“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,...” (1 Tim 1:15)
Again the sound of the bells, and the sight of lights, tinsel and glitz invade our everyday world in its attempt to celebrate another Christmas season. The retail industry uses this buzz time to peddle their goods in order to boost profit margins. We consumers also love this season as we can spend to our hearts content, all for the sake of Christmas and the family celebration it brings.
But Christians know the birth of Jesus Christ cannot be celebrated in a way that pleases God, through any of the above temporary delights alone.
In other words, to celebrate Christmas, how God intended, is to personally love and honour the child born in a manger whom God sent to die on a cross for man’s sin.
Now that’s the real point of Christmas. Christ Jesus came to die. We are not to be stuck on a babe in a manger. We are to personally understand that Jesus Christ is God eternal but at His incarnation became man, in order to obey God’s will and become the substitute for man and die for our sins.
Our response to such an act of God’s grace is to believe! For this whole story of Jesus Christ, from His birth to His death and resurrection will culminate in His coming again! Not to die, and be treated with scorn and hatred, like at His first coming, but to rule and reign and judge the world.
Christmas is about Christ’s birth - sure. But that’s only part of the story. If we personally leave Christ in a manger - we are in eternal peril. Jesus came to save sinners and the baby Jesus does not do that. The crucified Son of God, Jesus Christ, died for sinners and was raised for our justification. He is the way the truth and the life. (Jn 14:6)
Celebrate Christ’s birth by all means, but do not personally neglect the truth that He came to die for sinners to give hope, pardon and peace with God.