Continuing Pastor Herk's message on preparing for Christmas, he declares that Christmas is about man’s relationship to God through Jesus. Christ is both Savior and Lord, who came to earth from Heaven to reconcile us to Father God. So, the question is: how do we prepare for the spiritual side of Christmas? First, focus on Christmas’ purpose. Society gets convoluted and believes that the purpose is to give and receive gifts. We all enjoy the giving and receiving of gifts in the spirit of Christmas and Christ, as the three Wise men gave gifts to the Christ child in the manger. Society sees the holiday as paid time off from work or a break from school. Many think that this is a time for Christmas parties at home and many workplaces. What are they celebrating?
Jesus tells us in John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.” Jesus came, God with flesh on, to be that perfect, sinless sacrifice so that we could spend eternity, not in Hell but in Heaven, in God’s presence. John the Baptist proclaimed of Jesus in John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” So, we need to focus on the purpose of Christmas being Jesus.
Secondly, way that we can prepare for the spiritual side of Christmas is by following the example of Jesus’ mother Mary. When she heard from the angel Gabriel that she was to give birth to the promised Messiah, she prepared herself with joy, singing: “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. “Christmas is a joyous time of the year and a time to celebrate the coming of the Lord’s visitation. Her focus was on God and what He was about to do. Focusing on God is what really brings us true joy. What the secular world is looking for is superficial happiness, excitement, and fun, when all they have to do is turn to Jesus for the love, joy and peace that the world cannot give. But, they believe that if they give enough presents to friends and family, and receive everything gift that they want, then they will be happy.
They are distracted by looking for what will make them happy, not Jesus who will bring them the true joy of the season. The temporal happiness of people, partying and possession quickly fades, the happiness is gone and depression sets in. They do not have the true and lasting joy of Jesus. You can be filled with godly joy, no matter what the circumstances may be. That is because pure joy does not come from what is going on around us and to us, but through our relationship with Christ, our Savior and Lord and by the joy of what God has done for us through the birth of Jesus, from that first Christmas into all eternity in Heaven and on earth.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Yet, Mary prepared for that first Christmas by being humble also, “for He has had regard for the humble state of His bond-servant.“ Christmas should being with it an aire of humility when we realize who we truly are; that we are unworthy. What did we do to deserve God sending a Savior to Sinners for salvation and eternal life? Nothing.
Ephesians 2:1-6 “You were dead in your offenses and sins, in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
In the “Be Attitudes” given at the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus: Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers; it’s an attitude of humility. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” Yet, Mary also prepare for that Christmas with hope too. Her hope was in the Lord and so should ours. She knew that the Messiah would be born who would save humanity from their sins. That hope was being brought to fruition through her. Her hope was in this child of hers to save the world. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. Luke 1:49 “For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.” His is extending that very same hope today; not just for today, but for His second coming. He is coming again. It’s a reality/ 2 Timothy 4:1-3 “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” We need to prepare for Christmas.
The third thing that we need to do is share the real meaning of Christmas. The Gospel is not meant to be kept to ourselves. People hang lights and decorations, buy gifts to exchange, listen to and sing carols, and watch holiday movies and shows on TV, but do they really know what Christmas is truly about? It is not about Santa Clause. Does that surprise anybody? The real meaning is that Jesus left His heavenly state, was born of woman as a child – Emmanuel (God among us), God incarnate (God with flesh on), so He could live a perfect, sinless life in order to take our place and die on the Cross, so that by saving grace through faith, we could be reconciled, our spirit regenerated and have a relationship with our heavenly Father God. That’s the story we need to share to all who will listen! Spread the word and the reason for the season. Glorify and praise God for the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. The perfect Lamb without blemish for the sacrifice. Took upon Himself the sins of the world. Died on the Cross so that we could have eternal life in Heaven. Amen.
In Christ, Brian
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