“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
December 18, 2024
We must not allow the core truth about Christmas to be eclipsed by “holiday celebration.” The secularization of our society has not yet erased the Christmas story recorded in Luke 2 from our collective memory and interest. It is majestic in its simplicity and significance. Is it merely a sweet little story to tell by candlelight to make us feel better during the cold, dark days of winter? The paradoxical nature of the birth of Jesus is stunning. God delights in turning human wisdom on its head. Three titles were given to Jesus in the birth announcement. The birth of Jesus was God’s gift of a Savior to deliver rebellious, sinful human beings from the clutches of evil. As Savior He can deliver us from the evil of sin (Rom. 8:1). Displacement of God. That’s what sin is. It is the failure to let God be God. It is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature (1 Jn. 3:4). As sinners we need to be rescued from our alienation from God. The only cure is the atonement of Jesus Christ. A soul-liberating, God-satisfying, relationship-restoring, substitutionary sacrifice has been made by Jesus Christ. That is what that helpless babe in a manger is all about. No mere human being can come to our rescue. Don’t let the value of the gift of eternal life slip through your gift-giving fingers.
H
Is there someone you need to tell about the only way into God’s heaven?