On Sunday December 25th we celebrate Christmas. Families get together, good food is served, and memories are made. The Christmas season really starts the day after Thanksgiving. We begin shopping, decorating, and making our guest lists for the day. While everyone is in their hustle-and-bustle mode there are some who sit back and say: "Don't forget the religious aspect of Christmas." That's a start but it's more than just religion. Christmas is about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The religion of man tells us we need to confess our sins to a man sitting on the other side of a booth; a fellow sinner. The religion of man tells us we must have good works to make it into Heaven. The religion of man is divisive, its the reason we have so many different churches that are trying to preach the same message from different points of view. Yes, our history textbooks tell us Christianity is a religion, but it's so much more. There is nothing man can do to become right with God. As it says in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God." But since God loves us he did for us what we could not do for ourselves. "And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses" is what Paul tells us in Colossians 2:13. By coming down to earth himself Jesus Christ took the punishment for us when he died on the cross. All we have to do is accept His gift of salvation through faith alone, not through works as the religion of man tells us. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us this message: "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift -- not from works, so that no one can boast."
The prophet Isaiah spoke of the birth of Jesus many years before it even happened in the 7th chapter and the 14th verse in the book of Isaiah: "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel." He goes on to later tell us again in 9:6 "For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah's word is later restated in the book of Matthew; the first of the 4 gospels. In Matthew 1:22-23 it says: "Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated to God with us."
Yes the secular aspects of Christmas are enjoyable but we must not forget its true message. So for everyone who is still saying Christmas is about religion; yes it has its religious aspects. But it's more than religion. It's about the birth of Jesus Christ; our Lord and Savior who has paid the ultimate price for our sins by dying on the cross so that we could have an everlasting relationship with him. His roughly 30 years on earth and His ministry gave hope to mankind.
To get the visual of the birth of Jesus watch the video below and listen to the lyrics:
