Christmas is About Jesus
Barbara Rainey
December 16
|
Christmas
is about Jesus.
The Son,
the only son of God.
The Word
in the beginning.
Creator of all things.
The Lamb,
the image of the invisible God.
In Him all the fullness of deity dwells.
In Him all things hold together.
He is
the same yesterday, today, and forever.
In all things made like us.
The Light
of the world.
|
 |
Christmas is not about nostalgia or memories. Christmas is not “for children,” nor is it about creating “a spirit of giving” or a “season of cheer.” Christmas is a celebration of heaven-sent, life-altering, world-changing truths. God came to us. He became like us. He lived to redeem us, and He died to save us. Christianity alone is the story of how and why God came to earth.
Christmas was the moment of His first appearing, His incarnation.
And what an appearing it was! Though austere and humble, it was at the same time monumental and grand–––a supernatural choral announcement by a host of angels appearing in the sky, speaking to men and singing by the thousands; a star that shone exceptionally bright and stood still in one place; kings that traveled for two years to give gifts and to worship. This was no ordinary birth.
Today, beaming new parents send out e-mail blasts to hundreds of family members and friends, but no mass circulation of good news can compare with God’s miraculous Christmas proclamation. The birth announcement of the Christ child was sent to the far reaches of the universe.
As a teenager, I remember longing to capture for myself the true meaning wrapped up in this glorious incarnation. I envied friends whose families attended Christmas Eve mass or midnight services. It seemed to me that being in church at the stroke of twelve would somehow bring a greater touch of inspiration to the holiday that I loved. Intuitively, I knew there was much more to understand about the gift of Christ.
The Book of John opens with this statement: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” then declares, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” To appreciate the magnitude of the greatest Gift, we must know the Word and the treasures of its promises. As we know the Word, we can know the Christ, the image of the invisible God who never changes.
Christmas is about Jesus, the perfect Gift, who came to our world out of love to be our Immanuel . . . God with us.
(This is excerpted from When Christmas Came, Barbara Rainey, FamilyLife Publishing, 2008, 35-38.) |
