“I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted
of the kings of the earth.” – Psalm 89:27
The fledgling church of the
New Testament did not consider the birth of Jesus as significant as His
resurrection. In fact, only Matthew and Luke wrote about it briefly. We have no
exact date for Christ’s birth. Therefore, the first recorded celebration did
not transpire until a few centuries after His birth. Then, in the year 336 AD,
the Catholic Church enmeshed the celebration with a Pagan holiday occurring on
the date of December 25th.
No matter what date we
choose to celebrate His birth, the fact remains that Jesus, who is the Word of
God, and who was with God and was God, came to live on the earth (John1:1). He took on the nature of a servant, and lived a
humble life (Philippians 2:7). He
dwelt among us, and eventually willingly gave His life to pay the penalty of
our sins and to allow us to live with Him now and for eternity (John
1:1,14). One day, possibly very soon, He
will return as the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Revelation
19:16).
Christmas is the day to
remember the Nativity of Christ. The commercialism, which puts families in debt
and makes them desperate to provide the latest toys for their children,
detracts from the joy of the day. Stringing popcorn and cranberries, making
gifts for one another – no matter how impractical or unattractive, spending
time as a family to read the Christmas account (Matthew 1:18:25; Luke
2:1-19), sharing a special meal with
family and friends, taking a walk in nature, playing a board game as a
family…these are treasures that will remain in our memories forever. The gift
of our time is the most valuable commodity our children need from us.
Jesus never told us to
celebrate His birth, but to remember His death. We commemorate His sacrifice
for our sins by regularly observing communion (1 Corinthians 11:24). Since His death, our focus is now on His imminent
return. Due to the fact that Christians heralded the return of Christ for
centuries of time, people now dismiss it as irrelevant and impossible to ever
happen. Atheists adopt slogans such as “Keep the Merry. Dump the Myth" and "You
know it's a MYTH. This season, celebrate reason."
However, all of their unbelief does not negate the fact that Jesus did come
and is coming again. The false prophets who claim to know the date of His
return anesthetized the world into unbelief, so that people actually scoff at
the thought that He will ever return. Jesus said, “No man knows the hour or the
day” (Matthew 24;36), but the fact remains that He is
certainly coming again, on a day and at
an hour when we least expect Him. When He does, every knee will bow and every
tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).
If you are interested, here are a multitude of
verses proclaiming His eminent return (Matthew 16:27, 23:39, 24:27-42, 26:64; Mark 8: 36-38,
13:26-37, 14:61-62; Luke 9:26-27, 17:28-30, 18:8, 21:25-28; John 14:1-4; Acts
1:11, 3:19-21; 1 Corinthians 1:7, 4:5, 11:26, 15:23-24; Philippians 1:10, 3:20;
Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 2:19, 3:13, 4:15-5:4, 5:23; 2
Thessalonians 1:7, 2;1, 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:13-16; 2 Timothy 4:1-2, 8; Titus 2:12;
Hebrews 3:7, 9:28, 10:25; James 5:7-9; 1 Peter 3-5,13, 2:12, 4:13, 5:4; 2 Peter
1:16, 3:3,8-10; 1 John 2:28, 3:2; Jude 1:14, 21; revelation 1:4,7, 3:11, 16:15,
22:12, 20-21.)
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, Your mother Mary
cherished the events of your life and pondered them in her heart (Luke
2:19). May we do the same thing,
especially at this season of the year. We will rejoice with the angels and
shepherds (Luke 2:20) over your
first advent to the earth and look forward to your soon return for Your Bride.
May everyone we love and cherish come to this saving knowledge in their lives
as well, so they too will join us in Your presence for eternity.
Thought for the Day:
Celebrate Christ in
Christmas with a heart full of gratitude for all He does for us every day. 