Anyone who knows me knows that I love Christmas. Some may even say I’m obsessed, and I’m not sure I could argue with that. I love Christmas and not just at Christmastime but all of the time. I take the words of Charles Dickens to heart and “honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.”
I know that not everyone shares my obsessive love of Christmas, but most Americans at least enjoy this time of year on some level. So, what is it that makes Christmas so special?
Most civilizations had celebrations around the winter solstice celebrating the time when the days began to get longer. Many of these celebrations also included the worship of agricultural gods in preparation for the spring planting season.
In the early days of Christianity, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was celebrated, but not his birth. In the fourth century, however, church officials decided to celebrate the birth of Jesus as a holiday, and Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this time to adopt and absorb many of the pagan festivals of the Roman Empire. By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders hoped that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but as a result, gave up the ability to decide how it was celebrated.
By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, Christians attended church, but then celebrated in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today’s Mardi-Gras. For this reason, the Puritans refused any celebration of Christmas as they settled in the Americas.
However, in the 19th century Americans reinvented Christmas into the family-centered nostalgic holiday we know today. It was officially declared a federal holiday on June 26, 1870.
The story of Christmas, however, goes back further than the Roman Empire. In fact, it goes all the way back to the beginning of time.
In the beginning, God created everything that now exists. He created human beings to be in a relationship with Himself. God could have created mindless robots to serve at His bidding, but He wanted a creation who willingly loved and served Him.
So God created man in a perfect world with a free will that could accept or reject Him. Unfortunately, man rebelled against God and chose to disregard His commands.
When man rebelled against God, sin entered the world, and death, because of sin. In that moment, man realized he had been wrong, but it was too late. Justice now demanded death for all who sinned.

The Bible tells us that the sin nature is passed on from every parent to every child. We know this is true because no parent has to teach a child to do wrong, it’s a part of our nature. We don’t need to be taught to lie, to cheat, to steal, or break any of God’s laws because it’s a part of the nature we have at birth. We are now enemies of God because our wrong choices separate us from Him and even worse, the punishment we deserve for this is eternal death.
You and I are created as eternal beings. When we die physically our spirits continue to live forever, but we are now destined to spend eternity in hell apart from God because of sin. But God isn’t only just, He is also merciful and kind. He had a plan all along to bring us back into relationship with Himself.
Justice demanded a penalty for our sin and it could not be overlooked or excused. God is just and He could not rightfully dismiss our sin, so instead He paid the penalty for us.
God Himself, Jesus Christ, came to the earth as a human baby and lived life here among us. He came to be an example for us and to face all the same challenges and difficulties that we face.
He lived a perfect life and never sinned or acted wrongly. He willingly submitted to and obeyed earthly parents, and when the time was right began teaching people what God was like and all about God’s kingdom. He then willingly suffered and died a brutal death on a cross to pay the penalty for the sin of all mankind. He paid for my sin and for yours.
Because He had never sinned, His death was a perfect substitute that fully satisfied justice and made a way for everyone to come back into relationship with God if they would choose Him.
Christmas celebrates Jesus’ willing decision to come to earth and fulfill this plan. Jesus Christ is God. He chose to set aside His rights and privileges as God and come to earth as a human. He subjected Himself to the limitation of human flesh so that He could be a substitute for each of us and pay the penalty for our sin.
When we believe that He did this for us and surrender willingly to God as our Creator and Ruler then we are adopted into His family as sons and daughters. At that moment, God sends His Spirit to live inside of us to confirm to us that we really are His children.
The Bible says that “since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
God’s Spirit also gives us the strength to do what is right and the power to enforce the justice of the cross on the earth. When Jesus died He gained a total victory over all of the evil forces in the world and over sin and death. The Bible says it this way, “He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.” And later it tells us to “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
As sons and daughters of God, we have now been commissioned by God to actively enforce the victory of Christ through our prayers, through the words we speak and through the actions of our lives. The Bible refers to us as ambassadors for Christ and also as both servants and friends of God called to finish the work of restoring the kingdom of God on earth that Christ began at Christmas.
So, every time I see the colors red and green or hear Christmas music or even smell pine trees, I’m reminded of this story.
I’m reminded that the Creator God, our Heavenly Father, valued me and loved me enough to become a human and die in my place even while I was His enemy and when I was at my worst. But He didn’t just do it for me, He did it for you too!
I hope that every person reading this today will be reminded of these things not just at Christmastime, but also every day of every year. I hope this story changes how you think, how you see yourself and others and how you live out your daily life especially in difficult times. This story is more than a story, this message is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes!
If you want to learn more about what I’ve shared here, let me encourage you to begin reading the Bible in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. If you don’t have a Bible there is a free Bible app called “YouVersion” that you can download and begin reading today.
If you don’t have a smart phone, I’d love to get a copy of the Bible in your hand so please contact me at Huron First Assembly of God (352-4896). It is my prayer that each of you would believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and choose to surrender to His rule and be adopted as sons and daughters of God.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!