Christmas is a time of family, gifts, egg nog, and good cheer. And while most of us shop and open gifts, we should also remember why we celebrate Christmas - the birth of Jesus Christ. But why is the birth of Christ so important? Well, let’s turn to the Bible to find out.
When we look back to the first chapters in Genesis, we see the creation of the world, and the Fall of Man. Man is now depraved and subject to original sin and the curse God has placed on Man. But God also gives Man hope:
The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Genesis 3:14-15, NASB
He will be a descendent of David:
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
Isaiah 11:1-5, NASB
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
Luke 2:1-5, NASB
He will be born in Bethlehem:
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
Therefore He will give them up until the time
When she who is in labor has borne a child
Then the remainder of His brethren
Will return to the sons of Israel.
And He will arise and shepherd His flock
In the strength of the LORD,
In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God
And they will remain,
Because at that time He will be great
To the ends of the earth.
Micah 5:2-4, NASB
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,
ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;
FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER
WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’”
Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”
Matthew 2:1-8, NASB
He will be born of a virgin:
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14, NASB
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
“BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25, NASB
He came from Egypt:
When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son.
Hosea 11:1, NASB
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Matthew 2:13-15, ESV
He will be called a Nazarene:
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Matthew 2:19-23, ESV
What does Matthew mean here? You will not find a single prophecy in the Old Testament saying that the Messiah will “be called a Nazarene.” I believe that Matthew was counting on the knowledge of the reader at this point.
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
John 1:45-46, NASB
I think Nathanael demonstrates the basic idea; being branded a Nazarene demonstrates the Jews’ rejection of Him. Jesus is also called a Nazarene in Mark 14:67, John 18:5,7, John 19:19. If you’ll look back to what Matthew said, you’ll see he spoke of prophets - which is plural. So, it isn’t a single prophecy, but many; including these ones:
Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
To the despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the Servant of rulers,
“Kings will see and arise,
Princes will also bow down,
Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”
Isaiah 49:7, NASB
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Isaiah 53:3, NASB
The birth of Christ was announced by angels:
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
Luke 2:8-14, ESV
I have only listed some of the prophecies and events surrounding the Birth of Jesus. But it still doesn’t answer why it is important does it? Let’s look at a few more verses.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:1-4, 14-17, ESV
God became flesh and dwelt among us… the Creator of the World revealed himself, becoming a man, and stepped directly into our lives. And in Him there is life. This life is what I want to talk about. But before I talk about the life Christ offers, I need to talk about death.
I think one of the best definitions of sin I have heard is that of the Westminster Catechism, “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the Law of God.” All of us have sinned, in fact we are born into sin, it is our fallen nature (Rom 3:23, 1 John 1:8, Rom 5:12). And the consequence of sin is death (Rom 3:23, Rom 5:12). Despite what society may tell us, we should not trust our heart (Jeremiah 17:9). We are dead in sin and children of wrath (Eph 2:1-3).
However, Christ came to this earth and died on the cross for our sins. He took our punishment, paid our price and made us alive. He rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven. It is through the cross that we can be justified, not through anything we can do. And it is only through Christ that we can be made alive. (Rom 5:8-12)
Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:4-5
For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:19
Just as we were made sinners through Adam, we can be made righteous through Christ.
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
Isaiah 53:2-5, NASB
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:6-11, ESV
Jesus bore our sins. It isn’t exactly like Larry King has paraphrased is, saying, “your record don’t count; you either believe in Christ or you don’t.” It is true, that if you become a Christian, you are forgiven all of your sins. However, your record does count, that is why Christ had to die!
What you need to do is repent; that is, turn from your sin to God. And it is by God’s grace and through your faith that you are saved (Eph 2:8-9). And it must be faith in Christ and what He has done. Salvation comes from knowing Christ (1 John 5:11-12, John 17:3, John 14:6-7).
And while we are saved by Christ alone, and by grace alone, through faith alone, our lives are not to be lived out by a “decision” alone. I would harldy call it a mere “decision” anyway. Why we are saved through faith alone and not by works, faith is not itself alone (James 2:14-26). When we are made new (John 3:1-7, 2 Corinthians 5:17), we must take up our cross and follow after Christ, dying to ourselves and living in Him (Luke 9:23, Galatians 2:20).
Now, there is much more to Christianity, but I hope I have given you an idea of what it is and a glimpse into what Christmas is about. This is the hope that Christmas brings, the hope of Christ saving us from our sins and from Hell. The hope of life. If you have any questions, comments, or criticisms, email me or put them in the comments below.
Convictions, Puritans | Brian | 
December 29, 2007 8:13 am | 
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