On this amazing day, have you considered why we celebrate it? Do you believe it?
The prophets of the Old Testament foresaw that a virgin would be with child (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:22-23). The Matthew verse is important because the Hebrew word in Isaiah could be translated young girl or virgin. The Jews at the time of Christ understood the passage to be about a virgin. While an impossibility in the physical realm, would such a thing be too hard for the God of the universe?
But why? Why did God the Son need to take on flesh? Consider John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."Some things to key on here:
1. Salvation for man would not have happened apart from God's intervention. The verse indicates that apart from this even, man would perish. We, left to ourselves, have hell awaiting us on the other side. Why? Because our sin (rebellion) separates us from a holy and righteous God (Romans 3:10-18, 6:23a).
2. God loves us despite our sin! That does not mean he condones our sin. Rather, for man to come to God, man's sin had to be justly dealt with. Because man's sin left him in a position separated from God, only God could fix the problem. Consider these verses: Romans 5:6-8, 2 Corinthians 5:21.
3. Jesus: The Fix. God the Father gave God the Son. Jesus always knew that he would have the sin of all mankind heaped on him at the cross . That's why he agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane, not that he would be physically killed but that he would be bearing the wrath, the pure, white-hot and just wrath of God the Father. There had been perfect fellowship within the Trinity through eternity past. Now, for the first time, One Member of the Trinity would turn his back on Another. Why? So God would be just in dealing with sin, but the only way he could do so was to become man himself and bear the punishment of our sin for us. He became just and justifier (Romans 3:26).
So what's left for us on Christmas day? To believe. Not to a Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus belief as some atheists assert. No, we believe in the historical birth of God the Son, we believe in the historical death and crucifixion of Jesus (God the Son) for the sin of all mankind, and we believe in the resurrection of God the Son as the guarantee of the eternal life that he procured for us on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:1-28).
As you gather with your family and open gifts, I pray that you will consider the greatest gift, the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23b). Understand, though, the gift is not yours unless you take it. How do you do that?
1. Recognize it. Recognize that your sin has separated you from God.
2. Confess it. Admit that you are a sinner to God. In other words, apologize for rebelling against him. Think about David's words in Psalm 51:4 after he'd committed adultery and murder.
3. Accept it. Accept what Jesus did on your behalf. Note what Romans 8:1 says about those who have accepted that free gift.
4. Believe it. Trust what God says about the doneness of the deal. Romans 10:9-10
5. Live it. With that done, live a life of gratitude for what God has done for you. Consider Galatians 2:20.
Have yourself a Merry little Christmas!
~ keith
Posts
