Three Big Reasons To Rejoice At Christmas

[This is a short sermon / reflection for a short Christmas Day service.]

Earlier in the service we reminded ourselves of the Christmas story. Perhaps we thought: that’s a nice story. But does it really affect me?

In the Christmas story in the Bible there’s a constant note of joy. Elizabeth tells Mary, when she visited her, ‘when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb LEAPED FOR JOY.’ The angel told the shepherds, ‘I bring you GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY that will be for all the people.’ The magi saw the star over Bethlehem and REJOICED EXCEEDINGLY WITH GREAT JOY.

But what about us? Do WE have cause for joy and rejoicing when we reflect on the birth of Jesus? Didn’t all those events happen so long ago that they’re irrelevant to us now?

Well, these events are still relevant, and they still give us lots of cause for joy today. I’d like to pick out three big RESULTS of Christmas, of Jesus’ coming into the world, which give us lots of cause to rejoice.

THE FIRST REASON TO REJOICE is that God sent us a KING. Angels and prophets who spoke about the coming of Jesus said a variety of things about him. But I think their strongest message is that God would send a king. That’s what Isaiah prophesied. He said that a child would be born who would ‘REIGN on David’s THRONE and over his KINGDOM’. This child is clearly king! Then Isaiah added, ‘from that time on AND FOR EVER’ [Isaiah 9:7]. This would be no ordinary king.

Now look at what the angel Gabriel said to Mary: ‘And the Lord God will give to him the THRONE of his father David, and he will REIGN over the house of Jacob FOR EVER, and of his KINGDOM there will be NO END’ [Luke 1:32b-33].

Gabriel’s words are almost identical to Isaiah’s! This looks very much like God’s key message. God’s son was coming into the world and OF COURSE, as the Son of God, he is the rightful king.

So, is that reason to rejoice? Here in the UK kings and queens don’t impact us all that much. They don’t have any real power. But Jesus is VERY different to any other king. It would take too long to say all the ways that Jesus is a wonderful king but I’d like to say two, at least. Jesus is committed to us in a way no one else is. And he’s going to come again and take up his reign – and then he’ll sort out this messy world. So, reason to rejoice!

THE SECOND REASON TO REJOICE is that God has sent us a SAVIOUR. When we come to the day of judgement and stand before God, God’s verdict on us should be ‘guilty’. We all fall short of God’s standards. But because Jesus bore the punishment for our sin on the cross, we are released from that condemnation. Jesus gave his life as a ransom. But there are lots of other ways in which Jesus saves us. He helps us day by day when we make a mess of things. And one day, he’ll enter our world and deal with the violence and oppression and corruption and completely free our world from sin. That’s a second big reason to rejoice!

THE THIRD REASON TO REJOICE is that God himself has entered our world. Isaiah referred to Jesus as ‘Immanuel’, which means ‘God with us.’ This is so huge we can hardly take it in. God, creator of the universe, entered our world. But what does it mean? How does it affect us? It affects us in lots of ways. Since Jesus is God, he shows us what God is like. Since Jesus is God, he knows how God thinks, how he speaks, how he acts. He can teach us truth in a way no one else can. And since Jesus entered the world as a baby it means that he knows what it is to be a human. And that in turn means that he understands our situation. He sympathises. And, since he is God, he’s able to help us, encourage us and guide us like no one else can.

So – here are three really BIG reasons to rejoice! God has sent us a king. He’s sent us a saviour. And he’s sent us his son. Wow! No wonder we call Jesus ‘The Greatest Gift.’

After our service we’ll go home. We’ll open presents; we’ll have family round; we’ll have a wonderful Christmas meal. Those are all things to put us in a very good mood. But, let’s keep in mind that we have a much bigger reason to rejoice at Christmas. We have a king and a saviour, and God is with us.

Talk given at Rosebery Park Baptist Church, Bournemouth, UK, 25th December 2021