12-21-08 Sermon Review

Putting Christ back into Christ-mas

Christmas brings very mixed feelings for me. I love the holidays, and as one song puts it, “It's the most wonderful time of the year.” But it's also a season that makes me grieve. It is a holiday where Christ's name is thrown out and Christmas songs like Hark the Herald Angel Sings are sung, yet the world as a majority cares nothing about Christ. Christ is all but forgotten in the Christmas celebration.

Recently, I read a news article that told of the first public Christmas celebration in Baghdad. That caught me by surprise. In an area where it is predominantly Muslim, they were celebrating Christmas. It reminded me that Christmas has become so secularized that it holds little or no meaning at all. A day that we have set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the infinite God-man, a day that we have set aside to proclaim His worth and His mystery, a day that we have set aside to glorify God and reflect on “peace to men on earth,” has become another worldly holiday.

Christians, we have an obligation, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh, but an obligation to the Lord. The world might be celebrating Christmas for whatever reasons, but I beg of you, Christian, to celebrate Christmas because of Christ. How will Christmas exalt Christ? That should be the blaring question for all believers. Christmas for the Christian should stand as a reminder of glorious truths. It should stand as a reminder of the glory of Jesus Christ in His person and a reminder of salvation by grace.

A Reminder of the Glory of Christ – As we reflect on the night that Jesus was born, I want you to consider these four points. 1) Jesus' wonder. He is not only God, but now human. The day we celebrate is the day we celebrate God putting upon Himself humanity. That is too wonderful for me. There is none like Him. Infinitely God and infinitely man. 2) Jesus' perfect obedience. Jesus put upon Himself humanity in obedience to the Father. Christ says, “A Body you have prepared for me... Behold, I have come... to do your will” (Hebrews 10:5,7). And He did. He became man, and He obeyed unto death. 3) Jesus' closeness. Oh what a wonder that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us! The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus "had to be made like His brethren" (Hebrews 2:17). "He is not ashamed to call [us] brethren” (Hebrews 2:11). Jesus' birth as a human should remind us of how close and near He is to us. 4) Jesus' bodily return. Jesus did not put on humanity for a short time. It is for eternity. He will return not as a spirit but as a perfect human. This is proclaimed in Gabriel's prophecy to Mary. Jesus will sit on the throne of His father David and rule over Israel (Luke 1:32,33). This has not happened yet. The promise made is yet to come. Christmas should remind us of this future fulfillment.

A Reminder of Salvation by Grace – I love, I love what Simeon says when he sees the baby Lord Jesus in Jerusalem. “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32). So, what Simeon saw in the face of Jesus Christ was God's salvation. Oh, how Christmas should remind us of it! As we reflect on Christ come down, oh how we need to remind ourselves of God's provision in salvation! Now, what did Jesus' birth mean for the Angels? Here is their proclamation, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2: 14). First, they resound glory to God. Second, they proclaim a message of peace. If Christmas doesn't remind you of the peace that was wrought through the death of a human Jesus, you've lost the meaning of Christmas. Read Romans 5 to remind you of what peace we have in Christ Jesus.

Please, brothers and sisters, make much of Christ this Christmas season. The world does enough lip service to a Christ they do not know or care about. Let not Christ find us celebrating in vain. Let us make much of Him and cherish what He wrought as a human. As we do, I pray our Christmas would be ever more joyous, ever more meaningful. Jesus Christ, how precious You are! Stay strong in the Lord and God bless!