What’s Christmas For?
So this is Christmas! John Lennon expressed in his popular Christmas song. A statement ? A question?
Taken as a question , my heart search for adequate answers. I believe I have. Since the Holy Scriptures narrate to us the birth of JESUS CHRIST the Son of God, it also reveal to us its reasons for His birth.
The testimony of the Gospel of John in John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…" God so loved us that Jesus Christ coming is manifestation of His love. He is SERVING His love. This may looks like cinematic but it isn’t! Christmas is about the SERVING of God’s love in the flesh. Jesus, who "being in the form of God ,did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,but made Himself of no reputation,taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men…He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death,even the death of the cross." We are His creation with free will and we have chosen to live a life contrary to His will. We have lived a life of sin. We are desperately wicked! And through His Son Jesus, calls us to repent. God never ceases to love us.He stretched His love to the point of His Son’s death on the cross so that we may gain life everlasting and spend eternity with Him.
Another thought is that Christmas is SAVING men from their sins. Jesus coming as announced by an angel of the Lord is…"And she will bring forth a Son,and you shall call His name Jesus,for He will SAVE His people from their SINS" (Matt 1:21) And indeed the first recorded preaching of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew is " Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand" (Matt 4:17).That is, His call for repentance from sins.He knew the very purpose of His coming. Later, John would testify about this glorious coming of Christ this way, "And He himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world(1 John 2:2 see also 1 John 4:10). The Book of Hebrews says, " He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Heb.9:26). This saving work of Christ which ultimately revealed on the cross is clearly spelled out from the beginning…"for unto you a Savior is born…" And He has shed His blood on the cross to obtain that salvation for us.
And another, Christmas is SEARCHING.The Wise men saw the Star and perceived that the king of the Jews was born. Guided by their conviction and their belief, they went out into the night guided only by the star, looking for the born King. The shepherds on the other hand, received an announcement from an angel of the Lord. They were given a sign…you’ll find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths,lying in a manger"(Lk. 2:12). They went out,and found the Babe as told them. In pretense,king Herod said "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him,bring back word to me,that I may come and worship Him also" (Matt 2:8).We have kinds of people whether in truth or in pretense set to see Jesus Christ.His coming sets us to searching. Christ Himself said "…He who comes to me ,I will not cast away"(John 6:376).We have to come to Him believing. Sad to say, John himself will testify "He was in the world…and the world did not know Him,He came to His own,and His own receive Him not"(John 1:11-12). And this is the sad mark of generations today despite the years of celebrating His birth. People shifted to celebrating around His birth from contemplating on the meaning and purpose of His appearing.To a lot many today, the search is on, to a greater still, there’s no searching!
Christmas is greater than SERVING, SAVING,and, SEARCHING, I know. Yet my heart is satisfied with the thought that these words somehow present to me a picture of Christmas which we are celebrating. I can see a Babe in a manger,and also can see A Savior on the Cross.A glorious story of DESCENDING and ASCENDING of The Son of God. JESUS CHRIST, THE LORD AND SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. GLORY BE TO GOD.
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