A Christmas Carol
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· 15 viewsUsing Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol as an outline to show that Christ is eternal, that He lives in us and that he is coming back again
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If you were with us on Christmas Eve than you may remember that I quoted a speech from a modernized version of Charles Dicken’s wonderful story, A Christmas Carol
I’m sure that everybody here is familiar with the original story but just in case allow me to summarize it for you
The story centers around Ebenezer Scrooge a wealthy miser who has placed greed for money above love for mankind
Then on Christmas Eve, a time of year that he despises the most, He is visited by his dead business partner, Jacob Marley, who is being punished in death because of the way that he lived
Marley informs Scrooge that between midnight and dawn he will be visited by 3 ghosts, the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future who will do their best to teach him the real meaning of life and save him from a fate worse than Marley’s
The ghosts come and each in their own way they impact Scrooge so that at the end he is a changed man
Of all of the non-Biblical Christmas stories I think that this one is my favourite
That’s probably in part due to the fact that back in Grade 7 (about a decade or so ago) our class did a video production of this play for the school Christmas pagent
We spent from September to December rehearsing and filming, it was absolutely wonderful
It also has a good moral to it as well although it is disappointing that it concludes that you avoid post death suffering by being a better person in life
I’m sure that we all know and understand that the only way to accomplish deliverance from suffering after death is to place our faith and hope in the person of Jesus Christ
And so this morning we are loosely using Charles Dicken's story as a bit of a model to bring to you the story of the 3 Christmas’, past, present and future as we consider the role of Christ in each of them
Let’s begin where Dickens began, with the story of Christmas past
The Bible starts out with 10 very simple yet powerful words,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now when the Word says “beginning” it is talking about creation, the physical universe and not about God because God has no beginning, He has always been
David words it this way in
Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
So God always was but at some point during His “being” He decided to “begin” the physical universe
Now let’s keep this in mind as we consider what the Apostle John said about Jesus
John 1:1-
He was with God in the beginning.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Just so there can be no misunderstanding about which beginning John is talking about he uses the same terminology and phrasing as
Just so there can be no misunderstanding about which beginning John is talking about he uses the same terminology and phrasing as
Just so there can be no misunderstanding about which beginning John is talking about he uses the same terminology and phrasing as
He does this to make sure that we who read his gospel would understand that back before time began when there was no physical universe, Jesus was there
Not only was He there but in His role as the Word of God He played a crucial part in the creation of the physical universe, the very next verse says,
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In John chapter 17 Jesus is praying and during His prayer He says,
And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Before creation began Jesus was
He was also there throughout the earlier journey of His people which we call the Old Testament
Whenever there is an appearance of the preincarnate Christ anywhere in the Old Testament theologians refer to that as a Christophany
There are several of these Christophanys that are certain and several that are suspected but as an example let me give you one of the most well known
The book of Daniel is one that is both historical and futuristic
Futuristic because Daniel contains many prophecies, some of which have been fulfilled and others that we are still waiting on
Historical because it gives us the record of what took place during the 70 years that Israel was held captive in Babylonia
Early on in that Captivity Daniel record for us the story of 3 of his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah but you probably know them better by their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego the three young men who refused to bow down to the giant golden image of the king
Even under great pressure and the threat of imminent death they stayed true to God and so the furnace was heated 7 times hotter than normal, the boys were bound and thrown down into the flames
Let’s pick up the story in
and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
It doesn’t matter when you are talking about, before time and creation, during time and creation, or after the time of creation, in Christmas past Christ was always there
Now let’s move on to Christmas present
This part of the story obviously begins a little over 2000 years ago when the almighty Son of God set aside the privilege of His role as God and became like us , in human flesh
You already know that it is one of my most favourite verses so let’s go back to John’s gospel and read what he says about it,
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.
God was now present, in human flesh, on this blue marble that we call Earth
He was here, not just in an on again and off again manner like a Christophany but He was actually here
He ate and He drank and He traveled around revealing the Father and showing us the kingdom of God
And then, as if that wasn’t enough, He willingly offered Himself up as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
And then…He rose from the dead and showed Himself among the people continuing His work with the disciples and explaining the kingdom of God
Now some of the more astute and argumentative among you would probably bring up the fact that 40 days after He rose…He left
Your right, Luke records this event in the book of Acts,
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
While that is very much the truth, there is another truth that goes along with it, let me take you back to that prayer of Jesus in
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
John 17:
Did you catch those two important phrases, “for all those who will believe in me” so that’s talking about us and then He said “I in them”
The physical body of Jesus may have left this world but the presence of Christ did not for it is still very active within you and I
2 Corinthians
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
Those were Paul’s words to the Corinthians and he explained it to the Galatians this way,
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Notice that he didn’t say that it’s “like” Christ lives in me or that it is almost as though Christ lives in me he said “Christ lives in me!”
says that He “dwells” in our hearts and says that it is this fact which is our “hope in glory”
We need to realize that today is STILL Christmas Present!
Christ is still here as long as there are those who through faith have received Him and who have died to their own selfish, prideful ways and are living for Him with help from the Holy Spirit
But there’s still one more, Christmas future
Remember that passage from Acts where He was taken up to Heaven right before their eyes?
Well let’s read a little farther
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Underline, circle and highlight those 3 words Will…Come…Back!
In explaining the importance of the return of Jesus Dr. Robert Jeffress writes, “An overwhelming 25 percent of the Bible is given to predictive prophecy. In the Old Testament, there are over 1,800 references to the second coming of Christ. And of the 260 chapters in the New Testament, there are more than 300 references to Jesus’s return. That is one out of every 30 verses. And 23 of the 27 books of the New Testament feature the return of Jesus as a prominent theme. For every prophecy in the Bible about the first coming of Jesus, there are eight about the second coming of Jesus. It is the primary theme of Scripture.”
Don’t get me wrong, when Jesus appeared on this world as a tiny baby it was a significant historical event
If you want to know more about why it was so important listen to my message from last week called Christmas Miracles during which I explain why it was so important
But even as important as it was, and is, Christmas present is really just a very elaborate staging for Christmas future which is when Christ will return, not as the suffering saviour but as the conquering King
Jesus said in ,
“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
And in we read,
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.
Why will the Earth mourn?
Great question, I’m glad you asked it, they will mourn because He is returning as the victor who has the right and the authority to judge the people of the Earth and He will do so based on His Word and any chance to repent is now gone
Listen to Zechariah’s description of Christmas Future,
A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls.
I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.
On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.
The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
Zechariah
In the original story the 3 ghosts are able to convince Scrooge to change his ways and become a better person who thinks of mankind before he thinks of himself
But what is the end goal of our look at the 3 Christmas’? What should we take out of it?
Well I’ll answer that with one more scripture taken from Peter’s second epistle
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
Let’s pray