When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,?“Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Matthew 16:13
The story is told of two women who were enjoying an elaborate lunch in a downtown restaurant. When one asked the occasion for the reason of lunch, the other lady said, “We are celebrating the baby’s birthday.”
“But where is the baby?” said the friend. “Oh,” I didn’t bring him. You know what! he doesn’t know anything about it.”
Dear beloved, many people now a days celebrate Christmas and don’t even bring Jesus to the party! Many people just celebrate Christmas like another holiday and a time to give gifts and nothing more. Nothing is said about the Lord Jesus Christ: about His birth, life, death or anything about Him. Christmas is not a Christian thing to them.
Many years ago, someone came up with the bright phrase about Christmas. It is: “Jesus is the reason for the season!” And I love that phrase. Jesus is the reason for thanksgiving. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks to God for all His good gifts and blessings! It’s not just about getting together to eat a big meal and then sleep or watch TV. It’s about thanking God for the good food and other blessings!
And He’s the reason for Christmas as well! Without Christ there is no real, true Christmas. Jesus is the reason for every season! He’s the reason for every good thing that happens to us in life and in every season.
If you love summer, you need to realize it’s all because of Him. If you’ve experienced a great trip or vacation, it’s all because of Him! If you love working in your garden, it’s a gift of God! If you love any season for any reason, then it’s because of Jesus! You wouldn’t be alive and enjoy anything were it not for Him!
And Jesus is certainly the reason for Christmas for all who are Christians! We rejoice in the birth of Christ because He came to earth to seek and to save that which was lost! And that’s us! Luke 19:10
Jesus is the reason for our gathering on Christmas and every Sunday. He was, he is, and he will be. Dear brothers, and sisters today let’s meditate on three important ages of seasons and reasons of Christmas! 1- He is the one who was, 2- He is the one who is, and 3- He is the one who can.
I. He is the one who was:
History is about the past, but someone has wisely said, “History is His story.” If nothing else, His history is the greatest story ever. Why? Because He came to earth as God in the flesh, God in person! He is the most important person in all history since He came to save us! No history is better than that and no historical person is better than Jesus! Christmas is not a religious festival, but it is a universal event.
Matthew 1:17-19 So all the generations from Abraham to David?are?fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon?are?fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ?are?fourteen generations. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was promised to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”
Jesus has a long history, all the way back to Abraham. Many people love to study their ancestry which can be quite interesting. The most important thing about Jesus’ ancestry is not that He can be dated back to Mary and Joseph or even as far back as Abraham, but that His ancestry dates back to heaven! He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
No one else on earth came from heaven to earth! Christmas is a universal event. Christmas is not a mythological story. It is an historical happening. Christmas is not for the west or the east, but it is for the whole world. Christ was not born in the north or in the south, but in the middle of the world or middle east. All the event of the world will ultimately climax in the middle east is all we can say.
Buddha (Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from our country, on whose teaching’s Buddhism was founded. But he wasn’t God and he didn’t come from heaven!
Muhammad was the founder of the religion of Islam and is considered by Muslims to be a messenger and prophet of God. But he wasn’t God or God in the flesh, and he didn’t come from heaven!
Confucius was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher. The philosophy of Confucius emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. But he wasn’t God and he didn’t come from heaven!
Ghandi was a philosopher and said some great things, but he wasn’t God and he didn’t come from heaven!
John Wesley was a Church of England preacher. He is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement. John Wesley did a great deal of good for the kingdom of God and said some great words and preached some great sermons, but he wasn’t God and he didn’t come from heaven!
Many people simply view Jesus as a person of history, and someone who lived over 2,000 years ago. A nice man. A good man, maybe a prophet, but nothing more. But he is so much more! History is about Jesus Christ! History is his story. All history is Christ was the center. Without Christ we cannot explain or interprets history. History says, “look back.” Science says, “look around.” Philosophy says, “look within.” Christianity says, “look up and look forward.”
There is one and only one who came from heaven and is God in the flesh! This is why, we worship Jesus Christ!
II. HE IS THE ONE WHO IS
He was the Christ of old and He is the Christ of today. He is the Messiah right now. He is the Son of God today. He was and is still the Savior of the world! All history, Christ is the center of our history. Without Christ we can’t explain history. That’s why we say history is divided into two eras, one before Christ BC and other after Christ AD.
Matthew 16:13-16 ?“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” ?So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
That question is still the most important question that any person will ever be asked in this world? Who you do you say that I am? And there is only one right answer. The right answer will lead a person on the path to the gates of heaven. The wrong answer will lead down a path to misery.
Ultimately and eventually, all people will have to answer that question in a sense. All people will meet the Lord Jesus when they leave this world. What will they say and do? It all depends on what they did with Him here and now! hope ..
Jesus is our hope for today! The Christmas season gives us a great hope in our life. Isaiah 11:1 says, “there shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” Christians and Christmas celebrations have been given a hope by God that grows as they grow older.
Let me tell you an interesting story. In a radio interview, Nazi concentration camp survivor Gerta Weissman recalled her second WWII story, one spring when she and her fellow concentration camp inmates stood for roll call for hours on end, nearly collapsing with hunger and weakness. She said, “We noticed in the corner of this miserable, dreadful, gray place that the concrete had broken in a corner and a flower had poked its head through it. And you would see thousands of feet shuffle every morning to avoid stepping on that flower . . .”
No wonder they were careful not to step on that flower. That tiny flower poking its head through the concrete represented hope and beauty to the women in the concentration camp.
Isaiah was prophesying the coming Messiah. All around him things appeared desolate and without promise like Gerta Weissman’s flower poking its head through concrete, on this stump of Jesse, says Isaiah, a shoot will appear, and a new tree will emerge bearing much fruit.
Philippians 2:5-11 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The old Farm oil commercial used to say, “You can pay me now or you can pay me later.” And later meant perhaps an engine repair or a new engine because you didn’t keep a clean oil filter.
I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. Still most of the people don’t recognize Jesus as the Son of the living God! Instead of Merry Christmas, it’s Happy Holidays! Christmas is more than a holiday and that’s because of who Jesus is! Jesus is the one who is!
III. HE IS THE ONE WHO CAN
Jesus said I am the way I am the truth I am the life, and no one can come to heaven without me. Either what Jesus said is true or not true. Either you accept Him or reject him. Jesus didn’t say that I am one way to enter the kingdom of God, but he said I am the way I am the truth and I am the life. No man comes to heaven without me. No one ever spoke like him and no one ever live like Jesus Christ. He is a God of God, light of light, true God of true God.
Matthew 1:20-21 “?But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21?And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus can save from sin.
Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jesus can give rest to the soul.
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Jesus can give eternal life.
Jesus is the one who can still do what He did in the past. He still saves people from their sins. He still gives rest to the soul and brings healing to broken hearts. He still gives the promise of eternal life. We would give our lives for our babies and I think we would even give our lives for our grown children as well.
But there is something we can’t do for them. There is something that no parent can do for their children. No parent can give their soul for their child! No parent can go to hell to keep their child out of hell. We might want to. We might be willing to, but I don’t think it’s possible.
Jesus is the only person who suffered the anguish for others. And He did it for the whole world on the Cross! No parent can believe in Jesus for their child. No parent can confess Jesus for their child. No parent can be baptized for their child. Our children will have to come to faith for themselves, we can’t do it for them. This is where we parents come in. It will be a whole lot easier for a child to come to faith, confess their faith and be baptized if we parents teach and lead the way! And may God have mercy on the children who don’t have parents who will do that for them!
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. Ezekiel 18:20
Parents can’t save their own children, but Jesus can. Jesus is the greatest “can do” person there is. He can do more for you and your children than any other person on this planet earth. He can save us from our sins. He can give us peace within. He can give us eternal life.
Let me tell you an interesting true story which happened in our church, how God can do more for you. Last year, on Christmas day our Bro. Mohan’s wife last her wedding ring in the church campus. He searched everywhere in the church, all the church rooms, hall, and complete the campus of the church. We helped him, some of our brothers, to search all places open all the trash bags and looked all places. We couldn’t find it. However, after a week of searching he found it by himself between the fence and the parking area on the left-hand side of our church parking lot. It was a great joy, a thrill for everyone. "I was excited. It was probably one of the best moments ever”
The Bible says, Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
I believe ultimately Christ is the answer for all the problem and ills of our society. All other things that we will give us temporally relief and solution but there are not going to final. That is the message of Christmas! There are so many religions in this world and thousands and thousands of books all over the world but the Bible all over the world is still the number one the best-selling book.
A French philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778), in his large writings against Christianity and the Bible, in 1776, he said that he would destroy the last copy of the Bible in his lifetime, but God in heaven laughed at him. Very interestingly, within fifty years after his death, the very house in which he once lived and wrote was used by the Evangelical Society of Geneva as a storehouse for Bibles and gospel tracts and the printing presses he used to print his irreverent works was used to print Bibles. ?
