comfort in this life and rest in Christ alone.
What are you counting on to comfort you this Christmas season? How does your union with Christ bring you comfort?
To Live is Christ 
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