I love Christmas. I love being able to see it through the eyes of my grandchildren. In a culture that has become increasingly secular, where it is politically incorrect to even mention the name of Jesus Christ, I think it’s wonderful that Christmas brings out into the public some of the greatest truths of the Gospel. Every time the word “Christmas” is spoken, or a Christmas movie is searched for on Netflix, Christ’s name is brought forth. We are reminded of values that are forgotten or at least diminished at other times of the year. And if it weren’t for the Christmas holidays, family relationships would be worse than they are as this is the only time many families even try to get together.
Christmas opens many opportunities for us to share our faith. The problem is that “the Christmas story” has become so familiar to many that they only focus on the birth of Jesus. They miss some of the greatest lessons in Scripture that are hidden in the account of Christ’s birth. I wanted to share just a few of those lessons:
God’s not Angry with You.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)
This was not an announcement that would end hostilities among men. History has proven that can’t be what the angels were proclaiming. Instead, this was the proclamation of peace between God and man regarding sin, that this was God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19). The angels were declaring good will toward men from God. This has not been understood or proclaimed by much of the church. Most people still think God is mad at them. That’s not so. He’s not mad, and He’s not even in a bad mood. Jesus satisfied His wrath completely. Christmas is all about God’s love and mercy, not His condemnation. It’s focusing on the good news of God’s love and not the bad news of our failures.
Trust God with your Spouse
Joseph played one of the most important roles in the history of the world—He was the earthly father of Jesus Christ, but he didn’t believe Mary’s account of her pregnancy. He had decided to divorce her privately (Matthew 1:19). Mary let God deal with Joseph. Too often in a marriage, we try to fix the person instead of trusting God to speak to them. It may not make sense. The situation may seem impossible. The odds may be stacked against you. Trust God. Trust He knows what He’s doing. He knew what He was doing when He entrusted the birth of His Son in the care of two young people. He knew what He was doing when He brought you and your spouse together. The Father will work all things together for good. Trust in Him.
Not Everything You Believe is True
Then there’s the story of the wise men. Did you know that the Scriptures never say there were three wise men, and there is no indication that they were kings? They also didn’t visit Christ in the manger in Bethlehem, but in his house in Nazareth. The Bible tells us the star they had seen, lead them to the place where the “YOUNG CHILD” (not a babe) was. I’m not even going to talk about the “star”. I will tell you that there is no indication the Bethlehem star hung in the sky like a Hollywood flood light. No one probably noticed it except the three or six or ten Wise Men who were trained in astronomy – among other things. A star as big as the one we like to imagine would have been visible from the North Pole. And Herod wouldn’t have had to ask where the Child was because he would have seen the beacon himself.
Talk Less, Do More
Would it surprise you that even though Joseph is the earthly father of Jesus, we have no record in Scripture of anything that he said? Yet Joseph has a dream and obeys God and moves his family to Egypt for their safety. Joseph seems to be the strong and silent type man who gets things done.
Matthew 2:13-14 (NKJV)
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” 14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,
We need men to be like Joseph, obey God and to do what you must do to provide for their families, even if it means moving to “Egypt”, changing jobs or even going to church!
Learn How to Live in Your Moment
A phrase in scripture that has stood out to me is found in Luke 1:38: “And the angel departed from her”. This is after Mary’s visitation by the angel Gabriel regarding the birth of Jesus. How do you live life in your present moment? How do you live after the angel departs? How do you live “after” the breakup, after the bankruptcy, after the big thing that happened in your life? We have created an addiction to the explosion, to the big event and the day to day living life stuff has even become the enemy.
What was Mary like before Gabriel showed up? She was not following some script. She didn’t know he was coming that day, however, there had to be some reason that God chose her. What does she say to all her friends? How does she explain her sudden pregnancy? They didn’t see the angel. This is the problem. When the angel goes away, life goes back to normal. This is the challenge. How are you going to live life now that the angel has gone? She is still from Nazareth, an insignificant village, she still has family to deal with, she’s still poor at this point. Too many people in the church want to live from angel to angel, we want to live from supernatural peak to supernatural peak. But between the angels, there is life. We still must live life. It does not mean we don’t want that supernatural encounter with God, but some Christians get so focused on seeking God for these type events that they become nutty.
I want to give you 3 points to helps us not to be like this:
1. You don’t have to tell everybody everything that God tells you. “God told me” syndrome, they live with this on the tip of their tongue. “God told me to wear these shoes.” Really? God told you what shoes to wear? People say this to lend credibility to their opinions, to influence others to believe them and for people to think more highly of us than they should. This hurts not only those inside the body of Christ, but those on the outside of the church who observe us.
2. The most supernatural things that will happen in your life are the most intimate things. This happened to Mary alone in a room with no audience. Why not gather a big crowd first? God doesn’t do it like that most of the time.
3. God will send an angel when you need one, He will send supernatural encounters when you need one. You can’t live life waiting on the angel to appear, waiting on the next supernatural thing to happen. Moving from church to church.
I hear people say things like, “I’m believing God for a financial breakthrough this year”. That’s fine,…..but you must get off the couch and get a job. Why do we have to be weird to be supernatural? Why can’t we have a supernatural encounter without it making us nuts? Why can’t we have a supernatural encounter with God today and get up tomorrow and go to work?
Let us learn to live our lives in the moment, to believe that God is with me this very moment, right now. That there are angels around me right now whether I see them or not. When the angel departs, God has not left. After the angel has gone everything has changed, but nothing has really changed. God is with you, in you, for you, and loves you. Merry Christmas! Happy and Blessed New Year!!
A great Christmas message. Thank you Pastor, and Merry Christmas to you and your family. Many blessings in the New Year!!!