(Galatians 4:1-7)
Some people act as though God’s reputation rested upon their shoulders. God needs their help or He will not make it through. These people exhibit a spirit of spiritual arrogance.
Some church leaders in America wired C. H. Spurgeon in London to come over and deliver a series of lectures on the Bible. Spurgeon wired back and said, “I’m too busy to come but the Bible does not need any defense. Set it loose and it’ll take care of itself.”
My opinion is, if God needs my help I certainly do not want His.
We have today what is called the war on Christmas. I refer to this as the “Scrooge factor.” If some people realized how stupid they sounded, they would keep quiet.
I like what Solomon says in Proverbs 29:11, “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.”
We certainly need more “wise men.”
Of all the “real” problems in our world, why do some focus their venomous hatred on one day out of the year?
Why do the Christmas emblems offend them so deeply?
Why don’t they focus on the real problems in our society?
• Those 26 people murdered in an elementary school this week.
• People killed every day because of alcohol related incidences.
• The destruction of our nation because of the gruesome aspect of addictions.
• People murdered every day out of anger, spite and hatred.
There’s no political solution for any of these. I will take them seriously when they seriously take on the real problems of our society. Anybody who believes that the Christmas tree is a real threat to our society needs to be locked away so they do not hurt themselves.
They are attacking the wrong things. Things that don’t matter just to call attention to themselves and get a spot on TV.
Put that aside and consider the Christmas holiday. I believe we are in real trouble. Christmas, as celebrated today, almost contradicts God’s intention. Very few people, even among those who call themselves Christians, understand what Christmas was all about.
Theme… Christmas has been so secularized, even by Christians, that God’s intention has been obscured.
What people are celebrating today has very little connection with the real meaning of Christmas.
The danger we face is obscuring the real message of Christmas with the collective pageantry of our culture. It is possible that the pageantry shields us from the real truth and we are in danger of trivializing a very sacred message.
For example, Santa Claus is a caricature of St. Nicholas.
And, what about Rudolph the red nose reindeer?
We often see the sign, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”
I know what they mean, but they are in danger of missing the mark. If you think about it, Jesus is not the reason for what is happening in our culture today during this season.
During the Christmas season, people give way to the lust of the flesh all in the name of Jesus. The partying, the overindulgence, the going into debt buying things that are not necessary for people who have more than they need.
I’m not quite sure that Jesus wants to be blamed for this kind of activity. As Christians we need to rise above this.
The question I pose is, how would Jesus celebrate His birthday?
I believe that the Christian message is embodied in the passage before us (Galatians 4:1-7). Two important truths emerge from this passage that will help us understand and appreciate what Christmas is all about.
I. Christmas was a long-range plan of God.
For God, Christmas was not a last-minute emergency band-aid for something that caught Him off guard.
For something that we celebrate once a year, it may be hard for us to grasp the idea that this has been the overarching plan of God from the beginning of time.
Revelation 17:8 “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”
The one thing we must understand is, God has planned out all of time from beginning to end. He knows the end from the beginning and everything He has ever done is in complete harmony with this. Sin is a hostage of time creating an infectious virus through all humanity.
From the foundation of the world, God has been working, planning and never veering off track. Nothing has compromised His plan.
Everything that has happened from the beginning of time until the end of time is firmly rooted in eternity. Right now, we are seeing the world in absolute rebellion against God. This, I’m glad to say, is only temporary. There is coming a time when God will put down all of this rebellion and will usher in His will on earth as it is done in heaven.
From Genesis to Revelation there is, what one person has called, the Scarlet thread. It is the thread of redemption. The Bible has one overarching theme and that theme is man’s redemption.
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
God’s long-range plan is redemption, and we are the focus of that redemption.
God has been faithful all these years to His long-range plan. Nothing, not even the devil, has been able to deviate His intention, God’s plan is being fulfilled and one day it will be completed. In God’s mind, it is already completed.
II. The focus of that first Christmas was us.
Here is where the confusion comes in about Christmas. When we focus on the “Christ-child,” we missed God’s intention.
Revelation 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
We are His pleasure. God’s pleasure is focused in mankind. That was the tragedy of the fall in the Garden of Eden. God created man and woman for His pleasure and joy. Sin has robbed God of that pleasure. Christmas is God taking back what belongs to Him.
Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The key to that verse is understanding the meaning of “the joy that was set before him.” That joy was you and me. When Jesus went to the cross, His focus was us, and we were in His heart.
The whole focus of the Christmas story is found in,
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The world here is not the mountains, the valleys, the rivers and the ocean. The world has everything to do with the people. When Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world…” He was talking about people. The whole focus of Christmas is people.
The great contradiction of our generation.
All of this contradicts the theory of evolution.
If men evolved, as the evolutionists say, then man has no glory and needs no redemption. Each is simply a part of the process. There is actually no difference between a man and an animal.
If men evolved, why is he the only creature that is corrupt?
How does the evolutionist explain the recent shooting of 20 children in an elementary school?
Man was uniquely created for a specific purpose and that purpose was to bring glory and joy to God, the Creator.
Conclusion…
If we are an heir of God, why do we settle for the rubbish of this world? Our sights should be on higher things. Our goal should be upward, piercing the clouds and entering into His glorious presence.
Ebenezer Scrooge, after his conversion celebrated Christmas every day. What we celebrate once a year really does not affect us the rest of the year. What would happen if we started celebrating the real meaning of Christmas every day?
For the Christian…
Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is a very important part of our everyday worship. Jesus came into this world because of His passionate love for us. He took our side; He paid our debt and now we are set free to be exactly what He created us to be in the first place. Hallelujah! What a Savior.
For the non-Christian…
This would be a wonderful time of the year to seriously think about your relationship with Jesus Christ. He came into this world because of you. Everything He suffered, everything He accomplished, everything He accomplished in this world was done that you might become a part of His world.
Allow Jesus Christ to come into your heart and do what He desires to do for you.
