Following a parochial school Christmas program, one person complained about parts of the program. “Why did the pastor have to intersperse so much about Christ’s crucifixion in the story of Christmas?
I wondered about those comments later that day. Why would the Easter story disturb anyone, no matter when it is told? Actually, both stories are interchangeable as well as inseparable. Perhaps many people would just as soon leave Christ in the manger as a baby, rather than consider the fact that He went on to grow up and move toward His manifest destiny, ordained by God Himself.
As we go through the motions of the Christmas celebration, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the story of a beautiful baby, who was foretold by prophets and announced by legions of angels who appeared in the skies, giving Him glory and honor. We could simply revel in this heart-warming story of two people, who could not find lodging or a place to birth their baby.
Some writers have even taken the story of Christ’s birth and related it to today’s social issues, calling Joseph and Mary homeless. In fact, they had a home, but God had led them to Bethlehem. He first used Herod’s greed to move him to call for a census, which meant that each adult would have to return to his or her ancestral home to be registered and counted and placed on the tax rolls.
Since God had ordained that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, in Judea, He arranged for Joseph to take his wife, who was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, to the City of David for two purposes-to obey man’s law, and to fulfill prophesy. The Creator of the universe could have simply sent His Son as an adult into the world to live a blameless life, forgive sins, and offer Heaven as a free gift to those who would receive the gift.
But God, in His infinite wisdom, sent His Son to enter earthly life as mankind does, rendering Him true man, and to live a perfect life and become the only sufficient sacrifice for all human sin, which only true God could do.
Had Jesus Christ not entered human flesh the way man does, and had He not lived a perfect life, and had He not suffered and died to pay for all sin, God’s own standards for payment for our rebellion in The Garden of Eden would not have been satisfied.
If we, therefore, attempt to celebrate only the birth of Christ, without attaching it to His suffering and dying for us, or if we only focus on the suffering and dying, then we fail to grasp the complete story of Christ. Christ came into the world the way mankind does. He died by giving up His spirit, as mankind does. But, in God’s magnificent plan, Christ arose from the dead to show us that death has no power over us.
That is the beauty of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, so whosoever believes in Him will not die, but have everlasting life.”
Christ did not remain in the manger. He grew up to change the world forever, by teaching us repentance, forgiveness and the Way to eternal life. He paid with His life for the sins of even those who hate Him. He offers eternal life to all who repent and believe in Him.
Christmas and Easter are the celebration of His life, resurrection the end of the fear of death. The two cannot be separated.
"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.coml
Authored By: James J Jackson