It's Christmas Day and the Christmas spirit is in the air. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year, but not because of Santa or opening presents. It's my favorite holiday because Christmas is the holiday where we celebrate the birth of the King (Luke 1:29-33): the baby who was born to a virgin (Matthew 1:22), lived a sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:21), and then was "pierced for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:5) 33 years later. Christmas is about celebrating the gift of grace that God gave us through our savior, Jesus Christ (Luke 2:8-12). "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." (Luke 2:11)
The birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Old Testament. Prophecies like:
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)
"May the desert tribes bow before him and his enemies lick the dust." (Psalm 72:9)
"'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.'" (Jeremiah 23:5-6)
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)
"I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father." (Psalm 2:7)
Christmas is about more than what's under the tree, it's about God's amazing gift of His son to mankind. Christmas presents are nice to give and receive, but we just need to remember why we celebrate December 25th. As Americans, we can get caught up in buying presents, opening presents, sporting events, etc. on Christmas Day and miss the whole meaning of Christmas. It's almost easy to get distracted because of all the stores open on Christmas Day. This is a sad thing to do, because of all of the blessings God gives us. God deserves and desires gifts from His people, a gift like spending time in the Bible or in prayer; it's a gift for the person as well as a gift to God.
While I was researching and planning this article, I found a great article on About.com titled "10 Ways to Keep Christ in Christmas"; it gave me some of the ideas I'm writing, so I would suggest reading it. Anyway, #8 on this list is my favorite: "Attend a Christmas church service together with your family". I (now more than ever) enjoy going to the Christmas Eve service at my church; I enjoy singing Christmas hymns, lighting the candles in silence, reading the account of Jesus' birth, and seeing the North star in the night sky. The North star reminds me of how faithful the Magi were in following the star they saw to see the newborn King; they had the kind of faith we all should have.
"After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route." (Matthew 2:9-12)
So Merry Christmas ,everyone. Thank you for reading my blog. In the words of Tiny Tim, from A Christmas Carol, "God bless us, everyone!"
Merry CHRISTmas, Zach! I loved this and so look forward to our Christmas Eve service too and hope Jason and I can encourage our boys to always remember the true meaning of Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI thank the Lord for His work in and through you. Jesus was born to die; therefore every day must be celebrated as Christmas and Easter for Christ was born to suffer the wrath of God so we could receive mercy and grace. My prayer for you is for the Lord to continue to mold you and shape you into His Son's likeness (Romans 8:28-39). Please continue to share the Gospel in Word and Deed.
ReplyDelete.Lk 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
Jn 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jn 1:2 He was with God in the beginning.
Jn 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Jn 1:4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
Jn 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
Jn 1:6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.
Jn 1:7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.
Jn 1:8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Jn 1:9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
Jn 1:10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
Jn 1:11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Jn 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
Jn 1:13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Jn 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jn 1:15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”
Jn 1:16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
Jn 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Jn 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
Lk 23:33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
Lk 23:34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Mk 15:33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Mk 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Mk 15:35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
Mk 15:36 One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
Mk 15:37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
Mk 15:38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
Christ death opened heaven to all who will believe.
Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Jn 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Jn 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Jn 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Jn 3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Jn 3:21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
God's Love,
Keith Porter