We all know the famous line of Ebenezer Scrooge in
Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, “Christmas…Humbug.” Scrooge saw Christmas as just
sentimental drivel, an excuse to shirk one’s duties by declaring a holiday from
all life’s problems. Then you have Tiny Tim, the antithesis, who saw Christmas
as a time to pause and thank God for His many blessings given to us throughout
the year. “A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, every one!”
I’m guessing most of us fall somewhere in-between the two
extremes, leaning more towards a “Tiny Tim” Christmas mentality but at times
letting our “Scrooge” out of the box.
The church at Colossae had a big problem. The time was approximately 60 AD, only thirty
years after Jesus died and rose from the dead for the sins of the world, and
this small congregation found themselves surrounded by a culture that believed
that Christmas was all “humbug.” They
believed Christmas didn’t matter, that Christ wasn’t actually born physically,
and what really counted was religion; the things you did to show your
sincerity. Their flashpoints were the
observance of the Sabbath and new moon celebrations, the worship of angels, a
simplistic lifestyle, and circumcision.
It sounds as if the church of Colossae faced the same problem we as
Christians face today; religion over relationship, sincerity over truth.
Paul wanted to address this heresy head-on in his letter to
the church letting them know that it isn’t what you do that makes you right
with God but rather your love relationship with Him.
Paul wrote, “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and
high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual
powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the
fullness of God in a human body. So you
also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every
ruler and authority.” (Colossians
2:8-10, NLT)
1. Christmas
is God’s testimony that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. Jesus did come that
first Christmas night to identify with us, to become in all ways like us, so
that He could later die for our sins, being our sin sacrifice. John wrote about His coming in John 1:14, “The Word became
flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the
glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth.” Christmas did happen and it
happened so that Christ could build a relationship with us.
2. Christmas
declares God’s pre-eminence over every ruler and nation on this planet. It didn’t matter that
Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census to be taken of the entire Roman
world or that King Herod issued an edict regarding the killing of babies born
in Bethlehem. God reigns supreme over
the Evil One and the evil of this world.
It doesn’t matter how crazy your life may be at present, God is always
in control and will bring about an end that will ultimately bring glory to
Himself and allow you to draw closer to Him.
God isn’t just a “philosophical thought” or a feeling, much like many in
Colossae believed.
3. Christmas
reminds us that our completeness is only through Jesus Christ. Christ “made himself
nothing...being made in human likeness… He humbled himself and became obedient
to death –even death on a cross!”
[Philippians 2:5-11 NIV] . He identified with us, taking on human flesh
so that we could have a relationship with Him.
He was born physically so that we could be born again spiritually.
John writes in John 1:12, 13, “But to all who
believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion
or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” It’s not Christ, plus something else. Trusting is Jesus is enough and that’s what
Christmas is all about. It’s about
Jesus, born of a virgin, born with humble beginnings, so that we can be born
again.
This Christmas, don’t get wrapped up in all the humbug, the
trappings of Christmas, the “Christ plus other stuff” mentality. It’s always been about Jesus, His birth, His
life lived on earth, His ascension to the right hand of God the Father and His
coming again for us. Christmas is what
makes it all possible, it’s what completes us.
As Tiny Tim said, “A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, every
one!”
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