“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
And behold, and angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of
the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be
afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all
people. For there is born to you this
day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will a
Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’”—Luke 2:8-14
Although it is difficult to determine the first time anyone
celebrated December 25 as Christmas Day, historians are in general agreement
that it was sometime during the fourth century. This is an amazingly late date. Christmas was not observed in Rome, the
capital of the Roman Empire, until about 300 years after Christ's death. Its origins cannot be traced back to either
the teachings or practices of the earliest Christians. In saying of all this, the point is that for
many Christians who celebrate December 25 as Christ birthday, and for those who
do not the season to rejoice is the same.
We should take joy and delight that Christ came to the earth to save
mankind from their sins.
Matthew 1:21 is often read in ministering the
story of Christ’s birth, “And she will
bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His
people from their sins.” You see the people of Israel wanted a deliverer-a Messiah but they
weren't expecting him to save them from their sins. They wanted to be saved
from their bondage to Rome; they were tired of being under Roman rule. In their view sin was not their problem; Rome
was their problem.
When they realized that Jesus was not
their kind of Messiah, the Bible tells us that his own received him not. It is true today as well. The baby we hear so
much about during Christmas is rarely presented as the One who came to deliver
us from our sins. We hear that he came
to bring peace and love, and that sounds really good, but how many people
realize that their real problem is sin?
For those of us who have been born
from above through faith in Jesus Christ, the best news for us this Christmas season is that he came to save us from
our sins. I am more and more aware that the
main problem for people is their sin nature. Aren't you glad that: “God
made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians
5:21).
Enjoy and rejoice in that the birth of the only One who could and did save us
from our sins!
Prayer—Father I
thank You that You sent Jesus to save me from my sins so that I might become
the righteousness of God. I choose to
rejoice in the birth of Christ and celebrate the season that brought me my
deliverance from sin, in Jesus Name. Amen.
