Why Christmas?

 

Worship House Media

     Can you believe it? Amid Thanksgiving preparations, a world war was escalating. Would it happen? Was the handwriting already on the wall? Had God weighed our world in the balances and found it wanting?^[1]

     For a while now, I’ve felt the end of the age^[2] fast approaching. Chaos, insanity, wars, rumors of wars now with nuclear capabilities, and artificial intelligence so threatening humanity that, if possible, no flesh would remain.^[3] Earlier, it seemed the LORD gave America and, by extension, the world a reprieve and great hope for the future. But with this current volatility, I’m not so sure.

     End-time disorder is prophesied in the Bible. Are Jesus’s warnings coming to life before our eyes, blinking on and off like a neon sign declaring, “The End is Near?”

     Hold on…Jesus also said, “…See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”^[4] We do not know the day or hour for the time appointed is in the Father’s hands. So, watch.^[5]

     Yet, stop for a moment and consider the timing of the war’s escalation. Sure, it was probably political, but remember Who is really in charge.^[6] The threat of full-scale war seeks to rob our joy and hope for the future. But notice the escalation comes at a time of year when even the grumpiest of people seem to have hope. In this, I see the Sovereign God’s mercy and His hand at work.

     How so? Busy-ness! Doesn’t a smorgasbord of food and a flurry of festivities all wrapped in tinsel and holly, lights, decorations, and gifts distract us? We gather with friends and family to thank God for His blessings and then rejoice and celebrate His Supreme and Greatest Gift. With Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations, thoughts of war fade. We don’t dwell on doom and gloom. We think joy!

     Oh my, the Goodness of God! But it gets even better when we understand God’s Supreme and Greatest Gift and why Christmas.

So, let’s take the journey together.

     When God created Adam, He gave him one command to obey, “do not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” And if he did, he would have one major penalty, ”you shall die.”^[7] Nevertheless, Adam chose to eat the fruit. As a result, sin entered the world, and with it came death.^[8] The blood of every human born from Adam was now tainted with sin, and our spirit doomed to spend eternity in hell. But what could we do? Was there a way of escape—a way for our spirit to enter God’s presence and heaven instead? Yes, it’s called Christmas!

     The True and Living God, who is Three, yet One, is all-knowing, AND He is LOVE. So, before He even spoke the worlds into being, He had a plan to deal with sin. An Innocent or SINLESS Substitute would pay sin’s death penalty for all humans who chose to believe and receive.^[9]

     God first spoke His promise immediately after Adam’s sin, then He gave more details in Isaiah and Matthew, calling Him Immanuel—God with us.^[10] Animal sacrifices in Exodus and Leviticus foreshadowed this Substitute, but God made it clear animal blood would only cover sin—not take it away.^[11] Thus, our Substitute needed to be human.

     But ALL born from Adam had sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.^[12] So, from where would this Sinless Savior come?

     God’s Plan continued. He chose Mary, a descendant of Adam. As the Holy Spirit indwelled her, the overshadowing power of the Highest created a sinless embryo in the womb of this young female virgin, into which God the Son stepped. This miracle is called the incarnation—the moment God became flesh. Nine months later, Jesus was born. Voila—Christmas!

     God said it this way, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”^[13]

     The Greek word translated redeem means to buy up, ransom, and rescue from loss.^[14] We humans, born under the Law, were trapped as slaves to sin with the penalty of death and eternal separation from God hanging over our heads.^[15] 

No sin-tainted human blood or good work

could wash away this penalty.

     Enter the Innocent Substitute—Yeshua Jesus—God in human flesh. Born for this reason: to shed His Blood and die on a cross ONCE for the sin of the world, to be buried, and to rise the third day conquering death for us.^[16] By His sacrifice, Jesus canceled our debt, paid the ransom, rescued us from sin’s clutches, and opened the WAY to heaven for ANY who would choose to repent, believe, and receive His Gift.^[17] And this, my friends, is why Christmas.

 

Have a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love in Christ, Anita

(For more, see:  www.meatforthehungry.com)

 

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[1] Daniel 5:24-27

[2] Matt. 24:3; Matt. 28:20; I Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 9:26

[3] Matthew 24:22

[4] Matthew 24:6

[5] Matthew 24:42; Daniel 11:35; Matthew 24:36; Acts 1:7

[6] Psalm 50:12

[7] Genesis 2:16-17

[8] Romans 5:12

[9] Revelation 13:8; John 1:12

[10] Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7; Matthew 1:20-23

[11] Genesis 3:21; Exodus 12:5-6; Hebrews 10:4

[12] Romans 3:23

[13] Galatians 4:4-5

[14] Strong’s Concordance pg. 32; I Peter 1:17-21

[15] John 8:34; Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:16-17

[16] Psalm 22:14-16; Isaiah 53:3-6; Psalm 16:10; John 3:16; II Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 10:19-20

[17] Colossians 2:13-14; Heb. 10:19-20; John 1:12; Romans 6:23