Christmastime Devotional Readings

There is a great (and free!) e-publication available this year for Christmastime. “Good News of Great Joy” is the title of our Christmas Sermon Series at SCC, but Desiring God Ministries has also published an a book called “Good News of Great Joy: Daily Readings for Advent”. It has daily readings beginning December 1st through Christmas to be used to direct our hearts toward God in this season. The Billy Graham Association has also made a devotional reading for each week that you can download for free. We are all pulled in many directions in the busyness of the holiday season, make sure you take proper time to point your life in the direction it should be.

 

The Classic Christmas: the virgin birth, incarnation, and uniqueness of Christianity

As we watch the movies and celebrate the random traditions this Christmas, Let’s ask ourselves, “Why do we celebrate Christmas?” Year after year Christmas can play an important part in the process of growing in our knowledge of God. We teach our kids that we celebrate Christmas because we are celebrating Jesus being born. With all the cuteness of teaching kids about Christmas being Jesus’ birthday celebration, this the foundation for a healthy and vibrant faith in God. When we understand what Jesus being born actually means for us, it will increase our faith and lead us to worship him. Matthew 1:18-25 is one of the passages that teaches us about Jesus’ birth and how Jesus is both God and Man at the same time. Growing in our knowledge of what they Scripture says about how Jesus is God and Man, will lead us into this deep faith in him and worship of him.

Matthew 1:18-25 teaches us several things about the Birth of the Lord Jesus. First, Jesus was conceived supernaturally, not in the natural way. Verses 18 and 20 mention that Mary conceived because the Holy Spirit caused her to, not because of the natural way that we have children. Mary was a virgin. She was betrothed, which is similar to what we understand when we think of engagement, but its more serious than that. If a betrothal was ended, it was considered divorce. Well, since Joseph was betrothed to Mary and she got pregnant, he was going to divorce her. But, an Angel came to him telling him to marry her, so he took Mary as his wife even though her child was not his. Both Mary and Joseph knew that Jesus was conceived supernaturally and they obeyed God and named the boy Jesus.

A second thing we learn about Jesus from this passage is since he was born supernaturally, he is both man and God. The virgin birth is an essential doctrine of Christianity affirming that Jesus’ mother was Mary, but he didn’t have a  human father, but was conceived supernaturally. Joseph was his father legally, but not biologically. Since he is Mary’s Son, he is a man and since he is God’s Son he is God. The prerequisite for Jesus to do all the things the Bible claims he did and will do is that he has united humanity and divinity, man and God.

This leads us to another thing we learn from this passage. Jesus’ supernatural birth was a fulfillment of Scripture. Verse 23 is a quotation from Isaiah 7:14. There are many places in the OT that refer to aspects of what Jesus did or who he is, and this is one of them. The context of Isaiah 7 that is quoted here is talking about the coming Exile of Israel and the promise that God will be with them. Matthew quotes this verse about Jesus being born to a virgin, but implicit in this, is the idea that Jesus is also God present with his people in Exile. This is why he is called Immanuel, meaning “God with us” in verse 23. The Angels tell Joseph and Mary to name the boy Jesus, which means “the Lord saves”. The overarching idea here in Matthew 1 about Jesus, is that in Jesus, God dwells with his people and delivers his people from their sin. The exile of Israel was intended to point people to our exile in sin. The Jews were taken captive by the Babylonians in the early 6^th century BC, and when though many Jews had returned to their land, they were never self-governed again.  At the time of Jesus’ birth in the 1^st century, the Romans rule over them. So, many still believed that they were in a type of Exile even though they were in the land. Matthew is applying Isaiah’s prophecy about God being with his people in exile to Jesus. e is Emmanuel, God with us, and he is Jesus, the God who saves. We were all far from God and we need him to come and rescue us from our exile in Sin. Matthew begins his book by saying God has come to rescue his people from that exile.

So, to summarize what we learn here in Matthew 1, Jesus was conceived supernaturally in the womb of a virgin by the Holy Spirit, this was a fulfillment of prophecy, and in doing this, God and Man are joined together in one person named Jesus.

The doctrine that says Jesus is God and Man is called the Incarnation. Jesus is God incarnate, or God in the flesh. (Now you know a fancy theology word to impress people with.) In every aspect of life we have common language and technical language. Sometimes using technical language is unhelpful, but sometimes it is helpful. When we are talking about part of our eye, we don’t talk about the black dot, we talk about the retina. Technical language can help us be clear in what we are talking about.So, at times, its helpful to refer to Jesus’ incarnation because it includes much more than simply his birth. At Christmastime we celebrate the event of the incarnation, but every day we walk with the Lord we celebrate the doctrine of the incarnation.

When we understand how Jesus comes, and why Jesus comes, it will change our lives, it will increase our faith, and it will lead us to worship. Growing in our knowledge of Jesus’ coming, shapes the way we look at God, ourselves, the world, it affects the way we understand everything in life. This doctrine that says Jesus is God and man, affects us in at least four ways.

First, Because Jesus is God and Man, we can have relationship, not only religion. Most believers will say that Christianity is not just a religion, but also a relationship, but there is a theological reason to say this, not just because it sounds authentic. This relationship is made possible because in Jesus, we are united with God and him with us. In Colossians 3:3-4 it says, “your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” The Incarnation means we can be united with God and God with us. Jesus makes this relationship possible by uniting our humanity with God. So when we say, its relationship not religion, we are referring to this doctrine of the incarnation and how Jesus makes the relationship possible. If God doesn’t become man, then we cannot dwell with God. We cannot call him Father and we are not his children. Jesus is not our brother if he isn’t a man. But God becomes a man in Jesus and makes this possible for us.

Secondly, because Jesus is God and Man, we have someone who is capable of receiving the punishment of our sin as our substitute. To be our substitute, he had to be human like us, but he also had to be holy like God. Since Jesus is God and Man, it means that he can stand in our place when we dies on a cross for our sin, and it also means that he is holy so he doesn’t have sin of his own to pay for.

One of the ways I’ve heard this explained is that in order for our team to win, Jesus needed to be on our team. The Ravens got beat by the Steelers the other night. As much as I could have help them, I can’t do anything to affect their victory because I’m not on the team. But if I were to go to the field, and put on the pads, and get in the game then I could win the victory. It’s a silly example, but in order for Jesus to be our substitute and conquer our sin and the grave, he had to be on our team, God had to become a man. To show you just one place where this is mentioned in the Bible, look at 1 Timothy 2:5-6.Here Jesus is called the mediator between God and man and the one who gave himself as a ransom. Because of the incarnation, the perfect man, Jesus, has given himself as our substitute, taking on a punishment that we earned and deserved. In 1 Timothy it says he is our mediator, paying our ransom. Once there was sin standing between us and God and Jesus steps in representing God as God and representing man as man and gives his life for ours as our mediator and ransom. The Incarnation means our sins are paid for, atoned for, so we can receive forgiveness rather than judgment.

He makes a relationship with God possible, he is our substitute, and thirdly he calls us to believe something different from every other religion. Christianity is not just like all the other religions. Because Jesus is God and Man, Christianity is unlike all other religions.  The incarnation is one of the core doctrines of Christianity, and as such it separates Christianity as unique among world religions. Some religions like Mormonism may say we are all gods or can arise to the status of god, but this is different from the incarnation. Islam and Judaism are most closely identified with Christianity in the popular assessment of world religions because they worship only one God, but the incarnation of Jesus is blaspheme in Islam and Judaism. There is no personal claim to divinity in Buddhism or Hinduism. The incarnation separates Christianity from all other religions, so if a person says that all religions are essentially the same, the have to reduce Christianity to exclude the incarnation, and then it is no longer Christianity. A Christianity without the incarnation is not Christianity. Jesus is God and man, and this is what makes Christianity different from all other religions. This is also why Jesus can make the claims he made and teach the things he did. Other religious beliefs will deny Jesus outright, reduce Jesus to a teacher or prophet, or some will say that he is God, but he only appeared to have human flesh. This goes against the creeds of church history, but more importantly, it goes against the Word of God. Colossians 2:9, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily”. In Jesus God and man are joined together. God takes on human flesh. 2 John 7 says, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.” Throughout history people have either denied Jesus’ divinity or his humanity and this is what all other world religions have to do with Jesus. Jesus is who he says he is, he’s not just a good teacher or prophet, he is God’s Son, he is our savior.

He gives us a relationship with God, he is our substitute, he causes separation between Christianity and all other religions, and Finally, because Jesus is God and Man, he fully and undoubtedly demonstrates God’s love for us. God is loving, and since he is loving, even suffering and sorrow somehow work into his plan. God’s love and compassion for us is demonstrated in the incarnation. It proves that God is not indifferent sitting back and watching, but he does something to rescue us from our plight of sin and death.

Hebrews 4:14-16 points to God’s identification with us in Jesus. God becomes man in Jesus and because of this, he knows what we deal with on a day-to-day basis not only from the outside as an observer, but he has been through it too. Jesus was betrayed, suffered, and died. He has experienced the worst of the human condition. And because he is God, he rose out the grave and sealing his work of forgiveness, and eternal life for us. So, we can come him confidently because he has demonstrated his love and care for us. He will show us mercy and give us grace.

Christmas is not something we only celebrate, it is something that happens to us. When the 26^th comes, we can continue to celebrate because Jesus has come. Jesus comes for me, he comes for you. This is immensely personal. Because of Jesus, you are united with God and he with us. Jesus humbled himself as God taking on human flesh. He came and stayed amongst the animals and the filth. He slept in a dirty feeding trough and was wrapped in rags. There may be some resemblance between our hearts and the dark and dirty stable where Jesus was born, but even with that resemblance, he still desires to be born in us. Jesus still desires to come and dwell with us.

The Classic Christmas: On the origins, reasons, complaining, and the activities of Christmas

When you think of the Classic Christmas, what comes to mind? Thinking about the Classic Christmas, for each of us includes some different elements. Some of these elements include trees, decorations, sending cards, parties, gift-giving, large meals, family fights, and lots of different things. All over the world people celebrate Christmas, and there are differences in our celebrations. But, there are a few things we hold in common. The Classic Christmas for all of us is about traditions, expectation, songs, food, worship, and most of all, Christmas is about baby Jesus lying in his manger.

In a sense, our celebration of Christmas reflects the simplest and most enjoyable aspects of life. We pay special attention to family, traditions, singing, food, and worship this time of year, but if we think about it, these things are what makes our lives worthwhile all year long, there is just a cultural emphasis on it this time of year.

This Christmas, at SCC, we are going to spend some time looking at the “Classic” Christmas bible passages and enjoy this season of celebration with our church, our families, and our friends. In the midst of all the activity, our thoughts will be directed heavenward as we consider all that Jesus’ coming means for us.

First of all, I think it’s helpful to consider the origin of the celebration of the Christmas season. There is nothing about Christmas in the Bible, so why do we celebrate it? There are a lot of mixed reports on how the church worldwide has celebrated Jesus’ birth throughout history. There are records as early as the mid 300’s that talk of Jesus’ birth being in December during the winter solstice. This isn’t to coincide with the pagan holiday observance either. There is an early church theologian that identified Jesus’s birth with the solstice, not because of pagan worship, but because Malachi 4:2 is a prophecy of Jesus saying that the “Sun of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings”. The winter solstice is the turning point when the days begin to get longer. One might say this is when the sun rises to heal the earth of winter and bring springtime. So for this guy, there was a connection between Malachi’s prophecy of Jesus and the changing of the seasons. God designed creation in such a way as to point to his son, and Malachi 4:2 joins the winter solstice in pointing to Jesus.

There is evidence that suggests that at some points the church began to adopt pagan celebrations during the winter solstice and substitute Christian worship for the pagan worship. In other words, they used culturally appropriate methods to communicate the unchanging message. So, for much of the early church, there was no need to “keep Christ in Christmas” because Christianity was infiltrating the various cultural celebrations from the Middle East to Northern Europe. They weren’t trying to “Keep Christ in Christmas”; they were trying to “Put Christ into all Celebrations”. But sometime between 1000-1500, Christmas celebration was widely established in the western world within the church. Many of the traditions that grew out of the Protestant Reformation opposed celebrating Christmas, and in some places it was even outlawed. The Puritans intensely opposed Christmas celebrations. Between 1659 and 1681, Christmas celebrations were outlawed in Massachusetts. In 1855, the New York Times published an article talking about how Baptists and Methodists didn’t regard Christmas as a holy day, so their churches were closed. As late as 1869, public-school kids in Boston could be expelled for skipping class on Christmas Day. For some believers in America history, the concern wasn’t putting Christ back into Christmas, but removing Christmas from Christianity altogether. The background of Christmas celebrations in the church is varied and sporadic.

But, as the saying goes, “That was then and this is now”. All of us grew up in a place where virtually everyone celebrated Christmas. Even today, the overwhelming majority of people in our country still celebrate Christmas. We know there will always be people who don’t believe like us and celebrate different things than us. It seems though, that our society has more and more people who don’t believe like we do. It seems that understanding Christmas with reference to Jesus is being lost in our culture and many people have no idea about the Christian influence in the holiday.

The celebration that overtook pagan celebrations centuries ago is now being over taken by pagan celebrations. So how do we get it back? What exactly is it that we are trying to get back? Should we put a bumper sticker on our cars that says “Keep Christ in Christmas” or “Jesus is the reason for the season”? I somehow doubt that’ll change much, but go ahead if you want. As Christmastime seems to slowly be sinking back into paganism, talking about the way we celebrate will help very little. What I would like for us to consider is not necessarily the way we celebrate, but the reason we celebrate.

For many people, the reason to celebrate is tradition, gift-giving, or family time. All of these things are fine, but why is that what Christmas is all about? But what does this mean for us today? Why is it that you celebrate Christmas? As we approach Christmas, there are some important ideas that should guide us. Why do we celebrate Christmas? Why should we celebrate it?

First, we celebrate because all celebration points to Jesus. In Colossians 2:16-17, there are instructions to these early Christians about the nature of cultural celebrations. It says these festivals and celebrations are “the Shadow” but the substance is Christ. This passage is written in response to people in the early church who were giving other believers a hard time because some didn’t observe customs in the way others thought they should. It’s talking about how believers participate in the celebrations existing within a culture. How does this apply to Christmas? Christmas is a religious custom in our culture. Religious customs and observances are pointing to Christ. They are not the substance, Jesus is. When we celebrate anything, whether it’s a wedding, a birthday, or Christmas, we should be reminded of the celebration that awaits us when Jesus returns. It’s fine to celebrate, but all of our celebrating pales in comparison to what the Bible refers to as The Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Anything worth celebrating is the result of the blessing of God and points us to the time when we live in his blessing and presence forever. So why do we celebrate? All celebration reminds us of how God has blessed us. And if there is anything to celebrate in our lives, it is because of God’s blessing, as it says in James 1:17, The Father is the source of every good and perfect gift. If we have anything worth celebrating, it’s because our heavenly Father cares for us and gives us good things. So when we celebrate, it should be in a way that honors the Lord because all of our celebrating points to him. 

Another reason we celebrate Christmas is to display the Gospel. Philippians 2:14-18 says:

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

The most enduring Christmas tradition is complaining about Christmas. We complain about being so busy, we complain about our family, we complain about the traffic, and the commercialization, and on and on. Christians are awfully good and griping especially when it comes to Christmas. Philippians 2 warns us about this attitude. We have the opportunity to hold out the word of life at Christmastime. People are more open to God this time of year. People who never go to church, will go to Christmas Eve service. People who never think about Jesus will all of a sudden think about him because the holiday is called “Christmas”. Don’t let your Christmas be filled with judgment and complaining, let it be filled with gratitude and worship. Don’t get angry because people don’t say Merry Christmas. Treat them with love and patience. The Christian way of celebrating Christmas isn’t to point people away from Santa, or materialism or saying happy holidays; the Christian way to celebrate Christmas is to point people to Jesus so they find something they can truly celebrate in all of life, not just this time of year. The Christian way to celebrate Christmas is to hold out the word of life, the Gospel, and be lights in the darkness.

We shouldn’t complain about those who aren’t “Keeping Christ in Christmas”. People who don’t know Christ can’t keep him in Christmas. They are doing at Christmas time what they do in all of their lives. They are worshiping other things besides God. Materialism and selfishness are destructive personally and to our society, but the call of the church isn’t to oppose a secularization of what at some points has and has not been a Christian holiday. We proclaim Christ crucified, risen, and coming again. We have the message of the one true God who is worthy of worship. While people all around us are looking everywhere else for fulfillment and meaning this time of year, it is only the church who can say “Look to Jesus”. As people are searching for depth and something real this Christmas, be bold in your faith. Invite someone to church. Ask someone why they celebrate Christmas. Talk about the Lord and how you have found forgiveness, life, and purpose in the Gospel.

Lastly, we celebrate Christmas because there are glimpses of the Kingdom of God everywhere. People decorate. We create beauty. Everyone has a song of worship on their lips as they sing carols. We make plans so we can spend time with friends and family. There are signs of the Kingdom of God everywhere.  Radio stations that play the trashiest music all of a sudden burst forth in praise to the Son of God. In the stores where people worship the gods of materialism, there are songs about the Lord being played as if to call people out of their pursuit of lesser things to find what truly matters. And people who never worship God, for no particular reason are moved to go to church on Christmas eve, even if they don’t know why. The excitement and expectation, the songs and stories, the gatherings and gifts are all points of contact where God’s Kingdom of heaven is coming to earth. What we celebrate and enjoy at Christmas points us to the day when God will finally restore his creation and establish his Kingdom. There will be peace on earth and goodwill among men one day.

So this Christmas, celebrate! Celebrate all of the festivities of the Classic Christmas. Give gifts because God has given his Son for us. Gather with family and remember that Christ is our brother and our Father watches over us. Eat and drink and remember that Jesus is the Bread that brings life. Christmas is about baby Jesus, so let’s sing the songs and put up the decorations of the divine baby and proclaim that baby Jesus grew up and he died for us, rose again, and reconciles us to God as Messiah, Prophet, Priest, and King. There was a time when we were far from God, but he has brought us near. This is worth celebrating!