FINDING C.H.R.I.S.T. IN CHRISTMAS

ISAIAH 9:6-7

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, To order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice From henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Luke 2:1–14 KJV 1900

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Beth-lehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, Good will toward men.

Christmas is coming! Quite so; but what is “Christmas”? Does not the very term itself denote its source—“Christ-mass.” Thus it is of Romish origin, brought over from Paganism. But, says someone, Christmas is the time when we commemorate the Savior’s birth. It is? And who authorized such commemoration? Certainly God did not. The Redeemer bade His disciples “remember” Him in His death, but there is not a word in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, which tells us to celebrate His birth.

Arthur Walkington Pink

So , a few weeks ago, as I was on my 15 minute break at work , I was thinking about CHRISTmas. I was quietly reviewing in my mind the past 40 years that I have spent working in retail. 40 YEARS! Man, I am getting old! But anyway, I had my celphone in my hand and was checking messages and email, and I decided to GOOGLE, “CHRISTMAS”. I was absolutely shocked by what came up! Hobby-Lobby, 60 percent off Christmas Decor! Yes, I was on my 15 minute break, at Hobby-Lobby, where I jhave worked for the past 8 years. What has Christmas meant to be for the last 40 years. Well, on the positive side, it means overtime, and more pay. On the negative side, more hours, more work, more tylenol, less time at home with my wife and family, and for the most part, STRESSED OUT PEOPLE TO DEAL WITH. What has CHRIST, GOT TO DO WITH CHRISTMAS, ON DECEMBER 25TH EVERY YEAR? Well, according to scripture, NOTHING. You will not find one place in the Bible where we are to celebrate the birth of Christ. You will find where we celebrate the Resurretion of Jesus Christ, as I stated from the previous quotThen why do we celebrate it, or DO WE REALLY CELEBRATE CHRIST’S BIRTH?Besides decorating with a manger seen here and there, what does the holiday that we celebrate, have to do with Jesus? Research it, Google it, or look it up somewhere. My point is, CHRIST, by and large, is not seen or heard from in the Holiday that we have called CHRISTmas. Even though it is NAMED after him.

No matter our reasons for celebrating Christ's birth, what should be the most important is that it is a remembrance of Christ's incarnation. We can gather to eat chickens, celebrate with (extended) families, do charity, have church meetings, but we must always remember that the reason for the season is that Christ came as was prophesied. People go about these days ignoring that the Lord will one day come to take the Saints with him to eternity; the argument goes around the fact that years have gone by, and if there truly is a God in heaven, he is slow. Death is agreed to be the end, but man must remember that the coming Jesus as man amidst men is the fulfillment of thousands of years of promise. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden, God made a promise to the devil. He said: “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her seed. He will crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3) Many think this refers to the present discord between man and snakes, but it is not so. Firstly, it is not everywhere snakes are killed or that snakes kill men. Secondly, the serpent was only a representation of the devil as seen by Moses in a vision. The enmity God meant was that he would come to put an end to the union man now had with the devil because he believed the instruction of the devil over that of God. With time, it became clearer through further prophecies that God will come as a man, the kingdom shall be on his shoulders, and he will save his people from their sins. His people do not mean Israel alone, but even Gentiles shall come to the knowledge of his rising. The number one essence of Christ's incarnation to us then is that we serve a God who is not slack according to his promises as some men think, but he is long-suffering and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2Peter 3:9) Hallelujah! Christ is coming back, and the fulfillment of the prophecies of incarnation reminds us of this. Furthermore, we are assured that whatever God promises us shall be fulfilled. He is not a man that should lie, neither a son of man that he should repent. If he says, he will do it. So often, believers give up on God because of a delayed promise, victory, or blessing, but the precedence of Christ's incarnation in the Holy Bible teaches us that we serve a God who can do what he has promised. He is the kind of God that promised Abraham a child and fulfilled it in his old age; he is the God who promised Joseph the throne and still kept his word despite the attack of the devil through man. One more lesson from God's prophecy of Christ's incarnation (Christmas) is how he promised that the seed is Him. Christ was not born of the will of man. In the same way, God said, “Let there be Light,” and there was light. He also said “a child shall be born of you” to Mary, and it was so. Of course, it is a miracle that a child was birthed without the mating of a man and woman, but this was also playing out God's prophecies. Shall we then not celebrate such a miraculous birth of a miraculous being? Finally, the question to ask is, “why only the 25th of December?” Of course, the kind of celebration that occurs on the 25th of December can happen only once a year, or at the most twice. We cannot travel down-home, kill animals, decorate houses, and have large feasts every time. However, the truth is Christ’s incarnation has an eternal relevance to us, so our celebration of it should be eternal. In other words, the birth of baby Jesus should be celebrated by everyone who has enjoyed the salvation He brought, every day. Not just every day, but an hour, minute, and second. This definitely cannot be a festival, but in our hearts, we should always sanctify our thoughts in reverence of what He has made available. The communication that proceeds out of our mouths should show that, indeed, the savior is perfect; his sacrifice is complete, and those who receive him shall never perish. Christmas is beyond a holiday; it is a way of life.

Like every other baby, He was birthed in groanings, blood, and cries. In a manger, his audience was mainly lambs. But heaven's light shone, and we heard the angels sing: “Hosanna! Blessed be the name of our King!” Centuries later, and the birth of Yeshua the Anointed is still a memory we can’t do away with. What happened nine months after the word of the Lord came unto Mary in that day is of eternal relevance to the world and all of humanity. It is celebrated every the 25th of December all over the world, but why? Not just why December, but also why celebrate it at all? Is Christmas beyond a dogmatic celebration?Christmas As A Holiday Christmas as a traditional holiday dates back as far as A.D 273. Two pagan holidays were celebrated on that day to honor the sun, so this holiday might have started then to counter these festivals. Some people still feel uncomfortable because of this, but many will agree that the gospel does not just transcend culture; it also transforms it. A theologian once said: “We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.” Meanwhile, it is agreed that by the Western Church that March is the annunciation or immaculate conception of Jesus in Mary's womb. Evergreen trees are used to symbolize eternal life; Candles to symbolize Christ as the light of the world; Holly stands for the thorns in the crown; red for the blood and death; and gifts to remind us of the gifts given to Jesus as a baby and how He is God’s saving gift to the world.Christmas Beyond the Holiday The word Christmas comes from Middle English Cristemasse, which in turn comes from Old English Cristes-messe, literally meaning Christ’s Mass.

Of course, we are not talking about the physical mass of Christ’s body. The origin of mass, in the Christian sense of the word, is not entirely clear. We know it comes from Latin missa, but there are several competing theories as to what missa is supposed to mean. Some scholars say it is a form of the Latin verb mittere, in which case it would mean “something that has been sent” (but it cannot refer to Christ himself because “missa” is grammatically feminine).

Others say that it is a late form of Latin missio, meaning “dismissal”. This is supported by the fact that Catholic masses are traditionally concluded with the words:

Ite, missa est.

which would mean, “Go, the dismissal is made”, provided this interpretation is correct.

Yet another explanation is that it is, in fact, the Hebrew word missah, “unleavened bread”, which God commanded to be offered with the Passover sacrifice in the Exodus.

The name “Christ”

The origin of the designation Christ is also not without interest. It comes from Greek Χριστός (Christós), meaning “anointed”, which is a translation of Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ māšîaḥ (“anointed”) that has been incorporated into the English language as “messiah”. Hence, “Christ” and “Messiah” mean essentially the same, the former originating in Ancient Greek and the latter in Classical Hebrew.

Xmas

Finally, we get to the word Xmas (usually pronounced the same as Christmas, but some pronounce it, rather incorrectly, as /ˈɛksməs/). Many people believe that writing “Xmas” instead of Christmas is an attempt to remove Christ from Christmas and may even consider it blasphemous.

However, “X” in “Xmas” is, in fact, not the English letter “ex”. It is an abbreviation of the Greek name of “Christ”, Χριστός (Christos), which starts with the Greek letter Chi. Abbreviating “Christ” as “X” can be traced many centuries back, with some written documents dated as early as 1100 AD. Yesterday, our Pastor preached a message based out of the text in Isaiah 9:6-7

Isaiah 9:6–7 KJV 1900

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, To order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice From henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

I took notes, as I usually do, and his focus on the message was the NAME of Christ, the Messiah. The Annointed One that was promised, even as far back as Genesis chapter 3. So, I want to give you some WORDS, SOME NAMES OF CHRIST, USING C.H.R.I.S.T. AS AND ACRONYM DESCRIBING WHO JESUS CHRIST WAS AND IS, AND IS TO COME.

FIRST OF ALL, THE LETTER C.

CHILD- ISAIAH 9:6, LUKE 2:1-14

COUNSELOR- ISAIAH 9:6,PROV 8:14 “Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.”

CREATOR- OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

John 1:1–14 KJV 1900

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Genesis 1:1–3 KJV 1900

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Who is the CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS?

The CHILD, who became the man, Jesus Christ, who lived a sinless life, and died for sinful man, for you and I

The COUNSELOR, the very WISDOM of God, All -Knowing, All- Powerful, All- Present Living Son of God

The CREATOR- The very WORD of God who SPOKE the worlds into existence, and who sustains it with His almighty WORD of POWER.

DO YOU KNOW THE CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS? WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HIIM?

TUNE IN TOMORROW TO “LIFEWORD TODAY”, AND WE WILL LOOK AT ANOTHER LETTER OF HIS NAME....

JESUS C.H.R.I.S.T.!