Those of you who know me well enough know my Christmas sentiment: honestly, if i had it my way, we'd have done away with the Christmas trees and the shopping sprees long ago.
I'm not even saying, "look at the real meaning of the holiday" as though it's about giving and loving and quality family time. If I had my way, we wouldn't be restricting these things to a single holiday. (It's like Valentine's Day -- why do you need to wait until February 14th to do something nice for your sweetheart?)
I'm not even pointing to the fact that it's "Jesus' birthday"! ... Because chances are, it's not. If we're completely honest about it, the pagans celebrated that day before we ever did -- in much the same way. Look at Yule, and Saturnalia (when the ancient romans worshipped Saturn) and their New Year, and you will find the origin of the great majority of our "Christian celebrations."
And I'm not saying all of this because of any denomination I'm a part of. Many Calvinists, in fact, celebrate Christmas with all of the customs of the rest of the world. (I would possibly say that our Puritan ancestors knew better, but anyway...)
Yet that's not the reason I'm writing. My preference would not even be to discuss Christmas, because it will be another dead-end discussion in which some of you disagree and percieve me as "too legalistic" and found your arguments on an ad hominem.
The redeeming quality is this: there are preachers out there, who, rather than preaching on the normal Christmas fluff, namely, "give generously!" and "donate to charity" and "hey, by the way, the tithing plate is coming around..." (And not to suggest there is something wrong with giving, but is "being nice" really the focus of the Christmas life?)
It is this. That, regardless of when it happened, there is something amazing about the birth of Christ. We are not focusing on "how cute and innocent" He was. And though it was important that He was born of a Virgin, as this fulfilled prophesy, even this is not the focus.
The miracle is this: That without unbecoming God, God became man.
You see, God is a perfect God. He is holy (set-apart and unlike anything else) just (His choices are absolutely fair) righteous (He sets the standard for what is good) .. These aspects were not taken from Christ. Indeed, Christ is GOD!
Yet mankind does not even hold a candle to this. Since the days of Adam and Eve, we have been fallen into a world set for destruction. We have been born with a nature that hates God and is always self-seeking. Because of our offense toward God, it is the penalty that every man pay what is owed. Because God is fair, he does not simply overlook these things; they must be punished. Thus, His wrath is owed to us, and because we are too sinful and far from perfect, we cannot ever satisfy that wrath. Therefore it is eternal: this is the lake of fire of prophesy. In laymen's terms, hell.
This is the price on man's head. It is owed by man, and yet no man is perfect that he can pay it.
And THAT is the remarkable thing!! Jesus Christ became man without unbecoming God. As a man, he was able be subject to the penalty; as God he was able to fully pay it. Being holy, and just, and righteous, he owed nothing Himself; therefore, the penalty was paid on behalf of a separate people. Those people were His, whom the Father gave Him, and they believed and continue to believe in Christ their redeemer, who was sufficient, being fully man and fully God, to take on Himself the wrath owed to man.
Do we mind these things when we look at a nativity? Does it even come to mind? Or have we reduced ourselves (like that God-forsaken movie, what was it... Talladega Nights) like to think of Him as "baby Jesus" in the manger and nothing more?
We think we lost our focus on Christmas when it became a bit too commercial. Friends, we don't even know the half of it. We lost of focus long before that. EVERYTHING -- from the conception of Christ right up to the resurrection, and all of the prophesy that came before it and all of the harvest that came after -- is so foundationally rooted in the gospel. It is a far more beautiful thing than any house ornament or carol or charity you can give to. The snow itself cannot compare to the righteousness of Christ ... the very same righteousness that is imparted to us when we believe on Him and are justified by His grace.
You really thought a holiday could do this kind of amazing Truth justice? There are not enough days in a year for a gracious, beautiful Truth as this.
I'm not even saying, "look at the real meaning of the holiday" as though it's about giving and loving and quality family time. If I had my way, we wouldn't be restricting these things to a single holiday. (It's like Valentine's Day -- why do you need to wait until February 14th to do something nice for your sweetheart?)
I'm not even pointing to the fact that it's "Jesus' birthday"! ... Because chances are, it's not. If we're completely honest about it, the pagans celebrated that day before we ever did -- in much the same way. Look at Yule, and Saturnalia (when the ancient romans worshipped Saturn) and their New Year, and you will find the origin of the great majority of our "Christian celebrations."
And I'm not saying all of this because of any denomination I'm a part of. Many Calvinists, in fact, celebrate Christmas with all of the customs of the rest of the world. (I would possibly say that our Puritan ancestors knew better, but anyway...)
Yet that's not the reason I'm writing. My preference would not even be to discuss Christmas, because it will be another dead-end discussion in which some of you disagree and percieve me as "too legalistic" and found your arguments on an ad hominem.
The redeeming quality is this: there are preachers out there, who, rather than preaching on the normal Christmas fluff, namely, "give generously!" and "donate to charity" and "hey, by the way, the tithing plate is coming around..." (And not to suggest there is something wrong with giving, but is "being nice" really the focus of the Christmas life?)
It is this. That, regardless of when it happened, there is something amazing about the birth of Christ. We are not focusing on "how cute and innocent" He was. And though it was important that He was born of a Virgin, as this fulfilled prophesy, even this is not the focus.
The miracle is this: That without unbecoming God, God became man.
You see, God is a perfect God. He is holy (set-apart and unlike anything else) just (His choices are absolutely fair) righteous (He sets the standard for what is good) .. These aspects were not taken from Christ. Indeed, Christ is GOD!
Yet mankind does not even hold a candle to this. Since the days of Adam and Eve, we have been fallen into a world set for destruction. We have been born with a nature that hates God and is always self-seeking. Because of our offense toward God, it is the penalty that every man pay what is owed. Because God is fair, he does not simply overlook these things; they must be punished. Thus, His wrath is owed to us, and because we are too sinful and far from perfect, we cannot ever satisfy that wrath. Therefore it is eternal: this is the lake of fire of prophesy. In laymen's terms, hell.
This is the price on man's head. It is owed by man, and yet no man is perfect that he can pay it.
And THAT is the remarkable thing!! Jesus Christ became man without unbecoming God. As a man, he was able be subject to the penalty; as God he was able to fully pay it. Being holy, and just, and righteous, he owed nothing Himself; therefore, the penalty was paid on behalf of a separate people. Those people were His, whom the Father gave Him, and they believed and continue to believe in Christ their redeemer, who was sufficient, being fully man and fully God, to take on Himself the wrath owed to man.
Do we mind these things when we look at a nativity? Does it even come to mind? Or have we reduced ourselves (like that God-forsaken movie, what was it... Talladega Nights) like to think of Him as "baby Jesus" in the manger and nothing more?
We think we lost our focus on Christmas when it became a bit too commercial. Friends, we don't even know the half of it. We lost of focus long before that. EVERYTHING -- from the conception of Christ right up to the resurrection, and all of the prophesy that came before it and all of the harvest that came after -- is so foundationally rooted in the gospel. It is a far more beautiful thing than any house ornament or carol or charity you can give to. The snow itself cannot compare to the righteousness of Christ ... the very same righteousness that is imparted to us when we believe on Him and are justified by His grace.
You really thought a holiday could do this kind of amazing Truth justice? There are not enough days in a year for a gracious, beautiful Truth as this.
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1 comment:
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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