The Christmas Story
If you really want to understand the Christmas story, you need to understand not only what happened, but why it happened. Thankfully, the Bible tells us both the what and the why of Christmas. In Matthew, chapter one, verse 21, we read the following:
"She will bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus for, he will save his people from their sins".
These were the very words, spoken by an angel to Joseph who was engaged to be married to a young woman named Mary. Joseph had found out that Mary was with child and considered divorcing her for he knew that the baby she was carrying was not his own. And while he considered breaking the engagement and angel told him not to be afraid and to take Mary as his wife for the baby that was conceived in her was of the Holy spirit, a miracle baby placed in her womb by God himself.
This child was the Messiah to come prophesied long ago in the old Testament, by the prophet Isaiah, where it is written in Isaiah, chapter seven, verse 14:
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son. And you shall call his name Immanuel."
Which, when translated, means God with us. So what happened at Christmas? God miraculously sent Jesus, the eternal son of God, to be born of the Virgin Mary. But why did all of this happen? Another look at Matthew, chapter one, verse 21 gives us the answer to that question when it says:
"You shall call his name Jesus for, he will save his people from their sins".
So the reason Jesus came was to carry out a rescue operation, to do something none of us have the power to do on our own. God sent his son Jesus to save us from our sins.
Many of you are well aware of the many troubles we face in our world, not to mention our own lives, as well. Economic troubles, political division, a global pandemic, international tensions, earthquakes, hurricanes, and the list goes on and on. God knows about all of these problems, but he sees our biggest problem to be that of sin.
The Bible describes sin as missing the mark of God's perfect standards. It's what we do when we turn away from God and go our own way. In our words, attitudes, motives, or actions, God calls us to love. We choose to hate. He commands us to forgive. We Harbor bitterness. He tells us to speak the truth. We tell lies. He tells us to serve others. We serve ourselves. God sees sin as a very big problem. In fact, he sees it as an act of rebellion. Sin is nothing short of high treason against heaven.
What's surprising is how God chose to deal with sin. Instead of choosing to destroy us, which he would have been completely justified to do, he sent Jesus to save us. Christmas was part of God's rescue operation for the human race.
And the biggest surprise was how Jesus carried out that rescue operation. First, he took on humanity by humbling himself, becoming a mere man and living among us, feeding the hungry, healing of sick, caring for outcasts, preaching the gospel of the good news of the kingdom of God.
In the most surprising of all, he died on a cross. He died to take our place to be our substitute for what we alone deserved. He paid the penalty for our high treason against heaven. And he surprised the world yet again, by rising from the dead three days later, giving us the assurance that death can be defeated forever by resurrection.
So what happened at Christmas? God's son, Jesus, came into this world, born of the Virgin Mary.
Why did this happen? Christmas was part of God's rescue operation for all of mankind to any who would simply turn to him in faith.
If you come to understand the real meaning of Christmas, the miracle that God sent his only begotten son into the world to save sinners, that any who would simply turn to him in faith might receive forgiveness of sin, be restored in relationship with God and inherit the promise of everlasting life.
This miracle is truly what Christmas is all about. May God bless each of you this Christmas as together, we remember the birth of the son of God, the King of Kings, born in the manger to take away the sin of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ.