The Real Christmas Story

Feature 2 – December 2010 – Grace & Truth Magazine

THE REAL Christmas STORY

There are many stories about Christmas. Most of them are innocent fiction. Some of them are downright lies, like those related to Saturnalia, a pagan Roman festival celebrated during the Christmas season. The “real” Christmas story is about the chain of events in the Bible that record what people remembered about the conception, birth and childhood of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It is not fiction. It is no lie. It is the greatest true story of all time. Key elements of this story are seen in these verses:

• “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us ... the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:1,14 NIV).
• “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 1:18).
• “An angel of the Lord appeared ... and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins’” (Mt. 1:20-21).
• “Jesus ... being in very nature God ... made Himself nothing ... And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Phil. 2:5-8).

It is this sense of the Christmas Story I want us to think about now.

Sovereign God Evident In This Story
Everything was arranged by God. A census of the Roman Empire would bring Middle Eastern people to their home towns (Lk. 2:1- 3). One particular priest, Zechariah, was on temple duty on one particular day, and spoke with an angel (Lk. 1:8-22). Joseph, a carpenter in Nazareth, and Mary, his betrothed, were favored – and tremendously challenged – with a life-changing opportunity to serve God (Lk. 1:26-38; Mt. 1:18- 25). Shepherds on a Bethlehem hillside saw and heard good news from outstandingly bright angels in the night sky (Lk. 2:8-15). Wise Magian priests, from what we now know as Iran, followed a guiding star to a specific Bethlehem house to worship this newborn infant (Mt. 2:1-11). They were carefully kept by God’s almighty hand from making it easy for a threatened worldly king to exterminate what God was carefully and deliberately bringing about (Mt. 2:7-15).

God involves whomever He wants in His work. He shows what He is doing to those He prompts to look for Him. This may be why you are reading this article. God prepared it in advance because He knows you and your current circumstances. The real Christmas story shows some men and women from among the whole population being moved to join up with what God was doing. Today it is up to us to join in.

Special Jesus Evident In This Story
Since a “specialist” is a person who devotes him/herself to a particular area of activity, it is not unreasonable to affirm that Jesus’ speciality is being the Savior. Being God Himself, Jesus could represent God on earth. Being human, Jesus could act on behalf of all humankind in the eyes of God. Jesus exuded God in His humanity. People knew from the beginning that He was different (Mt. 12:23; 22:33; Mk. 12:37). The way Jesus understood and applied the Law strongly hinted that He was at least an insider with God (Lk. 2:46-47). Some dared to believe He was even more than that – that this Jesus was God Himself!

Mary sang, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Lk. 1:47). Zechariah said, “God ... has come and has redeemed His people” (Lk. 1:68). John the Baptist, the son promised to Zechariah and Elizabeth (Lk. 1:13-17), would later prophesy to the people “the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercies of our God” (Lk. 1:77-78). By coming to earth, Jesus, God’s Son, brought a God-authored salvation for all believing people (Jn. 3:16).

God had every right not to forgive us. But instead He chose to forgive us. Angels told the shepherds “good news of great joy ... a Savior has been born to you” (Lk. 2:10-11). Those shepherds did not have to save themselves, as God brought salvation to them. I do not have to save myself, as God has done it for me. And you too are forgiven by God as you accept and cooperate in His plan of salvation. You can be comfortable with this holy God, since “Immanuel” means “God with us.” This special sovereign Savior made a total transformation and became a man. The true Christmas story is that God came down to be the Savior for all people in the world. John 3:16 puts it this way: “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Sin is what separates us from a holy God, and we are all in need of salvation.

Sinless Jesus Crucial To This Story
Every grandparent thinks his grandchild is the best there is. And I am no exception. But the fact is that Jesus was ever the only perfect baby. Because He stayed uncontaminated by any sin throughout His life on earth, He remains different from everyone else. He was/is unique, without qualification.

When Mary asked the angel Gabriel, “How will this be ... since I am a virgin?” his mysterious answer was, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Lk. 1:34-35). In a way miraculously outside both general medicine and standard theology, the Holy Spirit ensured that the flesh of Mary and the fullness of God would give birth to the perfect Son of God – the ever flawless, sinless Savior of humankind.

In His plan for salvat ion, the creator God produced the second Adam. He had earlier made the first Adam who tragically fell into sin by foolishly deciding he knew better than God (Gen. 3). All of us who naturally follow the first Adam can personally choose to live God’s way, thanks to Jesus Christ, the second Adam, the incarnate Son of God, the one and only Savior of the world (1 Cor. 15:45-47; Rom. 5:12- 21). By the incarnation, God in the person of Jesus Christ became human, but without sin. Our words fail to express what God’s Word has both said and done! People who dismiss talk of a “Godman” as nonsense must think long and hard on Gabriel’s closing words before his departure: “Nothing is impossible with God” (Lk. 1:37). A sovereign God gave a sinless Savior to a world in desperate need.

Jesus was and remains exclusive. He is one of a kind. Jesus either is or is not God the Son. If He is, He has brought with Him salvation for all. If He is not, history’s entire humanity remains headed for hell (Heb. 9:27-28). Is Jesus the saving face of God, or do we still have to face an unknown God at judgment?

Seeking The Satisfying Jesus
To avoid an empty Christmas – and an empty life 365 days a year for that matter – every person needs to know the fullness of God by experience. Jesus Christ alone meets our need for a Savior: “He is the image of the invisible God” and “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Col. 1:15; 2:9). The shepherds in the original Christmas account were described as “terrified” and “afraid” when the angel appeared and spoke to them (Lk. 2:9-10). We can identify with those shepherds. Something was happening beyond their control – it was a life-changing interruption!

And yet this “great salvation” (Heb. 2:3) was also personal, as the angel said to them: “I bring you good news ... a Savior has been born to you ... This will be a sign to you ... You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Lk. 2:10- 12). Jesus Christ is everyone’s Savior. But everyone’s Savior can only become your Savior when you personally invite Him to save your life from its present sinful condition and direction.

The Creator God who brings us all to the great judgment is also the Savior God who brings great joy to all who make their peace with God through Jesus beforehand (2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Lk. 2:10,14,20). The most important meeting this Christmas season is your personal meeting with Jesus Christ. Nothing else has such eternal significance.

Your Choice This Christmas
Reflecting on news coverage of Christmases past gives me a heavy heart. There is no need for the hopelessness that inevitably follows the drunken confusion of many so-called Christmas celebrations. Suggestions abound that you haven’t celebrated if you’re still sober. What rubbish! I urge you to be different from those around you. They may not know the heartbeat of the real Christmas story. Jesus became flesh, not to pander to fleshly desires, but to use His body as a payment for the toll-price sin takes from humanity (Rom. 6:23).

Christmas without Christ is like trying to swim without water! It cannot be done. Any pleasure derived from Saturnalia – that wild party time that coincides with Christmas and is based upon worship of the pagan god Saturn – is proven transient when January’s credit card bills come due. Why be deceived by activities which never deliver what they promise? The Bible says: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Instead of Saturnalia, this Christmas turn your attention to “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). Invest all of yourself in Jesus, who “will save His people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21). Practice living in the presence of Jesus as “Immanuel ... God with us” with your family and friends (Mt. 1:23). Recognize Him as “the Son of God” (Mk. 1:1). Exalt Him by raising Him up in all your activities. Continually thank God for the life-changing Christmas story: “A Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:11). This year celebrate the real Christmas Story.

By Colin Salter