Christmas: A Time of Love and Hope

“… Fear not: for, behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” – Luke 2:10-11

Take a few minutes and consider the following picture. Imagine yourself outside at night, in the middle of a field. Picture times you may have been outside, away from the city or away from lights, with perhaps only a flashlight as your only source of light, other than perhaps the moon. The quiet of the night covers you much the same as the darkness. The only sounds you hear are the soft rustlings of the sheep you are tending, combined with possibly the crackling of a fire you have made for warmth and light. The air is perhaps heavy with the moisture of the night, and you find yourself and your fellow caretakers of your flocks alone in this blanket of stillness.

Without any warning, you suddenly become aware of a presence. Without any doubt, you simply and profoundly know, deep down to your core, that you are looking at an angel of God. The darkness of the night is then suddenly replaced by a glory, the likes of which you have never seen. Think about every time you have thought yourself alone in the dark and are surprised by something unexpected. Now replace that feeling with an understanding that the unexpected something is the sudden manifestation of an angel, who then begins to speak to you.

Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people:

Luke 2:11 for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:12 And this [is] the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

Now, upon completing these words, all around you, the heavens seem to open up and there is not just this one angel speaking to you any longer. There aren’t even two angels, or three. The heavens are filled with a multitude of angels, all singing praises to God in the most beautiful voices you have ever heard.

As the world comes together this December to celebrate Christmas and remember the birth of our Lord, let us take a little time and consider the significance and impact of this time upon God’s plan and upon mankind. For many years, as chronicled in the Old Testament, prophets, inspired by God, had been predicting the coming of a messiah to the nation of Israel. Interestingly, the term “messiah” is only used twice in the Bible, according to Strong’s concordance:

Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.

Daniel 9:26 And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.

Nevertheless, the concept of the coming messiah was well understood by many of the Jewish people of the time, and many who had studied the time prophecies of the Old Testament prophets understood that the time they lived in was significant. In conjunction with these expectations, a prophet, who became known as John the Baptist was loudly proclaiming that the time of this coming messiah, so long predicted, had finally arrived. John the Baptist’s ministry, started some short time after Jesus’s birth, also was preparing the people for their long awaited messiah. Although many of the nation of Israel may have been thus expecting a messiah, perhaps a fewer number were prepared for the actual nature of that messiah.

The Bible, in the book of Genesis, teaches us that God created mankind in perfection. Although perfect, He also endowed the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, with free will. When their obedience was tested, they failed, causing mankind to fall into a degraded state in which continued life was impossible. Some centuries later, God began to have special dealings with a group of people, the Israelite’s, and gave them a series of laws, with the instruction that if they could follow every part of these laws, in deed and in spirit, they would be considered righteous and be allowed life. However, mankind being in a degraded, imperfect state, found it impossible for any to fully keep that law. Thus, mankind continued to be out of harmony with God.

In the first chapter of John, a being known as the Word is described. This word, Word, as used in John 1, is Strong’s Greek word 3056, which translates as logos. The Word, or Logos, is identified in John 1:18 as “the only begotten Son”. The word begotten here is Strong’s Greek word 3439, and it carries the meaning of only-born, or sole. The thought here is that the Logos was the only being created directly by God, and as noted in John 1:3, all other things were made by him and without him (the Logos) not any thing made that was made. Verse 14 also tells us that the Word (the Logos) became flesh and lived among us.

Consider that concept for a moment. Here was a being second only to the Supreme Creator. Through this being, everything else was made. How well he must have understood his father’s plan, not only for mankind but for everything. He could very well have continued in his existence the way he was. Yet, he understood the plight of mankind. He knew that his Father’s law of justice could not be satisfied by any of mankind. His great love for us all, past, present and future, spurred him to take a direct role in God’s plan for mankind.

Many years after the creation of Adam, God made a promise to Abraham, who, through his great faith in God became known as a “friend of God”. God repeated this promise several times to Abraham, and to his descendants, not because the promise was changing, but to remind and re-emphasize the importance of exactly what he was promising. One such deliverance of this promise happens in the 28^th book of Genesis:

Genesis 28:14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

The night of the birth we examined in Luke chapter 2 would prove to be the tying together of all these many threads we have just outlined. Mankind was out of balance with God, since Adam’s disobedience and sin. Justice is often pictured as a scale, and the balance was tipped against mankind. To balance the scale, there would need to be someone who could attain a right to life; attain perfect justification before God. Being imperfect, no human was able to keep God’s law perfectly in deed and spirit, and thus no human could attain a right to life. But a being who started out in a state of perfection, who had a closer relationship with the Heavenly Father than any other; perhaps such a one could take on the form of a human being, and prove successful in keeping the law perfectly where so many other had failed. So it was that on that evening, so many years ago, the Logos became a human being, a baby who was named Jesus.

Matthew 1-16 traces the lineage of Jesus back to Abraham. Here at last was the long awaited one who would fulfill the promise God gave to mankind so many years ago. Being the descendant (seed) of Abraham, Jesus, in the flesh, met the criteria described in God’s promise.

Jesus knew, now that he was a human being, that he was at risk of death, the same as any other human being. He understood the importance of keeping the law, and what a perfect keeping of the law would bring. During his time as a human, he kept the law perfectly in deed and in spirit, and in so doing, earned a right to life as a human in God’s eyes. Jesus himself refers to this in Matthew, in the well known Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:17 Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil.

Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.

Jesus was saying that with him, the law would be fulfilled; its purpose served. The perfect keeping of the law identified him as the long prophesied messiah. Having achieved this justification before God by a perfect keeping of the law, Jesus had a right to life; yet he chose to allow himself to be taken by those who hated him, and allowed them to put him to death. That act of sacrifice has a profound effect upon every person who has ever, or will ever live, and is simply summed up in a few well-known scriptures:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, [himself] man, Christ Jesus,

1 Timothy 2:6 who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony [to be borne] in its own times;

In keeping the law perfectly, Jesus gained justification and life in front of God. In choosing to sacrifice that perfect life, Jesus balanced the scales of justice that Adam’s sin and disobedience had long ago set awry. Jesus paid a ransom price for me, you, and all mankind – quite literally “all the families of the earth.” In so doing, he fulfilled a major part of God’s plan. He purchased mankind out of the hopeless spiral of sin and death that it found itself in. Truly, what a marvelous gift of love this was, both for us, mankind, as well as a demonstration of love and trust in his Father.

The full impact of this seemingly long ago act is lost on the majority of mankind. Many know the narrative, but do not grasp the full meaning or importance. As God’s plan continues to unfold, we can rejoice in the sure knowledge that they one day will, and until then, rejoice in the fact that we have received the unmerited blessing of understanding God’s love and his son’s love and sacrifice.

Think about the wonder of this season. Think about the increase of kindness, concern for one’s fellow human beings and their welfare across the world during this time. Consider the wonder that this increase of goodness and kindness and joy comes at a time that may not even in reality our Lord’s actual birth date. Consider how much of the good will happens even despite the fact that many profess not to believe in our master, or even in our most merciful Heavenly Father. Perhaps pause and reflect on the magnitude of that joy, when at last mankind sees God’s plan fully realized; when loved ones are reunited with those they thought lost forever, and the realization dawns on them that they will never, never be separated again. Think about the perpetual and overwhelming joy and awe for our Creator when at last all of mankind realizes that the importance of this time, and celebrates because they will without a shred of doubt know that our Lord’s birth and its place on God’s plan all are absolutely and undeniably true.

My friends, perhaps take a few moments during this Christmas season to reflect back upon the wonder and amazement of the shepherds long ago; alone in the fields in the dark of night, carrying on with their jobs as best they could. Let us reflect on how awestruck they must have been to suddenly be surrounded by not one, but a multitude of the heavenly host, all proclaiming a message of profound goodness for all of mankind. Let us consider that perhaps, in many ways, this is very similar to the situation that we, who have been blessed during this present time with hearts and minds such that we can see the unfolding of God’s plan around us, find ourselves in. We, thousands of years later, are still blessed to understand the true importance of the birth that happened on that long ago night. May our hearts be so open to that message, that we might find ourselves just as awestruck when we realize the fullness of God’s power and love, and the love of our master Jesus, his son, who gave up so much on our behalf. Consider, for a moment, how much that knowledge lights up our lives and thoughts and actions as compared to the darkness and confusion and fear of this age; just as the light of the glory of God lit up the night around the shepherds so many years ago. This is no accident; no tricking of the mind or self-delusion or false hope or any of the other labels that the world may try to stifle this light with. Rejoice in the sure knowledge that this light does indeed come from the Supreme Architect Himself, who has all things in hand.

Do not despair. Do not become swept away in the commotion and anger and fear of the current age we find ourselves in. Hold fast to the promises that we have been blessed to see and understand. Hold fast to the knowledge that the Great Creator of Everything has promised that all the families of the earth will be blessed. Hold fast to the knowledge that even in this world of uncertainty and untruths and misunderstandings and misdirection, His character and His plan NEVER change. Hold fast to the knowledge that He so values us that He allowed His own son to sacrifice his very life on our behalf. When the way seems too narrow, and the prize seems so far away, and it seems as if God’s plan and promises are so distant, cling to the promise made centuries ago that though it may seem tarry, it will not tarry; it will surely come. The trials and tribulations of this world that are so difficult for us to endure now, are in perspective fleeting as compared to the wonderful future that God’s plan has in store for every single one of us. Renew your resolve to study and understand the scriptures, so that you will be better able to see the sure and steady unfolding of God’s plan all around us, and in so doing, be able to fully rejoice in our master’s promise, that when we see these things come to pass, we should lift up our heads and know that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Renew your resolve to touch lightly the things of this world, and instead use the days we have left as earnestly and as joyfully and as diligently as we possibly can, relying on the surety that the day will come when mankind will at last see the fulfillment of the long ago vision given to John:

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Until we all find ourselves together, my dear friends, in that day when all of God’s plan will be unfolded to every single person who ever lived, I rejoice with you all, during this season, when we remember that long ago event, when our master chose to leave his heavenly domain and become human, like us, in order to advance his Father’s plan. And until that wonderful day, for which the whole of creation longs and travails for, I continue to pray that each one of us may continue in the work put forth in front of us by our master, and by our Heavenly Father, so that one day, if we be but faithful to the commitments we have made, we may all hear our master, whose birth we remember during this season, speak those longed for words to us: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant… enter thou into the joy of thy lord”.

Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men.

Further Readings and References

• The picture in this study is one of many from The Photo-Drama of Creation, which combines rich Biblical illustrations with thought-provoking articles surrounding the events depicted in each illustration
• (Please note that although some of these links will take you to the Chicago Bible Students online bookstore, where physical copies of these books may be purchased each of the books may also be downloaded from the bookstore, free of charge, with no obligation to provide any personal information. Simply click under the description of each item to find the download link)