The Meaning of Christmas

The Meaning of Christmas 2021 12 26

There is no other time of the year looked forward to by so many with so much anticipation as Christmas.  Even in China, where the whole concept of Christmas is in most ways a complete mystery, they are trying to make it a part of their culture.  I once received an email from one of my suppliers in Shenzhen, China, who wished me a Merry Christmas.  I asked her how they celebrate Christmas in China, and she said, “Well, some stores and bars put up decorations and some young people go out to bars to celebrate with their friends.”  But they really have NO idea what they are celebrating.  All they know is what they see of westerners partying and saying, “Merry Christmas.”  It is becoming popular in China only because they like a good party.  However, the real meaning is lost on them.  What is tragic is that it’s so rapidly becoming lost here in Canada, too.  Most people even in Canada do not know WHY we celebrate Christmas, but only that it is a fun time with lots of food, festivities, and foolishness.  So, what IS the meaning of Christmas?

 

John 3:14 – 18

 

  1. What is Christmas all about?
  2. Is it about having fun and getting high?
    1. The time between Christmas and the New Year is the time when more than half the population increases their alcohol intake by 100%, according to the stats.
  3. Is Christmas about giving and getting gifts?
  4. Is it all about a cute little baby?
  5. How about a huge star and some wise men?
  6. What about a cozy stable, with cows, sheep, a donkey, and maybe some shepherds?

 

  1. None of these things are what Christmas is about.
  2. All of these are associated to varying degrees with the modern celebration of Christmas
    1. These are things we might think about at Christmas time
    2. Some of these things may have been part of the setting on the night that Jesus Christ was born
    3. But none of these are what Christmas is REALLY about.
  3. Jesus never taught us to celebrate his birth, but he did give clear instructions on remembering his death!
    1. 1 Corinthians 11:24 – 26 “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
  4. Christmas is not all about a cute little baby, but about the problem of death, caused by sin, and what God has done about it!
    1. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
    2. But that same verse also tells us that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

III. Christmas IS about a great gift!

  1. It is unlikely that Jesus was even born in December, but it’s really not the date that matters. We were never even told in Scripture to celebrate the coming of Christ.
  2. But it is good for us to set aside a special day to remember the day God came to Earth as a human baby. Christmas really is about the greatest gift of all, the gift of life for you by the death of the Son of God!
    1. When you think of that little baby, lying in a manger, think about him with GREAT awe!
    2. That baby is the eternal Son of God, who planned from before he created the world to suffer and die for you. The Bible says that he is, “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev 13:8
      1. He knew he would need to die if he created you, yet he did, anyway!
      2. He is the Creator. He is God the Living Word.  John 1:1 – 4 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
  • He is the Creator God, the eternal Son of God, called in the book of Isaiah, “Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,” yet he set aside his power and glory and humbled himself to become that baby in the manger, fully human, yet fully God, so that he could live a blameless, sinless, innocent life and die for you and I. Philippians 2:5 – 8   “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
  1. Jesus came to die
  1. Jesus came to die for your sins because the penalty for your sins is death and eternity in hell in the lake of fire.
    1. There is nothing you can do about that. By the very nature you inherited from Adam, you are a sinner, not because anyone has forced you to sin, but because you have freely chosen to sin because it is your nature to do so.  Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
      1. You sin by nature and by choice, so you have no excuse. The Bible says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”  Romans 1:20
      2. Without Jesus Christ, you are on your way to hell and the lake of fire. You have not obeyed God perfectly in every way, which makes you a sinner, and all sinners “… shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”  Revelation 21:8
  • The Bible says that without Jesus Christ, you are incapable of making yourself worthy of coming to a Holy God. No amount of religion will get you there!  Romans 3:10 – 12 says, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
  1. There is nothing you can do to keep yourself out of hell!
  2. There is nothing you can do to keep yourself from spending eternity in the lake of fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched (Mark9:48). There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth!
  3. God could have created robots
  1. God could have prevented the first people from sinning. God could have prevented sin from ever entering into the world.
    1. But God did not want robots. He wanted other beings who were like him, able to respond to love and to love back.
      1. You were created in the image of God, with a spirit and a mind, the ability to think, and freedom to make choices. God must have given us freedom to choose and with that freedom, had to allow us to accept him or reject him. Love is a choice, or it is not love!
      2. God wanted many children to love and who could love him.

 

  1. The real meaning of Christmas
  1. The real meaning of Christmas is that God loved you so much that he gave his only Son, so that ANYBODY who freely chooses to believe God and trust in Jesus Christ has eternal life.
    1. Jesus laid down his life for you, so that you could have eternal life. The wages of sin is death, but your death would have to be eternal, a conscious eternity in the lake of fire, to pay for your own sin.
    2. But because Jesus Christ is the eternal, perfect Son of God, he was able to pay for your sins by laying down his own life for you, and he was able to take his life up again, because he is God the Son. Jesus said, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”  John 10:17,18
  2. Christmas is all about the love of God. God knew that you would rebel against him, and that he would have to die for you, but he created this world for you and created you, anyway.  So great is the love of God that he was willing to do whatever it takes to win your love.
    1. Jesus willingly came to die for you.
    2. He was buried and he rose from the dead, just as he said he would.
    3. Hundreds and hundreds of eyewitnesses saw Jesus alive after many of those same people witnessed his death.
    4. He draws all people to himself. He said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”  John 12:32, meaning that he would draw you to himself after he was crucified, buried and risen from the dead.
    5. Left alone, because of your own sinful nature, you could not put your faith in Jesus Christ
    6. But he has drawn you by his Spirit, and he has given you the measure of faith needed to trust him as your Saviour. Romans 12:3 says, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” 
    7. Jesus Christ died for you out of love
    8. He has drawn you to himself
    9. He has given you the ability to choose to trust him as your Saviour.
    10. You need to trust him while he is still calling you. “… To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”  (Heb 4:7)
    11. “… behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”  2 Corinthians 6:2. Do not reject Jesus Christ.  Do not reject the gift of God.  God’s gift to you is the greatest gift of all, eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  It is a gift of love, the greatest love, from the one who loves you most.  That is the true meaning of Christmas.  Love came down at Christmas and died for you.  But he did not stay in the grave. He rose from the dead and his greatest desire is for you to spend eternity with him.  Accept that gift and have eternal life, right now.