Most people have a wonderful time during Christmas!
But once December 25 is over, what do most people think about??
Many will say, “the reason for the season is Jesus Christ!”; but many people really don’t think about Christ with their plans after Christmas and the New Year! How about us? What is life after Christmas for each one of us? Do any of our New Year’s resolutions really include Jesus Christ?
The people of the first Christmas about 2000 years ago can be of help to us. In preparation for Communion today and for the New Year, let’s take a look at the truths in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 2…… read along with me verses 16-24…..
Prior to this passage, God told Mary and Joseph and the shepherds what Christmas is! Christmas was not a surprise to Mary and Joseph or to the shepherds! God told them what Christmas is before it happened. Did God tell anyone else about the Christmas to happen or was it an exclusive event?
Over 700 years before it happened God spoke through Prophets about Christmas! Micah 5:2 states, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Daniel 9:25, "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ’sevens,’ and sixty-two ’sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.”
And so, what is Christmas? Christmas is Christ Mass and mass is communion, the remembrance of Christ death for man’s sins. Christmas is God the Messiah dying and rising from the grave to forgive people and give them eternal life of joy!
And no one will be surprised when Jesus Christ returns to earth to judge the living and the dead because God will tell every person about Christmas. Now of course, many will be in shock when Jesus returns because they refused to believe Jesus Christ when they were told. And so again, Christmas is God the Messiah dying and rising from the grave to forgive people and give them eternal life of joy!
You now have heard! Do you believe? The true meaning of Christmas will not be with you if you do not believe in Christ dying for your sins. If you do believe in the true meaning of Christmas, celebrate with Communion today.
And life after Christmas is really not about life after December 25 but life after believing and receiving Jesus Christ in your heart.
The shepherds, Mary, and Joseph immediately believed and received Jesus Christ in their hearts. How did that first Christmas impact the shepherds, Mary, and Joseph?
What did the shepherds do? Look at v17 again; What was the first thing that the Shepherds did after hearing and seeing Jesus the Messiah??
The shepherds must have believed in Jesus, because they spread the Word! The shepherds told everyone they met Jesus Christ the King and Savior!
There were two other things that the shepherds did after believing in Christmas! Verse 19 tell us that the shepherds glorified and praised God!
We will talk about the other thing they did later.
What did Mary do?
Look again at v19….. Mothers of course will treasure many things about her children. But not only did Mary treasured the things about Jesus, she “pondered” about them! A quick look at the original Greek word for ponder helps us here; the original Greek word for ponder here is “sumballo” which means “to put together, casting many things together and considering them as one.” Mary treasured everything about Jesus Christ and made sense of it all!
Do you think Mary believed that Jesus Christ is God? Remember the wedding in Cana?....... And Mary was there at the foot of the cross! And we note Mary seeing Jesus after the resurrection! And after Jesus ascended to heaven where was Mary?? Acts 1:12-14…...
Mary is in heaven not because she bore the baby Jesus but because she treasured Jesus, she pondered about it all, and believed in Him as God and her Savior!
What did Joseph do? What can we note from verses 21-24? Joseph along with Mary, named Jesus as told by God’s angels. Joseph and Mary did all the things for Jesus as told by God through the Bible! What did Joseph do after Jesus was born, that first Christmas? Simply, Joseph obeyed God!
And as I noted earlier, the shepherds did one more thing. Both Mary and Joseph also did this one more thing after that first Christmas. What was it??
Even after the miraculous encounter with God through Jesus Christ the shepherds, Mary and Joseph went back to the lives they had! The shepherds returned to their flock. Mary returned to be a wife and a mother. And we read in the Gospels that Joseph was a good husband, a good father, and went back to carpentry work.
How do we apply these Biblical principles to our lives today?
Has Christmas come and gone for us personally? We need to ask ourselves: Is Christmas just a date on a calendar or have I truly received Jesus Christ in my heart?
And if I truly have received Jesus Christ as God and Savior in my heart, how should “Christmas” affect my daily life?
First of all, just because you are Christian, you do not necessarily leave what God has already called you to do. David Livingstone left his wife and children to be a missionary in Africa; his wife died without him and the children grew up without a father. I’m not sure David Livingstone did the right thing; his commitment to God should not have meant to leave his responsibilities with his family!
We Christians are to know our godly purpose and calling. We talked about this on a previous message titled “Life Purpose And Calling”. I encourage you to reread that message; you can go on the internet for that message or ask me for a copy.
Now, if the greatest gift to people is being saved from their sins through Jesus Christ, we should be like the shepherds not only praising and glorifying God but telling others about Jesus Christ. If this is not happening in our lives, we need to evaluate our belief in God the Savior!
Superbowl Championship football illustration…..
We also should also follow Mary. We are to treasure Jesus Christ in our hearts and always ponder about His involvement in our lives! A simple thing to remember is WWJD but you’ve heard me say that WWJWD is better; ask yourself often, “What Would Jesus Want me to Do?”
And simply, we are to imitate Joseph by always obeying God! Obeying God is worship! Do we really treat God as God?
Before Communion, let us all take a moment to ponder about what God would want us to work on in our lives. Pray to Jesus Christ and ask for guidance and make a commitment to live a life with Christmas in your heart always; and may this be the main New Years Resolution for each one of us!
As we keep Christ in our hearts always, we will:
- praise and glorify God
- spread the Good News of salvation
- grow in our faith in Christ
- worship God with obedience!
