So when you think of Christmas, what do you think about?…. Winter? Summer? Christmas trees? Presents? Christs’ birth? Lights on houses? Nothing?
I’m sure you all know the story of Christs’ birth. And of how he fulfills all of the prophecies concerning the Messiah.
* Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
* Luke 1:27-38 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary…..And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
* Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
* Luke 2: 4-5 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
* Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt
* Matthew 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
* Judges 13:5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. (this is also talking about Sampson)
* Matthew 2:22-23 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
(Of course there are many more prophecies concerning the Messiah that Jesus fulfilled, but these are the ones concerning his birth.)
Because of tradition, this is the time of year that we celebrate Jesus’ birth. But the truth is, we don’t know when he was born. December 25th was already a day within the pagan religion(s) that was already celebrated, so someone in authority decided to make it a “Christian” holiday as well to attract the pagans to Christianity. Before this time, Christs’ birth was never celebrated. How could it be? No one knew the date. And it was never established as something to celebrate in the first place. In the Old Testament, God is very clear and precise on what to celebrate and when. It is very clear on when Jesus was crucified and when He rose again. But we are never told when He was born because it is not important and it was never something that God intended for us to celebrate in the first place.
Does that mean it’s wrong to celebrate Christs’ birth? No. No more then it’s wrong to celebrate someone else’s birthday. So why is there all this extra stuff involved with Christmas now? Why the Christmas trees? (Which is another pagan ritual incorporated in Christmas) Why Santa? Why reindeer? Why presents? (Some say it’s to remember the gifts brought to Jesus by the wise men) If you are going to celebrate Jesus’ birth, then do that. But don’t add all this other nonsense. Christmas (or the idea of Christmas) is not about how cool you’ve decorate your house. Or how nice your tree looks. Or how many gifts are yours under the tree. ( I have a friend who takes great pride in the fact that she spends nearly $2,000 at Christmas time for her family. That amount just about makes me ill thinking about it.) It’s about remembering the greatest gift ever given to anyone: that Jesus came to die for our sins, was raised from the dead, is victorious over death and sits at the right hand of the Father.
We do exchange gifts in our house (although Adam and I don’t get the children anything. We figure they get enough from everyone else.). This last Saturday, there was a function that allowed the children to “shop” for their family members and the gifts were wrapped before they left. I gave each child ( minus Malachi) $3, and they bought one gift each for 7 people (obviously the prices were much cheaper then at Wal-mart). We have no problem with gifts, we just don’t want our children to think that is all that this season is about. My children know there is no such thing as “Santa” and that Jesus was not born on December 25. We are teaching our children that they don’t get gifts because they have been “nice”. Because they haven’t. They haven’t even been “good enough”. But they get things because they are loved.
Does that sound familiar? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
John 3:16-17
(For the record, we don’t have a tree, decorations or Christmas lights either.)