The true meaning of Christmas
Hebrew 9:26-28
but now once in the end of the age had he appeared to put relations by the sacrifice of himself and as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Christmas is a greatopportunity to share Christ with others. Every year without fail I have opportunity to tell someone about the true meaning of Christmas. When they ask me what that is I tell them it means that God has kept His promise. Of course that raises more questions because they don't know what I'm talking about. What is the true meaning of Christmas they as? I tell them that there are four reasons why the coming of Jesus is important.
I. The first purpose of the Adventist is to reflect upon the promises that God made in the Old Testament regarding the coming of his son. In Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 we have these words: "and I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed; and ït shapp bruisethy head and thou shall brise His heel. The first part of this verse contains a"prophecy that none but the Messiah will be the seed of the woman. That is important because no person in history except Jesus Christ has ever fulfilled that prophecy. No person ever could. All people are born by the seed of man. That means when we are born we receive a sinful nature. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit not by human seed. He was born without sin and this is necessary in order for him to be able to be the sacrifice that God required for the sin of the world. It is interesting to know that if there was DNA during the time of Jesus, how tragic a situation that would be. First the Pharisees would go crazy trying to find out who Jesus father was, and finding out that it wasn't Joseph they may have resorted to stoning Mary. But his blood was pure blood coming from the seed of the woman. known in history qualified. The second thing we're told is the seed of the woman's heel would be bruised by Satan. This is done when Christ was crucified at the cross. The third thing it tells us is that Satan's head would be bruised by the seed of the woman at that this took place first at the resurrection of Jesus Christ and will become fully finished when he comes again. So her we have the Virgin Birth, The crucifixion of Christ and His Resurrection.
There are many other prophecies concerning Jesus> Tthe next one is that he would be called the seed of Abraham, third he would, from the tribe of Judah, forth the His Virgin birth and His name being called Immanuel (God with us). Next we're told he wouldbe born in the city of Bethlehem and in Isaiah chapter 53 we have a great number of prophecies surrounding his death on the cross and the substitutionary atonement for man. These are just a few of the many promises God fulfilled.t. The words "and now at the end of the age shows that "God had a time in mind for the arrival pf His Son. In Galatians 4:4 we are told that"" when the fullness of time was come God sent forth his son born of a woman subjected under the law to redeem those who were under the law.
II. The second reason why the first coming of Christ is important is to put away sin. we're told in our verse he came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Had He not been born of a virgin with pure blood living a sinless life therr would be would be no possibility of us ever finding forgiveness of sin. God required a perfect sacrifice and Jesus fulfilled the qualification ecessary to make that happen.
III. hird reason cheat that Jesus came was to reveal the father. We would never have known would God is like had we not seen Jesus. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice by leaving the glories of heaven and becoming man. By becoming man he did not become less God he was still fully God encapsulated in the body of a human . He suffered as man suffered even more so being tempted he never gave into the temptation like we do, and when he died he died to great pain and suffering crying forgiveness to those who crucified Him. If you want what God is like lookg at Jesus, We should be able to tell others if you want to know what Jesus is like looking at me.
IV. The final reason that Jesus came was to prepare us for His second coming. The verse says " that ünto them who look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" Jesus is coming again and those of us who are faithful will be looking for him and anticipating his return. Every day our lives are prepared and we're growing in our faith reflecting each day the glory of Christ. In Revelation 1:7 we're told "behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also who pierced Him him and all kindred of the earth shall wail because of him". When Jesus comes, for the Christian it will be the blessed hope; for the unsaved person it will be time of undescribable torment and suffering.
Jesus is coming are you ready for his coming? When he comes will you hear him say " well done thou good and faithful servant" or will you, like ithe foolish Virgins hear him say, " I never knew you?" Christmas time is not only a time of great celebration, if you're not a Christian it is a great opportunity for you to receive the true joy of Christmas and a new life for the days and the years to come.
