What I'm about to say is nothing new. I've heard pastors say it for years. I've personally said it before on another blog I used to write. I've hinted at it in the previous two posts I've written on the subject of Christmas. The message of Christmas is to come and see what God has done. Christmas itself is a miracle because it celebrates God becoming man and living here with us. And when we look at the message and the miracle we arrive at the meaning of Christmas.
At Christmas, God did a miracle that would lead to the salvation and ultimate restoration of all of creation. Christmas is so much more than just a single day celebration, or an isolated event that we remember every December. Christmas is more than a once a year moment.
The Skit Guys have a video illustrating the meaning of Christmas. (https://skitguys.com/videos/item/the-christmas-connection)
The video opens with two friends decorating a Christmas tree, and the one comments "I wonder what it would be like to be born in a manger?" The other responds, "Yeah, I wonder what ever happened to baby Jesus." What commences is an explanation of how the Jesus born in the manger grew up, walked on water, went to the cross, and lives in our hearts. One guy did all of that, and this mind blowing revelation inspires this, "Maybe we stop just making Christmas just this once a year isolated thing, and we make it an ongoing story about the salvation in our hearts and lives."
It's funny to think about, but honestly, it's not that much of a stretch. We celebrate Christmas every December, in the Spring we celebrate Easter, and the rest of the year we ...? It seems like we've separated Jesus. We have baby Jesus born in a manger, adult Jesus who lived and taught, Savior Jesus who died on the cross, and Lord Jesus who rose from the dead. All of them are the same guy, and it all began at Christmas.
Christmas is so much more than a baby being born in a manger. Christmas is God becoming man to bring His plan of redemption to fulfillment. God became man, not just to die, but to live. If the point of Jesus was just to die on the cross we have over three decades of wasted time. If the point of Jesus was simply the sacrificial Savior, He didn't need to do everything else that He did. But because Jesus did so much more than simply die, His life was about more than that. Christmas is about God being here with us.
Jesus was born, grew up, and lived life. The difference between Jesus and the rest of us is that Jesus lived life as it was meant to be lived. Jesus lived with an eternal quality of life, and as He did, He set an example for us, modeling how God would live life. At the end, when everything He was sent to do was completed (John 17.4) He willingly laid down His life to pay the price for sin. He died for us, but that wasn't the end of the story. He didn't stay dead, but rose again, and as He conquered sin, death, and Hell, He empowered us to live as He did.
Jesus was born to live, He died to save, He rose to empower. Christmas is the beginning of the story, not just an isolated, once a year thing, but an ongoing story about the salvation in our hearts and lives. Christmas marks the beginning of life as it was intended to be lived. Christmas is so much more than a baby born in a manger, it's about God doing the most incredible thing that has ever happened. Christmas is about God becoming man and living among us. Christmas is about the final stages of the plan of salvation.
What if we really did stop viewing Christmas as a once a year, standalone event?
What if we began to see it as the starting point of salvation?
What if we took in the reality of God doing what only He could do?
What if we saw Christmas as the beginning of a model for life?
Not going to lie, writing this is a little difficult because this is something I need to do in my own life. If this was the focus I had I wouldn't feel the numbness towards the holiday as I do. I wouldn't be focused on the gifts I want to give to others, or how the radio station plays the same 6 songs (different variations don't count) for more than a month. If my life focused on Christmas as the start of salvation then I would be truly in awe of what this upcoming Sunday means.
I want to live my life that way, or rather, I want to want to live my life that way. I want to be truly amazed at the message, miracle, and meaning of Christmas (I hardly ever do the words that start with the same letter thing). If this was the view we have we wouldn't compartmentalize Christmas to the few weeks of December. Nothing will ever make me want to hear songs about snow in July, or see decorations at the beginning of September, but those aren't the things that matter with Christmas. The things that matter are the message, miracle, and meaning, and those are the things I want to dwell on all year, because those are the things that matter most.
God did something amazing in salvation, He made restoration possible and showed us what to do with it.
God became a man, living among us, so that we could better understand who He is.
God did all of this so that we could draw near to Him and experience Him in the deepest way.
That is Christmas, and that is where I want my focus to be.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
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