CHRISTMAS AND GOOD NEWS

CHRISTMAS AND GOOD NEWS

by John S. Oliver


Christmas is the celebration of an event that happened long ago and far away.
That historic event has personal meaning and relevance for today.

The culture of the USA has emphasized gift giving, Christmas tree, food and family.
Along the way the spiritual significance of the holiday has been often overshadowed.
Many people have become disappointed with the excessive consumerism.
Many search to regain the roots of why this was such an important holiday for centuries.

The Creator of the Universe went to great lengths to set the stage for Christmas.
God was sending His only Son to earth for a brief season.
The life span of the Son of Man was only 33 years and that is barely a blip of time.
He did not want people to miss this event, so He had many to predict the details.
The birth, life and death of the Son of God were predicted in the Old Testament.
The only real God who is outside of time, used His prophets to foretell the details.
Hundreds of events occurred just as they had been written.
Many of these events relate to the circumstances around Christmas.

The Word became flesh and lived among us.
The Creator entered His creation.
The Light came into the darkness.
The source of hope visited the hopeless.
The greatest Liberator visited the slave market of sin.
The great Liaison between God and humans crossed to our side for a season.
The eternal One walked on this passing earth for a while.

The big God became a tiny baby.
The invisible God became a visible Person.
The much-anticipated Redeemer arrived as a helpless infant.
Mortal people saw, heard and touched the immortal Savior.
God Almighty Himself condescended to become a human.
Divinity took on mortality.

Jesus was full of grace and truth.
From Jesus we have received grace upon grace.
The goodness, kindness, love and compassion of the Father were seen in the Son.

Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully Man.
The Son of Man ate, slept, wept, walked, rested and talked.
The true Son of God taught as none did before or since.
In the presence of witnesses Jesus Christ healed, delivered and performed miracles.
These wonder-filled signs pointed to the authority of His many truth claims.
Jesus said that He came from Heaven and was going back there.
He said He would return unexpectedly to judge.
He claimed that God was His own Father.
He claimed that His followers could call God their own Father.
He said that it had been written that He had to suffer and die.

This unique God-Man was the only one qualified to serve as the ultimate Mediator.
The pure Son of God made a Way for the impure humans to be reconciled.
In His Body on the Cross ALL the sins of ALL people for ALL time were imputed.
Each sin of thought, word and deed was fully and forever punished there.
The just demands of the righteousness of God were fully satisfied.
This substitutionary sacrifice was sufficient for all those who believe.
The wrath of God is no longer aimed at the one who has trusted in the finished work.
On the Cross the Savior said “It is finished.”
A seeker can never add to His finished work with their good works.

Jesus Christ was the spotless Lamb of God that took away the sins of the world.
His Blood shed on the Cross was the atonement for sins.
His perfect, final and complete payment was foreshadowed in the OT animal sacrifices.
The babe born on Christmas fulfilled His mission perfectly.
That one perfectly sinless Person had to die as the ransom.
The Virgin Born child of Mary needed to be mortal in order to die.
Christmas recognizes that He was a human like us and not a spirit.
According to the scriptures Jesus rose from the dead on the third day.
The pivotal event of all history is when the man born to die left the empty tomb.
He was the first fruit of those who follow Him and receive a resurrection body.
Jesus went back to Heaven like He said.
He is retuning soon to reclaim His own.
They will be with Him and the Father forever.
Those who have accepted the free gift of eternal life are adopted into His forever family.

Here are some exhortations for the child of God.
By faith EMBRACE all that is revealed about God in the Bible.
KNOW that the same Jesus of the gospels is the One you pray to today.
BELIEVE the important insights and lessons in the epistles about the risen Lord.
TRUST that the Psalms point to the far away God who is also now super-close to you.
ACCEPT that the complex story of the Old Testament points to your true Messiah.
FEAR God in a healthy way and gladly share the Good News so others may be saved.
REJOICE that Jesus wants to become your best and most faithful Friend.