Many people celebrate Christmas without celebrating Christ.  They love the gifts and the decorations and the food and the music and the sentiment and the gatherings and the movies, but they don’t love Jesus.  Instead of spending the season adoring Him, they spend the season ignoring Him.  That’s why we are sent on a mission to tell the world about Jesus, in hope that they will also see His beauty and majesty and generosity.  We are to invite others into our joy and into our worship.  So, let us use every gift-exchange and gathering to tell of His excellencies. O come let us adore Him.  O come let us proclaim Him.

We try to ignore it.  We try to downplay it.  We try to run from it.  We try to overcome it.  But no matter what we do, we cannot change reality:  this world is undeniably broken.   What we see is the inevitable ruin that comes when we do what is right in our own eyes and do what feels good over what God says is good.   We need… A Hero to save the day.  A Liberator to set us free.  A Healer to make us whole.  A Satisfier to make us content.  A Ruler to reign over us for good.  A Savior to save us from our sins.  Rejoice! Christmas announces that new life can be ours through faith.  Jesus was born so we can be born again!

How freeing it is to embrace with confidence that God has allowed some things into our lives and other things to be missing from them for a reason that is good.  Even if we have no idea what that reason is.  Or how it can possibly be for good. God is always doing much more in, for, around and through those who trust Him.  Mary trusted.  Joseph trusted.  We must trust that the unexpected, unexplainable things God has for us are unbelievably good.  He knew what He was doing in their lives; He knows what He is doing in our lives. Christmas reminds us that faith in what God says turns our “how can this be” into “let it be.”

From heaven to earth.  From a manger to a cross.  From suffering to victory. Christmas begins an epic story of how far Jesus would travel, and how hard His journey would be, to bring us back into a loving relationship with our Heavenly Father.  His story births our stories where every step is assured because of His faithfulness to do the Father’s will to get us safely home to be with Him, where praise and pleasure never end. Christmas reminds us Who Jesus is, why He came, and where He is taking those who trust Him.  Jesus came from heaven to earth to make a way for sinners like you and me to go from earth to heaven.

Christmas is a declaration of war on everything that separates us from God and the life with Him that we were meant to enjoy now and forever.  God sent Jesus to disarm and defeat sin, Satan and death so we can be forgiven and freed.  Then, He equips us with the armor of God, the Word of God and the Spirit of God to empower us as we fight our battles against temptation, secure in the truth that Jesus has already secured our victory.  Until Jesus comes again to give us final deliverance from it, we expect, endure, hate, expose, resist and overcome evil, but we do not give up in our fight against it.

Every time we say, “Merry Christmas” it gives a reason for the hope we have.  At least, it should.  It should say we honor Christ in our hearts.  It should say His birth has led to us being born again.  It should say the end result is our eternal joy in Him.  When we say it, people should see we mean it.  Because we back up our words with our lives by shining His light into a dark and dreary world full of people in desperate need for an answer to their inescapable brokenness.  This year, let’s do more than say the words, “Merry Christmas.” Let’s also do things for others in the name of Jesus to make their Christmas a merry one.

When Jesus took on flesh to dwell among us, He didn’t insulate Himself from the ugliness, brokenness and sinfulness of this world.  Life on earth for Jesus was filled with the same things we deal with:  difficult people, difficult circumstances, difficult tasks and difficult experiences.  He didn’t avoid these things; He endured these things.  What Jesus did was suffer for us, to secure deliverance for us, so we can see and savor His glory now and forever.  His birth was hard.  His life was hard.  His death was hard.  This Christmas may be hard, but it is not without hope.  Jesus made it through and will ensure you make it through too.

What does Jesus want for Christmas? It’s not our begrudging submission, reluctant giving, half-hearted worship, indifferent service, or lukewarm affection.  These may be costly gifts, but they do not shine, and they are not sweet-smelling to our King.  What Jesus wants is for us to get the full and lasting joy which comes from hearts that worship Him.  For us to fall down in reverence.  For us to stand up in awe.  For us to walk on in joy.  Jesus doesn’t just want our treasure; He wants to be our treasure.  And when we see Him for Who He is, we will give to Him the honor He deserves and get from Him the happiness we desire.

To receive the gift of God’s Son is to also get countless blessings and benefits from being in a relationship with Him.  But let’s be clear about one thing:  if you want what Jesus can do for your life but don’t want Jesus in your life, you won’t receive Him or His blessings.  Listen… He’s not just useful, He’s beautiful.  He’s not just resourceful, He’s delightful. He’s not just helpful, He’s wonderful.  Don’t you see?  Jesus doesn’t just give us gifts; He is the gift.  Being together with Him is the most precious gift He gives to us.  And the more time we spend in His presence, the more beautiful, delightful and wonderful He becomes to us.

Christmas is for stuck people.  People stuck in the past with its haunting reminders of what they have done.  People stuck in the present with an endless search for happiness in the wrong places.  People stuck in fear of the future with its paralyzing grip that prevents them from doing meaningful things. But Jesus came to liberate stuck people like you and me.  He was born to free us from the things that prevent us from experiencing all God has for us.  When Jesus lovingly gave Himself for you and me, the old us died and the new us came to life so we can live free from the bondage of sin as we live by faith in Him.

What does it mean to receive a gift?  It means the gift wasn’t rejected, ignored or misused. Instead, it was worn, admired, eaten, enjoyed, watched, sprayed on, driven, listened to, put to work or played with as it was intended.  An untouched gift is an unreceived gift.  That’s why some people become believers and some do not. They embrace the life offered in Jesus or they live as if He isn’t even there.  We know we have received the Christmas Gift of God’s Son by how He changes our lives.  As children of God, we trust, obey, love and enjoy Jesus, and are transformed, empowered and blessed by Jesus. Just as God intends.

Christmas is a broken string of lights for many of us.   It’s there, but it doesn’t seem to do what it’s supposed to do.  It’s bleak, not bright.  It’s melancholy, not merry.  This time of year is disappointing and depressing for a lot of people for a lot of reasons.  We’re a broken people in a broken world where there is much that is not as it ought to be.  But there is hope for us, because Jesus came for the very reason so many struggle in this season … to fix what has been fractured in us and our world.   As we wait for this to happen, let us turn to Him in our present darkness and ask Him to shine His everlasting light in our hearts.

This time of year is not about me.  And it’s not about you.  Yet, it’s easy to make it about us, isn’t it?  We can get caught up in what we enjoy about, what we receive because of, and what we get to do during Christmastime and spend very little time getting caught up with Christ.  It’s the most wonderful time of the year not because of the festive music, favorite movies, familiar decorations or family traditions that can rightly be a part of our holiday experience; it’s a time of celebration and jubilation and exaltation of Jesus.  This year, may everything that is wonderful about Christmas make us full of wonder about Christ.

If there was no Christmas, there would be no hope for us.  At His first coming, Jesus took our place so we can be with Him for eternity.  At His second coming, Jesus will take us to a place where we can be with Him for eternity.  Right now, it is easy to lose hope when we lose a loved one, lose a job, lose control, lose our health or lose our way, but a joy-filled, peace-filled hope is ours if we believe.  We are promised Jesus will be with us in time of need, give to us all that we need, and one day put an end to our needs.  Until then, we wait.  But, because of Christmas, we wait in an abounding hope that the best is yet to come.

The birth of Jesus was the earthly beginning of our acquittal.  Not guilty.  But it happened.  Not guilty.  But You saw it.  Not guilty.  But I did it.  Not guilty.  But I owe for it. Not guilty.  When we repent and believe the gospel, God applies the perfect life of Jesus and the atoning death of Jesus to our record and justifies us.   It’s just as if we never sinned and just as if we always obeyed.  We who really are guilty of sin are set free.  Free from shame.  Free from judgement.  Free from punishment.  Instead, we get every blessing found in knowing God. Rejoice today, for Jesus has the final word for those who are trusting in Him:  Not guilty.

Jesus willingly exchanged all the wealth of His deity for the poverty of His humanity when He came to dwell on earth.  Why?  For. Our. Sake. We couldn’t live up to God’s standards, so Jesus lived perfectly for us.  We couldn’t break free from sin, so He set us free.  We couldn’t atone for our transgressions, so He died in our place.  We couldn’t defeat death, so He conquered the grave so we too will rise. We couldn’t earn an eternal retirement, so He paid for our inheritance.  We have become rich through the finished work of Jesus.  And long before it was finished at Calvary, it was started in Bethlehem.  For our sake.

When was the last time you thought about eternity and what it would be like to perish forever?  When was the last time you rejoiced that you have a completely different eternity awaiting because God gave His Son? When was the last time you considered the implications of receiving this gift? Everything bad is turned around and traded in for good when we trust in Jesus!  In Jesus we are given a countless list of blessings with each entry having sub-lists of countless more benefits that we enjoy now in part and will enjoy fully throughout eternity. Rejoice today in God’s Son.  He’s the Christmas Gift that keeps on giving.

The bad news that is plastered all over social media and news media stories will leave us disturbed and discouraged if we don’t remind ourselves of the good news of the Greatest Story Ever Told.  Every day we must remember Who Jesus is to us and what He does for us.  The more we trust in the angel’s message that a Savior and Lord has arrived to rescue us from bad and rule over us for good, the more we will experience real joy in our hearts. Today, don’t fill your mind with the garbage of this world, but rather fix your mind on the glorious good news of Jesus.  This leads to great rejoicing for all people who believe.

Advent is a time of hopeful waiting.  The question is:  what are we waiting for?  Life will frequently leave us disappointed and dissatisfied if we are waiting for the right time when the right things have come and made us feel the right way.  So…  We wait.  And we wait.  And we wait our lives away. We will never find lasting satisfaction in the people, pleasures and possessions of earth.  We weren’t mean to.  As we wait for the second coming of Jesus, let us look to Him to be for us and give to us what this world never can:  the gift of real contentedness.  It’s not about what we have in our lives; it’s about Who we have in our hearts.

The sights, sounds and smells of Christmastime should cause us to pause and celebrate Christ.  As we see the glow of lights, let our own hearts be merry and bright because the Light of the world has come.  As we hear holiday music, let us smile because Jesus has put a new song in our hearts.  As we walk past the Salvation Army worker, let us remember Jesus came to work for our salvation.  It’s all there: the CHORUS of praise, the WRAPPING of swaddling clothes, the TREE made into a cross, the GIFT of eternal life. May every fleck of tinsel, note of a carol and morsel of a cookie remind us:  Jesus is the reason for the season.