From Cradle to Cross
Dear Reader,
It isn’t my desire to bring you low today or to take away your Christmas joy during this time of year. Rather, I want to enhance your joy, by helping to rightly understand the Biblical and wonderful truth of the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
At Christmas time we’re often surrounded by beautiful and wonderful peripherals: Decorated trees with bright lights and decorations, colorful ornaments, fragrant candles, wreaths, snow scenes, warm fireplaces, and meticulously wrapped presents. Everything is bright and light and cheery and happy. But really, this is a fake world of fantasy. Because lurking behind every beautiful scene on every Christmas card, behind every lovely sentiment of Christmas is something very vile and very dark. It’s the most ugly, wretched, heinous, hideous reality in all the universe. The Bible calls it “sin.”
So, here is the real and substantive reality of Christmas, found in the Biblical account of Christmas itself: Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
And again here in the book of 1st Timothy 1:15 “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
The dark and ugly side of Christmas is sin. The heart of Christmas is this, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Christ was made incarnate to take away sin, and we all have sinned, every one of us.
The real beauty of Christmas is to understand the ugliness that it cures.
Because of sin, there are tears and pain, war and fighting, anxiety and depression, discord and unrest, fear and worry, sickness and death, famine and earthquakes, and pollution and disease. Those things which so destructively mar our existence are the direct result of sin. Sin disturbs and disrupts every human relationship, whether between man and man, man and creation or man and God. Yes, every broken marriage, every disrupted home, every shattered friendship, every argument, every disagreement, every evil thought, evil word and evil deed is a direct result of sin.
But this is why Jesus left His throne in heaven and came to earth. He came, not to simply be an ornament in a manger for us to admire every December, but rather, He came to die and to take upon Himself the penalty for our sin, bringing restoration, salvation, and peace to all who would place their faith in Him as Lord and Savior.
And this is the reason that Christ was born…to be the Savior who would deliver men from their sin. If there were no sin there would be no need for Christmas.
It was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that originally wrote the poem (and eventual Christmas hymn) “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”. He wrote it as a lament during the American Civil War. Read just a few of the verses:
“I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old, familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the words repeat, of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth, the cannons thundered in the South, and with the sound, the carols drowned of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head; ‘there is no peace on earth,’ I said. ‘For hate is strong, and mocks the song, of peace on earth, good-will to men!’
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep, ‘God is not dead, nor doth He sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good-will to men.’”
As we look around our nation today, we too may be tempted to despair…for hate is strong and it does seem to mock the sentiment of “peace on earth, goodwill to men.” But God is not dead. Not only is He not dead, but He has graciously provided remedy, stronger medicine for the disease of hate and sin that ails us all as people. That medicine is found exclusively and solely in the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that you will put your faith in Him today. Merry Christmas!