Empty heaven, empty manger

It is not Christmas. It is the morning after.  All the boxes are empty. The tree is no longer crowded with gifts. And then I see the empty manger and my mind begins to wonder. What was heaven like without Jesus? Was it like a child away at college? You know they will be home for the holidays. Or was it like a death in the family? A gapping hole in everyday where His amazing presence had been. 

He was God unlimited! He was everything, had everything, knew everything, could do everything, yet He emptied Himself of all that was super-human and became confined to a small body in the hands of simple humans. Humans who didn't really know who they were holding, wrapped in swaddling cloths. His birth opened the heavens and made the angels sing, the stars align, wise men worship, and kings angry. But that's what His presence does; it disrupts the darkness, it brings alignment to chaos and angers evil, it changes everything. 

An empty manger, an empty cross, an empty tomb. He emptied Himself of all that was His so He could fill the earth with love, peace, joy, and make a way for every fallen human to have their place in heaven with Him. He made a way where there had been no way. He made a reservation for me by giving up His own place in Heaven. 

Jesus left heaven, left the manger, left the cross, left the tomb so that He could call my heart His home. An empty manger, an empty cross, an empty tomb has filled my heart with unspeakable joy, unquenchable light, everlasting life, and unconditional love!

Read more in Philippians 2:6-11
The song my heart is singing  What a Beautiful Name