Merry Christmas?
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· 26 viewsWhy Christmas? Or why do we say Merry Christmas? What should we mean when we say that?
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It is hard to believe that December is already here and that Christmas is only a few short weeks away! In our culture Christmas has become politically incorrect. So much so, that as you go out into the retail stores and buy all of those Christmas presents you will most likely hear “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” And that bothers us. And rightfully so. We as believers in Christ do not want to remove our Lord’s name from Christmas. And so we purposefully say “Merry Christmas.”
What do we mean when we say “Merry Christmas?” We have said it all our lives and yet I wonder what we really mean when we say it. Has it become yet another tradition that we know we should say and so we do, but we don’t really understand what we mean when we say it. Has it become like singing a well known hymn? We know the words and the tune so well that we sing the song, but we have so tuned our minds out, that we mean very little when we sing the words.
And so our question this morning is why do we say “Merry Christmas” or maybe a better question is “What should we mean when we say “Merry Christmas?”
And I think to answer that question we must ask another question- “Why do we have Christmas?” And this morning we are not interested in man’s answer to that question, instead we are interested in God’s answer to that question. What reasons does God give for Christmas?
To answer that question we turn to where I believe we find four reasons for Christmas.
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Let’s read these verses
I. Jesus chose to be human because we are human
I. Jesus chose to be human because we are human
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same;
Forasmuch then as the children
Children = Children of God
13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.
the children are partakers of flesh and blood
We share in flesh and blood that is something we all have in common. It is part of what makes us human.
He also himself likewise took part of the same;
Lit. Jesus shared in the same things. That means Jesus took on Himself the very same flesh and blood that makes you and I human.
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Phil 2.
V. 17-
“took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man”
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood
The reason that God chose to become human was that we His Children are human. Because we are human, Jesus chose to be human. God’s love amazes me!
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Illustration: One of the things that my wife loves to do is decorate our home. She loves curtains, and blankets and pillows and pictures and flowers. I really don’t care all that much about those kind of things. But she values my opinion and so I get to involved in the decision making process for curtains and blankets and pillows and pictures and flowers. And I do so willingly. Why? Because I love my wife. So I share in her interests. Because she is interested in those things I am interested in those things because I love her.
God loves us, and because we are flesh and blood, He became flesh and blood. His love for us is the reason He became like us.
In the infinite plan of God He desired a family of children of which Jesus would be preeminent.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
And so according to the infinite plan of God, the Son shared in human flesh and blood. Jesus because fully God and fully man because of his love.
II. Jesus chose to be human so He could die
II. Jesus chose to be human so He could die
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death
That through death
Jesus, the eternal Son of God, could not die as God. He had to become human in order that he might die. Without flesh and blood, without taking on our very nature Jesus could not die. So one of the reasons for the incarnation, for Christmas, for Jesus taking on human flesh and blood was to make it possible for Him to die.
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
says that Jesus, “was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
So Jesus became human so he could die. Stop and think about that for a minute. One of the reasons for the incarnation was to make it possible for Jesus to die.
“That means that the purpose of God for His Son to die preceded His purpose for the incarnation.” (John Piper)
Illustration: Playing chess with my son and loosing on purpose. Some might watch my poor play and think, “Oh, he made a bad move now he has lost the game.” I didn’t all of the sudden mess up and decide to loose the game. My plan was to loose from the beginning so my son could win.
The reason for the incarnation is so Jesus could die. This is why Jesus came among us. His reason was to die. He did not come for another reason, and then all of a sudden His plans got messed up so now he has to die. No, his plan for the incarnation- his death- was the plan all along.
So why Christmas why the Incarnation why did Jesus become a man? God’s reasons are
1). Jesus became human because we are human
2). Jesus became human to give himself the ability to die.
III. Jesus died to destroy the power of the devil
III. Jesus died to destroy the power of the devil
He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death
namely- the devil
How did Jesus destroy the power of death? Through death? That seems odd doesn’t it?
Here I want you to notice that Jesus destroyed the devil by means of his death.
The word destroy doesn’t mean that Jesus caused the devil to cease to exist. Satan is still very much alive and active in the world. The word for destroy has the idea of nullify, or to make powerless or invalidate something. So Jesus’s death on the cross nullified or made powerless the one who has the power of death- namely the devil.
Keep that thought in your mind
How did Jesus do that?
Turn to
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
What did God do here? He transformed you believer who used to be dead in your sins, He (God) has now made you alive with Christ, how?
having forgiven you all trespasses;
How was God able to do that?
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us
By canceling the record of our debt that stood against us.
All of us have a record of a sin debt to God. Our sins and their debt stand against us. They are contrary to us. They prevent us from having a relationship with God and a home in heaven. You see our sin places on God a series of legal demands that the requires Him to righteously judge us for our sin. But here we see that God blots out or cancels the record of our debt. How does He do that?
And took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
God canceled our sin debt, our record that stood against us. He set is aside, how? By nailing it to the cross!
Now, v. 15 is key.
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
And having spoiled principalities and powers,
Christ spoiled or he disarmed them, he took away their weapon and rendered them harmless.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), .
Who did he do this to? principalities and powers- that’s the devil and all his minions.
Look what Christ did to them- He disarmed them
he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
He put them to open shame, how? by triumphing over them.
How did he triumph and put them to shame? By disarming the devil. How did he do that?
By-
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us
He canceled the record of debt that stood against me.
How did he do that?
He took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross
When Jesus died on the cross he took away the one weapon that the devil had against me. Satan had one weapon that could have dammed me. Satan is the great accuser. He stands before God day and night with a big box. And in that box lies the record of all of my sins and he accuses me. But when I trust Christ, His death counts for me. When I put my faith in Christ to save me from my sins, the record of my debt that stood against me is set aside. Christ takes the record of my debt and nails it to his cross because my debt has already been paid through His death. The record of my sin debt is taken out of the devils hands and he is disarmed, he no longer has any weapon or power over me.
Now come back to .
He also himself likewise took part of the same (flesh and blood); that through death he might destroy (nullify, disarm) him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Jesus took part in our flesh and blood, so that through His death he might destroy or disarm or make powerless the one who has the power of death. How does Satan have power of death? The devil uses death as weapon to forever doom a lost soul to an eternal hell. Once a person dies without Christ the power of death is complete and final and instead of death being a gateway to heaven, the devil uses death as a gateway to hell. But Jesus took that power away from the devil. He destroyed him by disarming him of his one weapon over me, so now the devil is helpless to damn me or destroy me. My debt has been forever nail to the cross of Christ.
Illustration: Sometimes one of my relatives will bring their dog over to my house. And my cat will have a face to face encounter with a very interested dog. Even though she is much smaller than the dogs she usually stays clam and holds her ground. If that interested dog gets too close she simply extends her very sharp claws and gives them a good whack on the face. The first time Zoe met Grace, Grace gave her one good whack and Zoe tail between her legs ran away as fast as possible. Now that wasn’t the case when I was growing up. Growing up I had a cat named Cally. She was an indoor cat and so she was declawed. So when those dogs showed up and came face to face she would give them a good whack on the face but it did not good. Have you ever been attacked with a cotton ball? That is about the effect she had on those dogs. She was powerless. The one weapon she had had been taken away and so she was helpless and could do nothing except run away.
Satan has been declawed. He is helpless because our debt has been forever nailed to the cross.
IV. Jesus died to free us from the slavery of the fear of death
IV. Jesus died to free us from the slavery of the fear of death
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Through the death of Christ He not only destroyed the power of death he also delivered us from the bondage of the fear of death.
IV.
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Christ’s death delivered us, He set us free! From what? Bondage or slavery. To whom or to what are we in slavery to? The fear of death.
The implication of this verse is that everyone has a deep lifelong fear of dying. And this deep fear of dying holds us in lifelong slavery. This deep fear is a result of the power of death that Satan holds over those who do not know Christ. For those that do not know Christ, their death is an eternal condemnation in hell. But we are set free from that through Christ because He has destroyed the power of death by disarming the devil.
You see there is a logically flow to God’s reasons for Christmas. And it plays every part in why we say the words “Merry Christmas”
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
The eternal God had to become flesh and blood because we are flesh and blood, and so He could die. And through His death our Savior has destroyed, nullified, canceled, made powerless the one who has the power of the death over us. He took out of Satan’s hands the power to damn us or destroy us. Satan has been disarmed by nailing my debt to the cross. And thus Christ has delivered us from the awful overwhelming oppressive lifelong fear of death. We are no longer slaves to this oppressive fear of death that kept us all our lives worrying. And if we are free from this horrible bondage of fear and death, then we are the freest people there every was.
And we can be free because Christ destroyed the power of death, and that happened because Christ died on a cross, and that happened because Christ partook of flesh and blood and that happened because of Christmas.
So it is no wonder that as believers we should from the bottom of hearts say “Merry Christmas!” It is a Merry Christmas because of all that was made possible through the incarnation.
It is also no wonder that the lost souls of this world forego the name of Christ and say Happy Holidays. How can they be happy? How can the be merry? Deep down they are still in bondage to the fear of death. For them Satan is not powerless, but He holds the finality of the power of death over them. They are the ones that need to know why Christmas is so merry to you. They need to know that Christ came and partook of their nature to die for them to disarm the power of the devil and to deliver them from the horrible lifelong slavery to the fear of death. This Christmas we must truly mean the words Merry Christmas and we must also explain to those who know nothing of this merriness nothing of the happiness of Christ all that He has done for them.
