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Without Christmas... Series
Contributed by Paul Clemente on Dec 27, 2011 (message contributor)
Summary: Our lives would be meaningless if there was no Christmas!
What happened about 2000 years ago that made a day to be called Christmas??
Christmas - Jesus Christ was born on earth!
Let me ask a question: How many of you were born on earth??
Every person was born on earth!
Have you ever wondered why you were born? Let me suggest for you to think about this: Christmas is the key to answer the question why you and I were born on earth!
You’ve heard the saying “Jesus is the reason for the season!” Of course that is good to say because instead of just Jesus, we add all sorts of other things to Christmas, like this picture!
Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season but would you consider this truth with me this morning: “We are the reason for Christmas!”
Why were we born on earth?
Psalm 139:13-14
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful!
You and I were fearfully and wonderfully made by God!
1. God gave you and me a life to live! This is one of the reasons why you and I were born on earth!
And what kind of life does God desire for us? Jesus said in John 10:10, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
You and I were born on earth so that
2. We would have an abundant life!
And there is at least one more great reason why you and I were born on earth!
We read in 1 Timothy 2:3-4, This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. God desires for us to know Him and to be with Him!
You and I were born on earth so that
3. We can have a relationship with a loving God!
And so, what does Christmas, the day Jesus Christ was born on earth, have to do with why we were born?
Jesus was born on Christmas day so that He can live a life on earth. What kind of life did Jesus live? We read in Hebrews 4:15-16, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.
Jesus was born on Christmas day so that He could live a perfect life for us to follow! Without Christmas, no perfect
life for us to follow!
But how did that perfect life end for Jesus?
We read in John 19:32-33
The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
And 1 Peter 2:24 states, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
Jesus was born on Christmas day, to live a perfect life, and to die on a cross for our sins!
Without Christmas, we would not have a sacrificial Lamb to pay for our sins! And because God is a holy God without sin, Without Christmas, we can not have a personal relationship with God.
But what good is Christmas, Jesus being born on earth, if He is still dead? Christmas is meaningless without the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
We read in 1 Thessalonians 4:14, We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Without Christmas, we would not have the promise of eternal life!
We are the reason for Christmas! The question is, how will we truly respond to what Christmas provided?
Of course we are to celebrate, for without the birth of Jesus Christ, our own birth would be meaningless!
But as we had discussed, Christmas is more than just celebrating Jesus’ birth because through His birth, He lived a perfect life, died for our sins, rose from the dead, and He will take us to heaven one day soon!
And so, along with our celebration of Christ’s birth on Christmas, let us commit to:
a. A purpose in life through Jesus Christ, for He lived a life of purpose for us!
b. Follow the life example of Jesus, for He lived a perfect life for us!
c. Sacrificially give back to God and to others, for Jesus sacrificially gave His life for us!
d. A life reborn with the power to say no to sin, for Jesus rose from the dead for us!
Let us celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ but also know and commit to what resulted from Christmas!