Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category
The Most Important Reason for the Coming of Jesus…
When we think of Christmas, we think about a baby lying in a Manger, surrounded by Shepherds, animals and three Wise men. Of course, many have taken liberty of those events and few really know what happened that first night. However, that is another story for another time. What we want to know is what was the real reason for the coming of Jesus.
Yes, Jesus came to save His people, His sheep if you will, from their sins. As known from verses like this:
Mat 1:21 And she (Mary) shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Knowing this, why did His people need to be saved from their sins? Read the following selected verses from 1 Thessalonians 1: 4-10 to see the answer:
“Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, And you became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come.”
Yes, one-day God’s wrath will be brought upon the earth and all who have not believed on the Lord Jesus will be forced to face His wrath because of man’s disobedience, sinful activities and rejection of Jesus as we read in John 3:36:
Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.
Is this what you want to face? You do not have to do so if you have the following desire in your heart:
Rom 10:9 That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Jesus’ coming to earth was to deliver His people from facing the wrath of God because of their sins. Upon the cross, when Jesus said, “It is finished.” Right then is the moment for when Jesus completed the task for which He came, to deliver his people from facing God’s wrath. This, my friends, is the most important reason for the coming of Jesus, to deliver His people from the wrath to come.
As God works in your heart, and if you are filled with the desire to come to Jesus, confess Him to be your Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead and you will find that you have already been delivered from facing the wrath of God.
The Story Of The Coming Of Jesus You Never Hear
We all know the Christmas Story, about the baby in a manger, the shepherds, the wise men, angels praising God and the Star above. While this story is true, it is not the whole story of Who Jesus is or why He came.
The real problem about this story is that it has been appropriated to be a time of spending and making money, spending money by us and making money by retailers.
Look all around the stores and malls. The decorations are all about pretty lights and decorations reminding us that Christmas is coming, and we need to buy all of those gifts now, before they are all gone. There is nothing anywhere about what Christmas is all about – the birth of Jesus. You will never see that for someone might be offended.
Maybe it is time for us to read about the coming of Jesus in a completely new light, one that shows who Jesus is and why He came. There is such a story but one that is rarely told anytime of the year. It is a short story and it is taken from scripture verses written by the Apostle John, in his Gospel and from the 1st letter of John. Here they are without the verse numbers just as they may have been written in a letter
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.
The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. The light shined in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
This is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life.
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Jesus is the Word of God, born of a woman, divine in nature and human in flesh. He came into this sinful world to provide forgiveness of sins and eternal life for all who would believe in Him and confess Him to be Lord.
This is the true story of the coming of Jesus; who He is and why He came. This is the story that should be added to the traditional Christmas story as this completes what is left out.
Without knowing who Jesus is and why He came, the story of the baby born in a manger is meaningless, just a good human-interest story. Jesus is the Word of God, He was with God and He is God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
These things have been written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.
He that believes on Jesus has everlasting life: and he that believes not Jesus shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.
Come; let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
Faith Alone Brings Peace Through Justification
As I sit here writing December’s post I am listening to Christmas music. It is after all the Christmas season and there is holiday music on every radio station to which I listen. Yes, I did say radio. Outside it is snowing, slightly, but it is snowing; makes for a quiet, peaceful moment.
How about you, do you have a peaceful feeling this time of the year? For Christians we can have peace all year round. How? Simply through faith in Jesus for having done for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Just like we read in Galatians 2: 16…
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
You see, it is not by any good works that we do before, during and after having been born again by the Spirit of God do we receive salvation. It is done for us by Jesus, and by having faith that it is by Him, and the works that He did, that we are saved, and are justified by the faith of Jesus.
Not only are we saved by faith alone in Jesus, but as we read in Romans 1: 17…
“The just shall live by faith.”
Faith alone, in Jesus Christ, is all anyone needs to stand righteous before God. Any good works that we think we might have done does not contribute to our salvation and neither does any good work that we might do after we are born again will keep us saved. Only by faith alone in Jesus is our salvation accomplished, completed and secured. Nothing more is needed.
Through faith alone in Jesus can we proclaim what we read in Romans 5:1…
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
This Christmas and every day of the year, year after year, we can declare that we stand before God just as if we had never sinned. We now stand justified because of the faith of Jesus given to us with which to believe in Him, and in the work that He did for us in order that we would receive forgiveness for our sins. With that, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now I do not know about you but this is the kind of peace that I want and already have. You can have this peace as well. If you will just confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead you will be saved.
You will come to understand the truth of why “Faith alone in Jesus is all that is needed to bring us peace through justification” because of the person and work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Being In The Presence Of Jesus
Did you ever wonder what it must have been like in the time of Jesus, being in His presence and listening to His every word? I have, and no matter how hard I try, nothing comes close to knowing what those encounters were like.
However, I do know a way that I can come into the presence of Jesus and listen to His every word whenever I want; even when I have the need to be with Him and to hear what He has to say to me.
Now you might think that I am talking about prayer, and it could be part of it but no it is not about prayer. Here is a hint.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
Need another hint? Try this.
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
So, what is the Word of God? Yes, it is the Scriptures. However, Who is the Word of God? See John 1:1 above. Jesus is the Word of God and the Scriptures are the Word of God written by God. Did you catch that?
Every time you pick up the Bible to read it, you are reading the Word of God; the very words of Jesus just as if He were sitting with you and talking to you. Every time you read the Scriptures, you are actually in the presence of Jesus listening to everything He has to say to you.
Now the Bible itself is not Jesus but the Words that are in the Scriptures are the very Words of Jesus and by reading them, you are in His presence, and He is talking to you personally. Think of that for a moment. By reading the Scriptures, you are with Jesus listening to His every word.
Just like two of His disciples after the resurrection. They were heading to another town when they met up with Jesus and, in the process, He told them all things that must happen.
Luke 24:32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
When you read the Scriptures Jesus will do the same for you, for you are in His presence. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. When you read the Scriptures, your faith will become stronger because you are hearing directly from the Word of God, His name is Jesus, and you are in His presence.
So, Who “IS” Jesus?
When I was young, Christmas was a wonderful time, the decorations, the tree and the gifts of course.
At church, I knew there was talk about a baby in something called a “manger” and being told about some shepherds and Wiseman coming to visit him with gifts, ah yes – a gift, that was the best part. Little did I know or realize what the real gift was and from where it came.
As I grew older, I still enjoyed Christmas but sort of drifted away from church and Christmas slowly became more commercial than anything else. However, a time came when something happened to me that I later found out that it was what the Bible calls “being born again”. I had heard about it but evidently never experienced it. That is, until the Word of God came to me and revealed Himself to me in reading the Scriptures.
It was then that I learned about the truth about Christmas. It begins like this.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
So, what does this mean? How does the Word become flesh? It began like this.
Luk 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
Luk 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
Luk 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Luk 1:29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luk 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
Luk 2:2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
Luk 2:3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
Luk 2:4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
Luk 2:5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
Luk 2:6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
Luk 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luk 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Luk 2:9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
Luk 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Luk 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Luk 2:12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Luk 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luk 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
Luk 2:16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Luk 2:17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
Luk 2:18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
Luk 2:19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Luk 2:20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
We do not know exactly when Jesus was born, and it is not important when that we do. All we need to know is that God did come down to us, to mankind, to reveal Himself in human form. He did so to let us know that in our human, and sinful, nature we cannot do anything in order to be worthy of going to Heaven when we die and to spend eternal life with Him.
We need for someone else to stand in our place, to suffer the consequences of our sins for us, so that we could be forgiven and be given a new life in Him to know Him, to love Him and to be obedient to Him; now and forever.
You see, the true gift of Christmas is God’s gift to us of forgiveness, love and eternal life, found only in Jesus, and for all who will believe in Jesus, the only true Savior of mankind. To all who call upon Jesus as Lord, and believe that He has been raised from the dead, will be saved from paying the penalty for our sins and having to face the wrath of God on judgement day.
Yes, the true gift given that we should be celebrating at Christmas is the gift of God given to us, and that gift is Jesus.
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh, became human, like one of us, and we call Him – Jesus. In addition, it is only through Jesus that we can receive forgiveness, eternal life and knowing the true love of God.
There is no other name, given among man, by which we can be saved. Thank God for giving us the true Gift of Christmas…
The Secret of Christmas
When you hear the word “Christmas”, what is it about Christmas that you think? Maybe it is about a lighted Christmas tree or it could be about a little baby lying quietly in a manger somewhere.
Of course, one could think of Santa, angels on high, wise men from the East, or even shepherds on a hillside with their sheep. And you know, in today’s world none of these would be a wrong answer. However, none of them tells about the real “Secret” of Christmas.
See, if you can see the secret in the following verses taken from the Gospel of John chapter 1:
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Do you see it? The secret of Christmas is that God lowered Himself to become a man, to be among us to show Himself that He is who He says He is. That by Him we can be forgiven for our sins and be given eternal life all because He has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
God became flesh and dwelt among us and to they who would receive Him (Jesus), to believe on Him and to submit to His will, they would find that God first had to give them the power to become one of His children in order to respond. This happened, not because we were born into a Christian family, not because we did something worthy of salvation, nor because we of our own will chose to receive Him. No, none of these can be true. Only because God has willed it is anyone born again into the family of God.
That is the Secret of Christmas; God coming down to earth, and as the God/man Christ Jesus, provided salvation for all who would be forgiven of their sins because of the atoning power of his birth, life, death, burial and resurrection all because we could not provide for ourselves what is needed for salvation.
If you can truthfully say that you have been born again by the Spirit of God, because it was God’s will to do so, then Christmas can be a most wondrous and Merry Christmas. For you truly know the “Secret of Christmas.”
And We Knew Him Not
It is that time of the year again. It is the Christmas season and in the midst of all of the glitter, decorations and materialism some find time to recognize the coming birth of Jesus. Each year, though, it seems that the babe in a manger plays a smaller role in the season as more and more people see this time of the year less as celebrating the birth of Jesus and more as a time for spending money, giving gifts, and most importantly – gift receiving. However, it has been this way from the very start.
Yes, it is the time for celebrating the birth of Jesus but so few people actually know who Jesus is. There are, as it seems, even some who call themselves Christians who know or really care about Jesus other than the fact that He is the babe in a manger; with shepherds on the hillside and three Wise Men coming from the East to worship Him.
Like I said, though, this is the way it has been ever since Jesus was born. In the Gospel of John 1: 1 – 3 & 10 God tells us the following:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
Can you imagine it? If we would be truthful, however, we would all admit that we would have been the same. We would not have recognized the Creator of all things. That God came down to be with us and to show us our sinfulness, and how it has separated us from Him. He came to remove that wall of separation so that we could have fellowship with Him and to be forgiven for our sins, and we would have none of it.
We like our sin. We do not want to change, and we want to keep what we have and not care about the babe in the manger after He is grown. We do not want to see that He is the One Who is offering Himself to be the one to bring us back to God. Our sinfulness will not let us, even today, see that Jesus is the Creator of all things. That He is the one who has given us life and breath and all things to enjoy in grateful praise to Christ our King.
The One Who laid out the universe and created man in His image, however, still calls out to us today to come to Him. Not just to see Him as the babe in a manger but to see Him as He really is – The Creator who has made all things, and to know that without Him nothing was made that was made. He is still in the world today, in His people, and the world still does not know Him.
The offer of salvation, of being forgiven for our sins and to submit to Him as Lord, and to believe in Him and to receive Him as the only One who can save us from the coming wrath of God is still being held out to us by Jesus. Only He can forgive our sins. Only Jesus can offer us eternal life in Heaven.
Now is the time to see Jesus as God, not just as a babe in a manger. Now is the time to come to Him, to see Him as Lord and to ask Him for forgiveness for our sins, and to believe in your heart that He was raised from the dead and so be saved from the wrath to come. Then will you be able to see Jesus for who He really is; as the Creator of all things and worship Him and Him alone as the one Who has made all things. For Jesus, as He was in the beginning, Who was the Word and, as the Word, is God.
For when one recognizes Jesus as the Creator, and to know Him as our Lord and Savior – as God, is what makes Christmas truly “Merry”…..
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will…
Born Again By The Word Of God
As a Biblical Student of Reformation Theology, believing in the doctrine of election, I am often asked how can I believe in being an Evangelical and doing the work of an Evangelist? My response is to say, “It is easy.” … 🙂
“Easy?” they will say, “how can it be easy if God has already chosen who will be saved?” At this point I begin to remind them of a few scripture verses.
Remember how Paul first went to Corinth? In a dream God told him in Acts 18:
9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” 11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
God told Paul that He had “many people in this city.” and Paul stayed there for more than a year preaching the Word to them. It was through that preaching that God saved those who were “His” people. Only by hearing the Word of God can anyone be born again by the Spirit of God.
In Romans 10: 17 Paul says the following:
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The Word of God is two-fold. First there is the written or spoken Word of God, that His disciples are commanded to share with the world, and second there is Jesus Himself, Who is the Word of God (see John 1:1), it is He Who works through the Holy Spirit to give understanding of the Gospel and opens their heart to receive it and to respond to it. As all who are saved receives a measure of faith, it needs to be applied – first, in order for it to work; so that one can respond with the faith needed in believing the gospel of Jesus.
In Ephesians 2: 8, 9 Paul writes the following:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
This is why Paul can also write in that same chapter, but in verse 1 the following:
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
Since we are spiritually dead in our sinful nature, and cannot understand or respond favorably to anything of God, we first need to be made spiritually alive in order to respond as God wants of us. It is because of the Word coming into our hearts and taking out the old one and giving us a new heart, a soft, welcoming and receiving heart that one becomes willing to respond to the Word, to be able to cry out to Jesus for forgiveness for our sins and to be willing to submit to Him as Lord in order for Him to be our Savior.
However, in order for all of this to happen we first need to hear the Word of God so that we can have the faith that is needed to be able to believe and be saved from the wrath of God that is to come in the end times.
Yes, I do believe in the doctrine of election but I also know that God has people, everywhere, whom He intends to save, but it takes for them to hear the Word in order for that to be achieved. As Paul tells it in Romans 10:
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent?
How about you? Do you want to be forgiven for your sinfulness and be given the gift of salvation? It is as easy as doing what these verses in Romans 10: 8-10 says:
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
How much more can this be any easier? Just call upon Jesus and proclaim Him to be Lord. Confess your sinfulness and believe with your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead and you, too, will find out that you have been given the gift of salvation, and that you have been born again into the family of God.
Why A Savior?
It is December and, of course, it is time to celebrate Christmas. Well, most of us do anyway. But, have you ever wondered why there was, or is, a need for a Savior?
In the Christmas story, where we find the babe lying in a manger because there was no room at the Inn, an angel of Lord came to some shepherds to announce to them about the birth. The story goes like this:
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2: 8-14)
In verse 11 we read about the angel telling the shepherds that a Savior had been born. A Savior? Why a Savior? In short, a Savior is needed to save us from ourselves, because of what we are unable to do for ourselves.
To begin, we need to go back all the way to the book of Judges, to the very last chapter – Chapter 21 – and to the very last verse of the chapter – verse 25:
25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Look where it says, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” It does not say they did what was right in God’s eyes but in their own eyes. Very much like today.
The Old Testament is a story, albeit a true one, about God choosing a people for His own, and giving them the opportunity to prove that they could be obedient to Him and, by doing so, earn a place in Heaven. However they continued to show that this was not possible and they constantly sought to do their own will and not God’s. They could not be completely obedient to the Laws that God had given them; basically the Ten Commandments which was part of the covenant that God had made with them. In doing so, that is in doing what they saw was right in “their” own eyes, they gave evidence to God that they could not do anything to earn forgiveness for their sins and to be found worthy of acceptance into Heaven.
They would not do what God wanted of them, they desired to do what they felt was right in their own eyes; regardless of what God wanted.
In Hebrews 8: 8, 9 we read:
8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.
If God’s chosen people could not continue in the agreed upon Covenant with Him, then how could anyone do so? The answer is they can’t. No one can. No one has and no one will ever do so. For that reason mankind, based on the continued disobedience of God’s chosen people, proved that because of their sin nature they would never be found acceptable in God’s sight and could never fulfill the righteous requirements of this same Covenant. Thus mankind was condemned to spend eternity in hell. Unless someone would stand in their place and fulfill the requirements of God so that we could be forgiven and find a place in Heaven for us.
In short, mankind needed a Savior!
In Romans 8: 1-4 we read:
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For what the Law “could not do” Christ did for us in our place. Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law and because of that all who put their trust in Him will receive forgiveness for their sins and be found worthy of being accepted into Heaven based on what Jesus has done for us.
This is the Savior that we are told about in the Christmas story. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
That is why we were sent a Savior. Without one there would be no way to Heaven; we would all stand condemned before God for our sins. Jesus is the only way. He is the gate by which we must pass through in order to go into Heaven and go out into eternity with Him.
So, this Christmas be as the shepherds and believe in the miracle of the virgin born Savior. Come to Him with praise and thanksgiving and receive Him as your Lord and Savior. Be as the shepherds and hear the Heavenly multitude say:
“Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, and toward men good will.”
Why a Savior? Because we can do nothing to save ourselves. Jesus is that Savior. Come to the manger now and receive Him into your heart.
What Do You Celebrate At Christmas?
If you celebrate Christmas without Jesus, then what are you celebrating?
Now I may put up a decorated tree and some decorations outside but I do so just for fun. However, I could just as easily not have any decorations and I would still be just as happy. Know why? Because I don’t need any of these trappings to remind me about whom it is who came into the world to deliver me from having to pay the penalty for my sins. You see, I celebrate the person of Christ and not the holiday.
So, I don’t need to know when Jesus was born. It really isn’t important as that date then would become something more meaningful than the fact of Jesus Himself. You see, more emphasis would be put on the holiday and all of the trappings that come with it than on the person of the holiday itself. Much like it already has.
Think about it. What is more important to you Christmas or Jesus? Do you really need the colored lights or the decorated tree to worship Jesus, let alone the shopping, the stress and the debt? When was the last time that you bowed down before Jesus just to let Him know how grateful you are that at some point in time past He did come to earth, to become one of us and to put Himself in the place of a sinner (you) to deliver you from suffering the consequences of the wrongs “you” have committed?
Celebrating Christmas is not important at all. Celebrating the Savior is, and that is something you can do any time you want. You really don’t need one special day in which to do so. All God wants is for you to bow the knee before Jesus, admit your sinfulness and ask for forgiveness. Then it’s just a matter of confessing that Jesus is Lord and by faith believe that He died for you and rose again from the dead to give you eternal life and you, too, will be able to celebrate Jesus anytime that you want.
One day a year will not be that important anymore because it will have no true meaning. Celebrating Jesus is everlasting and receiving Him is receiving the best gift that you will ever have, for it is lasting, it is eternal, and it will never spoil or fade away.
So, this year don’t just celebrate a meaningless day. Instead celebrate the Savior who can make every day meaningful. You can do so just by celebrating Jesus.
Riff's Christian Journal 