“The Christ Clause”
Series: Stories Hollywood Missed
December 25, 2005
In the movie “The Santa Claus”, well kept secrets of the North Pole are revealed when Scott Calvin (played by Tim Allen) accidentally kills Santa, and suddenly finds himself stuck with the job of being Santa Claus because of some small print in the Santa Clause contract that states... “In putting on this suit and entering the sleigh, the wearer waives any and all rights to previous identity, real or implied, and fully accepts the duties and responsibilities of Santa Claus until such time that wearer becomes unable to do so either by accident or design.“ If you’ve never seen the movie, I’d highly recommend it, and I’d like to show you a short clip this morning. (SHOW MOVIE CLIP)
Just like Scott Calvin didn’t know some important details about Santa… you may not know some important “behind the scene details” about the Christmas Story. The popular Christmas Story involves Mary & Joseph, some shepherds, wise men and the baby Jesus. But to make sure that we don’t over sentimentalize the nativity scene into coziness and comfort, the Apostle John was given the job of giving us ‘the rest of the story’ (as Paul Harvey would say). There’s another version of the Christmas Story that reveals what was going on backstage of the greatest event in human history. This version is like the ‘Christmas Story’ on steroids! I call it the “Christ Clause” and it’s found at the back of your bibles.
What better place to find “The Christ Clause” than in the book that was written specifically to reveal what’s going on behind the scenes in heaven? I want you to turn in your bibles to Revelation 12 (READ).
I just read you the Christmas story. Did you recognize it? You say, “But where are the Shepherds? Where are the Wise Men? Where are the camels?” There’s none of that in this version, but what we do find is a war! “A war at Christmas? The time for peace and goodwill for all mankind?” You better believe it! And this isn’t just ANY war… this is THE war! This is the war behind all wars! It’s a cosmic war! Revelation 12 answers the question that people are asking every year at Christmas time. “Why can’t we all, just get along?” If at Christmas the angels are announcing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE goodwill towards men”, then why are things still so bad? Why does it seem like the nations are fighting more…not less? I mean, if as the gospel proclaims that, “Evil’s been defeated”, then why is it still wreaking such havoc in the world today? We’ve got Hurricanes in New Orleans, Tsunami’s in S.E. Asia and Terrorists everywhere else!
To answer those and other questions, let me take you vs. by vs. through the Christmas Story from GODS pt. of view! This is how all of heaven and the angels saw the very 1st Christmas… and it’s a lot different from the way we usually portray it. To start with, you have to understand that Rev.12 is at the center of what the book of Revelation is all about! It’s the central focus!
There are 3 main characters in Rev. 12…the woman, the dragon and the child. John says in vs.1… “A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” You say, “Who (or what) is this woman?” To give you the quick answer… she’s the people of God, both before and after the coming of Jesus.
She represents the faithful Israelites and Mary (the mother of Jesus) at the same time! How do I know? Because the 12 stars in the crown of her head symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel.
She’s also Mary, the mother of Jesus because vs. 2 says that “She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.”
Just as Isaiah 66:7 predicted that she would “give birth to a boy”.
2. Who’s the male child? He’s Jesus the Messiah. Rev.12:5 tells us that he “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” Or “an iron rod”… that’s a phrase that comes right out of Ps. 2, which is all about the Messiah. The kind of rod it’s talking about is a “shepherds rod”… and because it’s made out of iron, it means that this shepherd is very strong. Jesus spoke of Himself as the ‘good shepherd’, but He’s also a very powerful, almighty shepherd!.
The 3rd character in our “Cosmic Christmas Story”… is the Dragon. Any guesses on who this represents? Sure! Vs. 9 comes right out and tells us that it’s the Devil, “that ancient serpent called the devil, who leads the whole world astray.” . Look at Vs. 3… “Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.” The word dragon would remind Johns 1st readers of an evil sea monster that always symbolized the ungodly kingdoms who were constantly attacking and oppressing Israel. (Egypt, Babylon, Rome) Notice that the dragon is red (the color of blood), has 7 heads and 10 horns (7 and 10 are numbers of completeness, and a head represents authority). So this dragon is completely strong.
Now, look what happens to the child… vs. 5 says… And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” John is compacting the entire life and ministry of Jesus Christ into 3 events… He was born, and then He was resurrected and ascended into heaven.
In this version of the Christmas story He goes from being born at Bethlehem, to ruling on the throne of the universe. It skips the whole middle part of his life. Why? Because the whole point of the Christmas story isn’t just that He was born. It’s what He came to DO after He was born. Jesus was born into the world for the specific purpose of being the KING of the world!
Now what does all that have to do with the ‘war behind all wars’? Look at vs. 7 &8 with me…”And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.” This Christmas Story has an angel, but he’s not the angel Gabriel who announces the birth of Christ. It’s a different angel. This angels name is Michael. In the OT he’s the guardian angel of Israel. So this war has to do with God’s people. And the war is between Michael (rep. God) and the dragon (Satan). So 2 arch-angels are locked in battle… and guess who wins… Michael! How? Glad you asked, because that’s the point of the whole vision.
The war in heaven is won through an event that happened on earth… through the birth of a child. Through the preaching, teaching, and healing ministry that that child would have when he grew up. The war is won through the death and resurrection of that child turned man. The war in heaven has been won on earth through the life of a child and the victory started on the day He was born! No wonder heaven cry’s out in a loud voice in 12:10… ““Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
From heaven’s pt. of view… THAT’S what Christmas is all about! THAT is why the angels get so excited! Because Satan has been defeated! Rev. 12 tells us that the ‘devil is thrown down’ 6 different times! It’s almost like He’s rubbing it in! He’s down!
1…2…3…4…5…6…and He’s out! The verb he uses lit. means… ‘bounced’. HA! The devil’s been ‘bounced’ on his can out of heaven. He was thrown from the ‘throne’ room! At one point in Jesus ministry, Jesus sends out 70 disciples and when they return they say with joy, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we gave them a command in your name!” -Luke 10:17 (GNT)
Jesus responded by saying in vs. 18… “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” But then he quickly added, “But don’t be glad because the evil spirits obey you; rather be glad because your names are written in heaven.” In otherwords, the devil got bounced out of heaven, and we go enrolled into heaven… all because the woman gave birth to the child!
So if all that’s true, then why are things so bad? I’ll tell you why…BECAUSE THE DEVIL IS TICKED OFF! vs. 12 of chap 12 tells us… “the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left.” In otherwords, he’s hopping mad because it’s the 4th quarter, the 2 min. warning just sounded … and he’s losing! You think the devil doesn’t know the score? Sure he does! He knows what’s coming! He knows that Jesus is coming back better than most Christians! He knows he’s already lost, but misery loves company and that’s why he’s so busy making sure that he takes as many people with him to hell as he can possibly get! So all the evil in the world isn’t a sign of the devils victory, it’s a sign that he realizes he’s defeated! He doesn’t want the ‘child of Bethlehem” to be King! He knows that he’s no longer in the manger… He’s on the throne! So he figures if he can’t kill the child, maybe he can convince people that the child is still in the manger! See, a child in the manger is no danger!
Then, since he can’t get the child, the dragon goes after what is
dearest to the child. He goes after the woman… the people of
God! READ vs. 13…“When the dragon realized that he had been
thrown down to the earth,he began to pursue the woman who had given
birth to the boy.” Vs. 17 says that “Then the dragon became angry at the woman, and he declared war against the rest of her children—all who keep God’s commandments and confess that they belong to Jesus.” If you’re a Christian this morning… that means YOU!
If you keep God’s commands and confess that you belong to
Jesus, you can be sure that you’re also a target of the devil this
Christmas morning. In his rage he’s going to attack you with a
flood of condemnations and accusations. In 12:10 John calls
him, “The accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accused
them day and night before our God,” The word Satan in the Heb.
means ‘accuser’. So don’t be surprised when he takes your sins and continually throws them in your face… trying to convince you that you’re no good! That God could never love you! Trying to make you hate your looks, hate your body, hate who God made you to be.
Now against this flood of accusation, John promises us that we can overcome. In 12:11 he says…”And they have defeated him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of their testimony. And they were not afraid to die.”
According to that verse, we overcome by doing 3 things…1st we have to…
1. ACCEPT the blood of the lamb…
The blood of the lamb is the blood of Jesus. In the OT an innocent lamb was sacrificed to symbolically pay for peoples sin. It illustrated the fact that sin is so destructive, so caustic… that when we sin…somebody’s going to get hurt. In this case, an innocent, cute little lamb had to pay the price. It got the point across, even though it couldn’t really pay for sin!
Jesus was the ultimate solution. Only a perfect God could die for others… and so the perfect Son of God, paid for our sin with His life blood.
I heard recently of a woman who was out Christmas shopping with her two children. After hours of looking at row after row of toys. And after hours of hearing both her children ask for everything they saw… she finally made it to the elevator.
She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season... overwhelming pressure to go to every party, & get that perfect gift for every single person on our shopping list. Finally the elevator doors opened and there was already a crowd in the car. She pushed her way into the elevator dragging her two kids, with her arms full of bags. When the doors closed she couldn’t take it anymore! She blurted out… "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up, and shot!"
There was a short pause and then, from the back of the elevator everyone heard a quiet calm voice respond, "Don’t worry we already crucified him." For the rest of the trip down, you could’ve heard a pin drop! In the midst of all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, it’s wise to remember that it was Jesus who started this whole Christmas ‘thing’, and for a very good reason! So that our sins would be forgiven in full! Without him, we wouldn’t have a reason for gift giving and families gathering together.
See, in a sense, the devils right… we have sinned and we are sinners. But he’s also wrong! Because that’s not the end of the story… The devil is defeated every time you refuse to listen to his lying accusations… “You can’t change! You’ll never be any different! Life will never change!” Instead you reach out and believe that He really did die to bring you & me a new life! You turn a deaf ear to Satan’s deceptions, and receive the hope and transformation that only God’s forgiveness brings!
The 2nd way to defeat the devil at Christmas is to…
2. LIVE the way of the truth
Vs. 11 says that they… “defeated him…because of their testimony.”
In otherwords, they overcame him by speaking the truth and living the truth. We give the devil a black-eye when we seek to live lives of complete integrity. When the person at church is the same person at work or in the home.
When there’s no hidden areas in our lives… then we can defeat the devil because he doesn’t have anything to accuse us with. If he wants to get us… he has to make things up! And that’s when we know we’ve got him beat! Be careful though… because the ’accuser of the brethren’ many times will speak through us, as we become critical & judgmental of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters! If you make New Years resolution, make it that you will not speak one word of judgment or critical against another person.
3. IGNORE the threat of death
John says that the devil is defeated when not even the fear of death can stop us! I spoke last night at the Christmas Eve service about a person who’s faith got him into trouble.
His name was “Nicholas of Myra”… you might know him today as “St. Nick” or “Santa Claus”. Believe it or not, the myth has some truth to it! Nicholas of Myra became the Bishop of Myra and lived from the late 200 to 343 A.D. On Feb.23, 303 A.D Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict that launched one of the most systematic and prolonged persecutions that the church has ever known.
The edict demanded that Christians turn over their bibles and other holy books to be burned. To refuse meant death. Bishop Nichoas was caught early in the persecution and imprisoned. While there they beat him, branded his skin, used iron pliers to pinch sensitive parts of his body, and then left him in his cell until his wounds healed enough to start the process all over again. This kept up for years… but St. Nick… refused to deny that Jesus was and is God.
How can you stop people like that? You can’t! In this age of cushy, comfy Christianity… if we expect to stop the devil at his own game, like believers of old…
…we have to be willing to suffer any inconvenience, put up with any hardship, make any sacrifice in order to further the cause of Christ in our world. It’s the attitude of any true follower of Christ.
See to the committed Christian, death isn’t the last word… it’s the 2nd to the last word. The last word comes from God… “Well done, good and faithful servant.” To people like St. Nick and millions of others who have committed their lives to Christ. Death isn’t the worst thing that can happen… the worst thing to happen would be to turn your back on Jesus. Evil is overcome when we don’t let anything or anyone intimidate us from living for God, even the threat of death!
Which leads to… “The Christ Claus”…
“In putting on Christ and entering into a relationship with said Savior, the wearer waives any and all rights to previous identity, real or implied, and fully accepts the rights and responsibilities of being a Christ-tian beyond death or such time as wearer is raptured.”
