“Christmas beyond the Wrapping Paper” part 3
(What is the Big Deal about Christmas)
Brian A. Moon
A television interviewer was walking the streets of Tokyo at Christmas time. Much as in America, Christmas shopping is a big commercial success in Japan. The interviewer stopped one young woman on the sidewalk, and asked, "What is the meaning of Christmas?" Laughing, she responded, "I don’t know. Is that like the day that Jesus died?"
So what is the meaning of Christmas, “What is the Big Deal about Christmas”, what is all the hub-ub about?
On the 25th of December the world stops, stores close, commercial buildings are empty, even the grocery stores are closed, but why? Why all of this if it is just about getting presents and drinking eggnog? In the past two weeks we have been looking into the true meaning of Christmas and we said it was about gifts but not ones wrapped in shinny paper. The true meaning was about God’s gift to the world in the form of his Son Jesus who gives us things like hope and peace.
But what was so special about this? What was the big deal? Why is this so important? What difference does it make that a baby came to earth 2,000 years ago? How does this effect me today? Tonight we will look at three things that will answer these questions: The big significance, the big purpose, and the big outcome of God’s gift of Jesus.
Growing up I had a friend that was born on Christmas day and I can remember having a heated conversation with him one day because he thought people decorated and celebrated his birthday. He thought his birthday was the first thing we are going to look at and that is:
The big significance
If I had to sum up the significance of Christmas in one phrase it would be… God came to earth! I grew up on the space coast right across from Cape Canaveral and it was big news when the first men walked on the moon, They even have a museum set up at NASA that has moon rocks and other stuff from the trip. BUT even bigger news than that is the God of the entire universe walked on this earth. Not only did he walk on this earth, but he became a human being just like you and me.
The Bible says, “He became like men and was born a human being.” Philippians 2:7 AMP
And it also says, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all... Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth.” Colossians 1:15 – 16 NLT
We celebrate the 25th of December as the birth of Jesus, but this was not his beginning, the manger scene with all the animals and the wise men was not the beginning of Jesus. He was there with God before the creation of this world, or even this universe, in fact the Bible says he is the one that God created the world through. The significance of that is he made you, and you, and you!!! He made you and he knows you inside and out! If I was God I think I would have done things a little different:
I would have planned my coming to earth with a lot more attention, say like right in the middle of the Daytona 500. It would be great the skies would part and I would land right in the middle of the front stretch with millions of people around the world watching. And the drivers would be in such awe that they would give me the winners check for a couple million bucks!!!
But God is obviously a lot smarter than me because he came into the world the same way each of us did, kicking and screaming, “Put me back in there…” He was born into this world and not only that but to peasant parents in a little town in the Middle East. But why, why did he come this way? Because he came to save us, not to scare us. God could have come to earth in all his glory and power and scared the bageebes out of us, but he didn’t do that. God came in a way that all of us could relate to. The Bible tells us that Jesus was a human being just like us, he was born like us, he grew up like us. We see these pictures of Jesus walking around with white skin and perfectly white robes, but he was a typical Palestinian Jew of that day. He was dark, he worked hard in a carpenters shop and got dirty, and he fit right in because he was just like the people around him. Jesus was tempted with the same things we are tempted with, he struggled with the same issues we do, he had the same desires, the same wants, the same cravings… Jesus suffered like any human being and there were times when he was sad, lonely, and tired. The significance of that is he understands what you are going through because he has already been there. He lived a normal person’s life and experienced the normal stuff we all do. God is not some distant God who has no idea what it is like to be us, he has been there and experienced that. He knows exactly how you are feeling right now, he made you, he became a human like you. So why is Christmas a big deal? Because of the significance, God came to earth and that was the most significant point in history.
It split time into B.C. and A.D., but that is not the good news, the good news is why he came and that is:
The big purpose
What to do with Wally? Wally was an awkward and shy child who belonged to the church kids club. It was time to hand out roles for the Christmas play, but what role should the teacher give Wally? She decided on the inn-keeper. It was an important role, but required Wally only to shake his head and say one line "Sorry, we’ve no room." Wally grinned from ear to ear when he learned of his important role and he couldn’t wait for the big night. It arrived soon enough, and the play was proceeding according to plan. Mary and Joseph had traveled to Bethlehem and come to the door of the inn. Joseph knocked on the door and it opened to Wally. "Please sir, do you have a room we could take?" asked Joseph. Wally shook his head and replied. "I’m sorry, we’ve no room". Now the boy playing Joseph was a particularly confident child, and while the script called for he and Mary to turn away at this point, Joseph decided to exercise some dramatic license. "But sir" he said to the innkeeper, "My wife is about to have her baby and we need somewhere to stay. Couldn’t you find us a room." Wally’s face went white - this was not planned for! - and he paused for a moment before repeating his line. "I’m sorry, we’ve no room." "But sir" replied Joseph, "We’ve traveled such a long way and we’ve nowhere else to go and my wife is very tired. Surely you can find us somewhere." Wally bowed his head, shook it sadly and said, "I’m sorry, we’ve no room." Forlornly Joseph and Mary started walking away. Wally, now fully into his role, felt shamed and saddened. A tear trickled down his cheek. Then his voice was heard calling out. "Wait! Please come back. You can have my room."
It may not have been according to script, but at that moment Wally gave perfect expression to the Christmas story. The tradition of giving is always big at Christmas and it began with God. He gave you his gift of Jesus because you needed him. You did not realize it but you needed him to come, but why? Why did God give us Jesus, the Bible tells us of 4 reasons.
First, Jesus was given to show us what God is like.
There a lot of crazy, weird ideas about God out there, just look on the internet. These crazy ideas about God just aren’t true, Jesus said I am the truth, I came so that you can know what God is really like. The other day I was out at the beach and I saw a lot of things that tell me about God, I saw that he is creative with all the sea and bird life out there, and that he is powerful by watching the wind and the waves. But something’s about God can only be known because of Jesus. We know God is love because of Jesus, we know he is forgiving, we know he has a specific plan for our lives, we know we are not an accident and that we were born with a purpose all because of Jesus. Jesus lets us know what God is really like!
The second reason God gave us Jesus is to show us what life should be like.
Most people in the world today are not living they are merely existing. We wake up, go to work or school, come home, watch TV and go to bed for about 60 – 80 years and then we die.
Jesus said, “I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance to the full, till it overflows.” John 10:10 AMP
When we connect with our creator then we have true life and Jesus came to show us how to do this.
The third reason God gave us Jesus was so that we would trust him.
Most people don’t trust someone until they know them. The reason we don’t trust God more is because we don’t know him! In fact the more you know God the more you can trust him, the more you can count on him, the more you can depend on him because he is always faithful. Jesus came to show us that to know him is to trust him.
The fourth reason God gave us Jesus was to forgive us for everything we have ever done wrong.
The Bible says, “He became a man so that he could take away our sins.” 1 John 3:5 TLB
And it also says, “Though He was God… He laid aside His mighty power and glory taking the disguise of a slave and becoming like men. And He humbled Himself even further going so far as to actually die a criminals’ death on the cross.” Philippians 2:6 – 8 TLB
Jesus came to die for all of our shortcomings, mess-ups, and sins. You can be forgiven, you can leave all those things behind, you don’t have to pay for them because of Jesus. An it is only through a relationship with Jesus that you will spend forever in Heaven because none of us are perfect! It cost Jesus a lot! He died for our sins, he died on a cross that he did not deserve. Why would he do that? Why would he come to earth as a baby and then die for us? Because he loves you, that is why! He loves you more than you could ever imagine! He loved you enough to stretch out his arms and be nailed to cross saying “I love you this much” that is how much you matter to me!
The Bible says, “God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.” 1 John 4:9 – 10 CEV
The Bible also says that the greatest love in the world is for someone to die for there friends, but Jesus died for us when we were not even that.
When you were heading in your own direction, doing your own thing, Jesus died for your sins to be forgiven! Christmas is not about Santa, it is about a Savior, and it is not about Jingle Bells it is about Jesus! Christmas is about you, it is about God giving Jesus for you! The Big purpose for Christmas is God came for your benefit! The final big deal with Christmas is:
The big outcome
The big outcome is that you can know God personally! You can have a personal relationship with the God that created everything around us. God wants you to know him, look at all the trouble he went through to make sure you can know him! In fact, that is the reason you were created, the reason you are walking around on this earth is to have a friendship with God, that is why he made you! If you miss that then you will have blown your whole life, you will have missed the reason you were created in the first place. God wants you to be his friend, to have a personal relationship with him, that is God’s ultimate gift to you this Christmas!
But you have to accept it… I was at my wife’s house last year at Christmas time and her brother came out with a card that he had not opened from the last year.
There could have been $100 bucks in there and he would have never known, why? Because he did not fully accept the gift. God has done all the work for this friendship to happen, the Bible says,
“We were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God--all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.” Romans 5:10 – 11 NLT
God has given you a practical, priceless, and permanent gift of a relationship with him if you say to him tonight: “God I need you to save me, I accept your gift of Jesus, and I thank you for making this possible, come and change my life to be what you planned it to be.” It is that simple. Recently I was in Downtown St. Petersburg and I saw a store that said, “Under new management” and that is all this is, it is saying to God you come and take over and set my life on the right track. Maybe you have heard this all before, maybe this God thing is something you have come close to but still unsure about, maybe you are hearing this good news for the first time,
Whatever the case now is your moment, this is your Christmas to make the most important decision of your life. Christmas is about the significance of God coming to earth as baby, it is about the purpose of giving us a way to God, and the outcome of a relationship with God that will take us all the way to Heaven one day. God is offering friendship tonight will you accept it this evening?
Prayer Time -----------
If you have never accepted God’s gift of friendship and salvation then cry this out to him in your heart right now as best you can:
“God I need you to save me, I accept your gift of Jesus, and I thank you for making this possible, come and change my life to be what you planned it to be.”
If that was you then welcome to God’s family, the Bible says he will give you the power to be saved and one day you will spend forever with him in Heaven.
God thank you for your gift of Jesus and the gift of friendship with you this Christmas. Amen.
