December 2: The Meaning of Christmas
Christmas is celebrated worldwide. It is a festival that is both a religious celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a cultural event, including decorating everything from churches to homes, from simple candles in widows to extravagant drive-through light displays. But what is Christmas about? What is the meaning and significance of Christmas?
The Son of God entered our mess of darkness and hopelessness to rescue sinners. If we miss this point, we miss the significance of the cross and the meaning of Christmas. The Bible’s entire storyline unveils the hope of the Savior’s birth. Scripture’s story begins with creation and then records the historical fall of humankind in Genesis 3:1-7. Eve gave the fruit to her husband, breaking God’s command. While Eve had been deceived, Adam’s sin was clear disobedience and rebellion against God. Adam’s sin had serious consequences for all his descendants. That includes you and me. It is separation from God (Gen. 3:8-10), death (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:19, Romans 5:12, 14), and personal sin (Psalms 51:5, 55:3, Romans 5:12, 5:18-19, 1 Cor. 15:22, Eph. 2:3). What is sin? Sin is breaking the law of God. It is anything contrary to God’s Holy character. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The truth is that all people stand condemned before a Holy God. Left to ourselves, we are unable to change this reality. This is real hopelessness.
However, God brought hope through the promised unique descendant of Adam, who would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). As the storyline moves on, God chose Abraham to serve as a channel of blessing for all the nations through his son Isaac and his descendants (including Jacob). The storyline continues as God chose David to be king over Israel. Not only would the Messiah be a descendant of Abraham, but also a descendant of King David.
The storyline’s movement to the Messiah marches through dark times. After Solomon’s death, the kingdom was divided into the Northern and Southern kingdoms. Then, both the Northern (Israel) and the Southern (Judah) kingdoms are conquered, and the people are taken into exile. After seventy years in exile, some return to the Holy Land, but the glory days of David’s kingdom have passed. The stage is now set for the Messiah.
Matthew opens his Gospel by introducing Jesus as the son of Abraham and the son of David. He organizes Jesus’s genealogy in three sets of fourteen generations. They begin with Abraham, to David, from David to the exile, and from the exile to Jesus. Luke argues that a large number of promises have their fulfillment in Jesus, the son of Adam, the Son of God. God was moving human history to the climax of His Son entering our mess:
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:4–5).
The Son became a human being through the incarnation, “God sent his Son.” God’s plan to rescue sinners is found in the truth that the “Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Christ took “the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Phil 2:7). He was called Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Matt 1:23).
Jesus is no ordinary child. He had no ordinary birth. Jesus Christ is the virgin-born restorer of Israel and Savior of the world. This is the most important arrival in the history of the world. Through the arrival of his Son, who is fully God and Man, God the Father has provided a rescue plan for his people from separation, death, and personal sin. Jesus died for our sins and rose again (1 Cor. 15:3-4).
Christ’s sacrifice, unlike the sacrifices of the Old Testament, is once for all. Christ cries, just before he dies, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Hebrews insists there is no more sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:26). Jesus’s sacrifice is unique.
Make this a special Christmas and trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness of sin and guilt before a Holy God. God will forgive and reconcile sinners separated from him who trust in the death and resurrection of his Son. What is keeping you from trusting Jesus Christ?
What is Christmas all about? Are you looking for hope? Join us at Northmoreland Baptist Church as we discover GOOD TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY:
December 7: Good Tidings...According to Matthew
December 14: Good Tidings...According to Luke
December 21: Good Tidings...According to John
Join us for our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (December 24) at 6:00 pm.
The Sunday Worship Service begins at 10:00 am.