The Heart Of Christmas Is Jesus Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

One of the things I loved most about Christmas Eve was when all of my family came together. I remember going to Church that evening with my mom and my sister. It was a beautiful and nostalgic time. When I think of being home for Christmas, I always think back to what it was like to have family come together. I remember the first year Andrea and I was in Dallas for Bible College in 1996. That year we flew from Dallas to Charleston, SC where Andrea’s Dad left a car in the lot so we could then meet everyone up here in Hagerstown. Our plane landed at almost midnight and we drove through the night, arriving early in the morning. It was wonderful to see everyone after being gone for so many months. After a few years, those homecomings were just as special. Even though would be exhausted after a few days of visiting, it was always a joyous time.

For some in the room, Christmas isn’t as nostalgic. Maybe the idea of being home for Christmas actually brought with it a lot of pain and anxiety. There are some in our church that Christmas is a reminder of loved ones who are no longer with us. There are people I know who have painful memories growing up in homes that offered little joyful Christmas memories. Maybe for you, being home for Christmas was not something that was accompanied by warm feelings and happy memories, but anxiety.

Both experiences are valid. And I think both experiences teach us something about the tremendous joy of celebrating the birth of Jesus and the overwhelming love of God.

I. THE HEART OF GOD IS REVEALED THROUGH THE ARRIVAL OF JESUS

The fact is we are all longing to feel like we belong—like we are loved just as we are—like everything is okay, at peace, and all is well. Eventually, however, our longing meets the reality of the world. All around us is brokenness, There are wars, turmoil, increasing immorality, and wickedness, and many of us feel like we are alone. There is a reason why we often feel like we don’t quite fit in. There is a reason why it seems like there is a void within. The reason is that this world is not our home. We were made for something more, something Divinely rooted that goes beyond what this world can promise. God’s heart is for us to awaken to this fact.

"And do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed." (Romans 13:11 LSB)

There is a price that we pay when we awaken from this kind of slumber, and that is the reality of the condition of the world around us and the call to let go of the temporal promises of the world for the eternal promises of God. What we believe in our hearts must also make sense in our minds. It is said that the longest distance in this world is the distance between the heart and the mind. I think that becomes the sum total of why God chose to come to us as a baby.

You see, if God is the Author of life, then there must be a Script, and what better way to provide the script than for the Word to become flesh? God could’ve arrived with an army of angels, furious flashes of lightning, and peals of thunder. Instead, he came at the very instant of life, conceived in a virgin’s womb, an embryo, totally dependent on the ones he came to save. Born into this world in the same manner that all of us have arrived, with the cry of life. And this same helpless infant would one day carry the weight of your sin on his shoulders to Calvary’s Cross.

The purity of man is the absence of something. The purity of Jesus is the presence of something. The Christmas story is the ultimate connection between God and man, knowing that through Jesus we can never be too far from God’s grace.

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the One who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, 23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.” 24 And Joseph got up from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus." (Matthew 1:18–25 LSB)