Eternal Love Which Receives No Love

God lives and works today. He's a true father who loves his children more than anything else in the world. But what kind of response does he receive from us, his children? The same response that his son, the child in the manger, receives.

He is rejected. His way is a way of suffering. And nevertheless, he comes to us anew this Christmas.

We will be hearing more about this in today's program by Bess Lea Schlink. Scarcely was a child in the manger born, and people were already out to kill him. He was hated and persecuted.

He had come down from heaven because he wanted to bring heaven to earth, that is, pure happiness and joy and a taste of paradise. What a grief! Love which only wanted to give was rejected, and the baby Jesus must surely have sensed that he wasn't wanted from the very beginning. We greet you, little child divine, in all your beauteous love.

We love and praise and bless our God, who sent you from above. Therefore, this Christmas, let us kneel at the manger and tell our Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus, we don't want to bring you any more suffering by not wanting you, by refusing and rebelling against God's chastisements. He only chastens us because he wants to heal us.

You want to redeem us, but this can only happen when we humble ourselves beneath our sins. Therefore, we want to bring our sins to you. We want to accept that which you bring us, your redemption, so that your heart may rejoice this Christmas that you have redeemed one more of your children.

Yes, let us say to the child Jesus, Here we are, Lord Jesus, O child who bears the pain of the cross. Come into our midst. We're prepared to go the way with you, the way of suffering and the way of the cross.

Then the child Jesus will radiate in our midst, just as the light from God shone forth from Jesus when he walked on this earth in the midst of hatred and persecution, and in persecution and suffering he loved us. Now let us love him in the midst of our suffering, for then we will truly belong to him, and Christmas will be merry and blessed. O child of fearless beauty, whom angels glorify, you radiate the glory that comes from God's most high.

O child, O clearest image of God's most tender love, that's in us there to praise you, whom angels laud above. Since you to us descended, no more sits heaven far. You bring it close for our men, O radiant morning star.

With you love makes its entrance above us to abide. O rapture for our sinners, their thirst is satisfied. You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan.

To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website, www.canaan.org. That's K-A-N-A-A-N dot org. If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet. If you do not have access to the web, please contact this radio station for our postal address.

God bless you.