Meaning Of Christmas

Scripture

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named Him Jesus.

Prayer

Story 1: Talladega Knights

“I like to picture Jesus”

We do this

The Jews did this, they were looking for:

A political leader to free them from the oppression of Rome

Someone to remind them and the world of how great “they are”

We are all often guilty of looking to Jesus as who we want him to be “the magic genie” who trades our good deeds for fulfilled prayer request and blessings

We need to look to Him for who He is and how He revealed Himself through His word

Not as a means to make us great, but as a reminder of our hope through Him as our Lord and Savior

Point 1: Jesus was conceived by the Spirit to save sinners

Twice, Matthew tells us that this baby was “from the Holy Spirit.” He was not from Joseph. It is this miraculous act of God which makes Him the “Christ”

“Christ” is not Jesus’ last name; it is a title. He is not Jesus Christ like I am Ty Hayes. Instead, like I am Ty, the photographer, or Ty, the husband.

“Christ” is not a curse word, but the English form of the Greek title, Cristo. It means, the One Anointed, the Chosen One, God’s man, hand-picked for a special purpose. This baby is God’s answer to the world’s most significant problems.

Maybe it would help to describe some of the ways His life changes ours.

The glorious King willingly accepts humility so that the humble can be lifted to heaven.

• The richest one became poor, so that the poor in spirit might share in His glorious inheritance.

• He feasted with sinners, so that those hungry for God would not starve in sin.

He was born to die, so that we who are dead in sin might live.

• He would be bruised, so that we may be healed.

• He will be abandoned, so that those who have left God might be adopted into his love.

This baby is the Christ, God’s answer to set all things right

The angel does not say, “You shall call his name Jesus, for God will save His people.” Other parents named their sons Jesus, to express their hope that God would save His people. The angel says, “call His name Jesus because He will save.” This is not Mary’s faith in God’s salvation. He is named, “Jehovah Saves” because He is the Savior!

Jesus saves his people in 3 ways:

When Jesus converts someone, He immediately frees them. We are no longer condemned. The Bible says that all sin deserves damnation. Jesus takes that punishment for His people, giving them, the reward of His obedience.

Jesus saves from the power of sin. Those who truly know Him are able to desire the happiness of holiness. No longer must our hearts be led astray; we have the ability both to love that which is good.

Those who know God through the work of His Messiah actually begin to sin less, not only in outward acts, but by the desires of the heart purified through the presence of God’s Spirit.

I once had a friend tell me that she knew Jesus saved her when she began to really dislike sinning. That is a good insight, isn’t it?

A heart truly freed hates sin. Is this work developing in your life?

“God is a searching and a saving God, a God on a mission. He is sending, pursuing, searching, saving. That’s the meaning of Christmas.” - John Piper

Story 2: Charlie Brown And I Finding Christmas Empty

Point 2: God foretold and fulfilled His word through Jesus

Sometimes people wonder, or even complain, about the narrowness of Christianity.

How could one suppose that this is the one and only way to know God? What about all the other devoutly religious people in the world? Are there not many paths to God?

The Biblical answer is not just simply no, but that His name is Immanuel, God with us.

The big claim of Christianity is not simply that Jesus is the only way to God; it is that Jesus is God making His way down to us.

Jesus is not a ladder we climb to heaven, a ladder which happens to be red. I like red ladders, but you may like green ones. To each their own ladder, and their own savior.

Instead, the Bible says that Jesus is heaven, so to go to heaven, we must go to Jesus.

If we were to say that Jesus is not the only way to God, it would be the same as saying, “God is not the only way to God,” He is Immanuel, God with us!

When the promises of God seem powerless to quiet our fears, grief, or worries, we need to do more than hear His promises again. We need to behold the God who gives them.

It’s why my favorite Christmas song isn’t even technically a Christmas song.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus look full into His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace”

How Can We Be Changed from a "Holiday Christian" into a true christian?

Joseph did as the angel commanded: Named his son Jesus. In doing so, Joseph placed himself with those who need a savior. And in the end, that separates holiday Christians from true worshippers do we embrace our need for God’s saving grace?

People attend church for many reasons. Some seek nostalgia, the warm feeling of religious comfort, connection with family. These reasons arent bad, but they are not why Jesus was born.

Jesus was born because you and I need forgiveness; release from guilt; freedom from passions and desires which enslave us to selfishness, and self-destructive love.

We need to be saved from thinking that the greatness of God is defined by how much He makes of me, and instead realize that true freedom is finally being able to make much of Him. And the first step in that great change is recognizing and accepting our need.

Calvin Miller wrote an article entitled, “Rethinking Suburban Evangelism,” on taking the gospel to people who sense no need: “Suburbia: the push-button Zion of those who have made it and therefore have it made. There, amid the water sprinkling systems and lava rock landscapes, rises the new Eden with little need for God: Paradise Found, where churches ulcerate themselves trying to sell self-denial to the pampered.”

Reminded me of what Jesus says in Revelation 3:17-18 You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.

Do we know that we are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked, until God, born as a baby in Bethlehem, comes and saves our lives?

The meaning of Christmas is that what is good and precious in your life need never be lost, and what is evil and undesirable in your life can be changed.

Video: Charlie Brown Christmas

Do You Recognize Christ As The Meaning Of Christmas?

Prayer