A Christmas Devotional

Introduction:

I want my grand children to have a correct understanding of the advent of Jesus.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Jesus, the son of the father, was in the world from the eternity past - but in the fulness of time, he came to His people as a baby and a human. Even though His advent was foretold, His own, the Jews, did not know Him, nor did they accept Him for who He was, the son of God. Those who accepted His gift of love, and turned to Him, were adopted into His family. These were those who were born again.

Interrogative:

Why do we celebrate Christmas?

Imperative:

God's son, the light of the world, brought the knowledge of sin and redemption to those who came to love Him; they were adopted into His family - the rest suffered the wrath of the Father

The True Light:

 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. John 1:9

Many people think that Jesus was born just like us, 2000 years ago. There is a big difference - when we are born, that is when we come into the world. Jesus, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, has always been here, and will always be here.

Proof: Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. Gen 1:3

What does it mean to be the light of the world? We we talk about light here, we are talking about everything we know. Without Jesus, we would no know anything - He is the source of everything we know. We learn many thing from our teachers, our friends, parents and TV, but in the beginning, all that knowledge came from Jesus. A famous bible teacher once said:

The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is said to be in the face of Jesus Christ, and is compared with that light which was at the beginning commanded to shine out of darkness, and which enlightens every man that comes into the world.

Our Adoption:

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Jn 1:12–13). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

You see, God gave us His word, which we get from the Bible, so that we can know how much God loved us. How much did He love us? So much, that He sent His only son to teach us, and show us His love and how we can become a part of His family. You see, each of us has done bad things, we’ve lied, disobeyed our parents, tried to take our sister’s things, and so forth. These are called sins, and God really hates sins. That’s because He has never done anything wrong; that means He is holy. We wouldn’t understand any of this, except that God the Father sent us Jesus, not only to tell us this, but to take the punishment we deserve when we do bad things. Jesus does not do this for everyone, but He did do it for you and me.

The Good News:

This is all really good news. We never want to get on God’s bad side, because His punishment is really hard. But if we follow Jesus, and do as He taught us, we don’t have to worry about that, because Jesus took our punishment, 2000 years ago. Just remember though, we always want to do what is right, to be kind to everyone and obey our parents, because we don’t want to disappoint God, our Father. Besides that, if we do bad things, we can still get in trouble with our parents, teachers, or other adults who look out for us.

Conclusion:

So that’s why we celebrate the birth of Jesus - if it weren’t for Jesus, we would always be on God’s bad side and we would have to take His harsh punishment. It’s important to remember that God does not want to punish us, and that is why He sent his Son to save us.