"The Spirit of Christmas"
At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Christ, we give gifts to one another, to symbolize and remind us of the wonderful gift our God gave us, when he came to this earth. We’re all familiar with the town of Bethlehem and Mary and Joseph, and how Jesus was born in the manger, and though those things are very important, I want to talk to you this morning about the Spirit of Christmas.
A lot of people, a lot of Christians actually, have this idea that Jesus came into existance when he was born as a baby in the manger in Bethlehem. It’s just one of those ideas that people form in their heads, and it just sticks with them throughout life. The problem with this mode of thinking however; is that it takes away from the Deity of Christ, and it keeps the true Spirit of Christmas from being realized. I want to give you a case in point, so you can see how easily these false ideas form in people’s minds. It’s about Christmas as well.
Matthew 2:1-11 - “3 wise men” No where does the bible mention 3 wise men. These are all ideas that permiate society and they take away from the Spirit of Christmas
John 1:1-11 - In the beginning was the Word.
Throughout Scripture, Jesus is referred to as the Word of God. All things were created by him.
Gen 1:26 - Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.
Here, at the beginning of humanity, we see the Trinity at work. Jeus is the Word, we know that God created this world with his Word. “Let their be light” Jesus has been at work since the beginning. Everything was made by and through him, and he has been at work with his people, and involved in this world since the beginning of time.
The bible says in john 1:18 that no man has seen God at any time. John 6:46 no man has seen the Father except Jesus.
Well then, we can know then that when people in the old testament talked about seeing God, they had to be reffering to Jesus, because no man has ever seen the Father.
Gen 32 :1-32
24-28 symbolic of the Jewish people (Israel -name change) wrestling with Jesus.
vs. 30 seen God face to face.
Throughout scripture we see epiphanies, pre-incarnate manifestations of Christ. Jesus revealed himself to his people from the beginning, the prophets prohecied about him, they new how he was going to come to earth as a child. And he met with several of them throughout scripture.
Joshua 5: 13-15
He is the captain of the Lord’s Hosts. He did not refuse worship. It was Jesus. All angels refuse worship (John in Revelation etc).
Gen 14:17-20 - Communion, tithes. King of Salem (peace) Priest of the most high God (Jesus is the high priest of our confession)
Hebrews 7:1-4
Psalms 22:1-18 - David knew Jesus and what he would go through.
Do you see now, Jesus has always been King of Kings and Lords, even before he was born as a baby in Bethlehem.
Philippians 2: 5-7 (made himself of no reputation) greek word means “emptied himself” - he poured himself out. In order for him to come to this earth as a man, he unloaded all of his God-like powers, and left them in Heaven.
He poured himself out and came to this earth and was born a normal human baby boy. Quite literally, this means that he emptied himself of all his power. He laid it all down for the sake of people. He had it all, and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords laid it all down and came to this earth to be our example.
That’s the true Spirit of Christmas, being willing to take what we have, and lay it down for other people. Christ is the example of this.
John 1: 1-14
*****Close with this******
1st John 1-4
That’s the true Spirit of Christmas, the king of kings and Lord of Lords, giving up everything, for his people.
