Matthew Hoskinson, pastor of First Baptist Church of NYC:
This past Sunday one of our men, Eric Wurthmann, led our congregation in a prayer of praise. I received his permission to post it here for your contemplation and joy.
Lord God, we thank You
for the Grand Miracle of the Incarnation –
that You sent Your Son into our world.
We know that we, Your creation,
could never become equal to You –
but You,
the great God and Creator of the universe,
could come down to us,
could humble Yourself
to the point of becoming a human being,
in the person of Your Son.
We thank You for preparing a nation, Israel,
who were given Your law, the Torah,
and who knew that an atonement, a sacrifice,
was necessary because of our sin.
And finally, at the time You determined,
a baby was born to a Jewish girl,
Miriam, the wife of a carpenter –
and His name was Jesus,
Yeshua,
Savior,
because He would save
His people from their sins.
Lord, we praise You,
for You did not send
only a one-dimensional,
verbal explanation of who You are –
instead You sent Your Son,
Your living Word,
the translation of Yourself
into our language, in our world.
How humbly You came into this world –
a helpless baby,
born to poor parents.
You were of the kingly line,
a descendant of David,
yet born in a country
that was under the occupation
of a foreign power.
As the prophet said,
You had no stately form or majesty
that they should look upon You.
Yet those who were closest to You
worshipped You as God.
Eventually the powers of this world
killed You,
shedding Your blood.
And yet, because You are God,
Your life was not taken from You,
but was given by You.
You, being God, became Yourself
the ultimate sacrifice
and atonement for our sin.
And in Your resurrection,
we are also resurrected,
reconciled to God
and given eternal life.
Lord Jesus, we thank You for this miracle –
the baby born at Bethlehem,
God with us,
Immanuel.
In Your Name we pray – Amen.
