From The Cradle To The Cross
Dear Friends & Family,
Oftentimes when people think of the Christmas season, they think of the beauty of it. It’s true that we’re surrounded by this beauty. We see lovely trees with bright lights and decorations, colorful ornaments, beautiful candles, wreaths, snow scenes, warm fire places in a family home and beautifully wrapped presents where everything is cheery and happy. It seems that all this symbolism is conveyed to us most significantly in the Christmas cards that we receive which present to us almost a world of inordinate fantasy, beauty, wonder and loveliness. This is one side of Christmas, without question.
But there’s also another side. There’s a very ugly side. There is lurking behind every beautiful scene on every Christmas card, every lovely sentiment of Christmas, something very vile and very ugly. It is the most wretched, heinous, hideous reality in all the universe. I truly believe that in order to have a proper understanding and appreciation of the beauty of Christmas, we must first have a proper understanding of the ugliness of Christmas. Here it is in Matthew 1:21-22 “She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Christmas is ultimately not about the cute, cuddly infancy of Jesus Christ, it’s about His awesome deity, a deity that would be used to pay a horrible price for the redemption of souls. I think it would be a right and profitable thing to include a picture and description of Golgotha right alongside every Christmas picture of Bethlehem. We must never separate the two. Without Calvary, Christmas has no legitimate meaning at all.
Perhaps in thinking the matter through, this is why Christmas has become the most mis-defined, muted and manipulated holiday on the calendar except for Easter. For within the humble birth of Jesus Christ lies an indictment, an accusation against the entire human race. We have a sin problem. It’s a sin problem that if not remedied, would sentence us to a just, Christ-less eternity in hell forever. It took nothing less than God Himself to take upon flesh, in order to once and for all, pay the penalty for this sin. 1st John 3:5 “You know that he appeared to take away sins…” Christmas is not so much about the infancy of Jesus Christ as it is about His deity! It’s a deity that would be required for the just payment (propitiation) for the sin of the elect.
Oh, I don’t mean to be a Grinch at Christmas time. I simply desire to expose the truth of what Christmas truly is. For when the truth of Christmas is recognized, accepted and owned by the sinner in need of salvation, when authentic, saving faith is placed in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, the joy of Christmas goes much deeper than the superficial and temporal happiness of eating cookies (not that I’m condemning eating cookies at Christmas time mind you.) It’s just that this truth brings in tow with it so much more than the misguided frivolity that we typically see. It’s the forgiveness of sins, the reconciliation with God and His people and the promise of eternal life in His kingdom. This redemption reaches far beyond Bethlehem. Now, just try and match that with your holiday glass of egg-nog!