You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
Summary: Faith is not a matter of blinding following the person in front of you. Our faith, Christianity, is a matter of logic and reason in a well-documented event that occurred two thousand years ago.
Today is Christmas Eve. In honor of the occasion we are taking a break from the Lord’s Prayer to reflect on the birth of the one who gave us the prayer; Jesus.
Isn’t it remarkable that the story of Jesus’ birth is still relevant? After all, the story is over two thousand years old. What other stories are that old that we celebrate every year?
History is a remarkable thing. There is real history and made-up history. The made-up kind is the history that people concoct to either explain something or to manipulate other people. The real history really happened. The myths of old are made-up histories. They “jump the shark” at some point and defy logic and reason.
Logic and reason are foundational to a reasonable belief system. Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of unreasonable belief systems in use. All of them exist because someone is willing to accept them as true. But that doesn’t mean they are reasonable.
What I like about Jesus is that his existence, his life, his resurrection, and his impact on today’s world are all reasonable.
Now, you might say, “If the Bible were reasonable, everyone would believe in God.”
My response is that if everyone could reason, everyone would believe in God. Unfortunately, not everyone can reason well. Some people have a hard time understanding that one plus one is two. But even if we agree that basic math is reasonable, there are a million other things for us to disagree on. Just ask your neighbor what he believes is true about Jesus and see what happens.
The thing about Jesus that is amazing to me is that he exists at all.
Mythologies are famous for being about mythological creatures that no one has ever seen. They are all clearly the product of the imagination.
Jesus is different.
Jesus, the man, is very believable. There are billions of us on the planet right now. One more man who lived a couple of thousand years ago is very believable.
Jesus, God’s Son, is more of a stretch. And yet, we have the biblical record that goes back thousands of years before the birth of Jesus. This is not a record of mythological beasts (Job’s account of the leviathan aside), it is primarily a record of people and historical events. The details in the Old Testament are astounding. Records of census counts, genealogical records, memos, letters, and real estate boundary lines are some of the kinds of records included.
Oh, but surely that is just window decoration to make it seem believable.
Nope. It all checks out. Everything dovetales together. It is a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces, and they all fit in their place.
And then there is the business about the Hebrew people and sacrifices. If anyone were to write a myth about God becoming man, it would be just a story without corroborating evidence. But the Bible is history, the record of actual events. The Hebrew people who wrote the Bible still exist. They still practice the faith of their fathers, and they still celebrate the Jewish holidays. Many still speak the Hebrew language.
It is true that to understand Jesus, we need to understand the Old Testament. But it is also true that we have the Old Testament to read and understand. We also have the New Testament. In it, God has recorded everything we need to know to inherit eternal life.
Application: Share the Good News about Jesus with someone you care about this Christmas.
Food for Thought: Why is it important to celebrate the birth of Jesus?
The Incarnation is miraculous not only in that it could occur, but that it did occur. It is not just that God could become man, it is that He was willing to do so. Jesus is God Incarnate – God in the flesh. He was willing to do what needed to be done. This isn’t amazing because God could do this as much as that He did. It means He loves us and wants a personal relationship with us. God is not beyond us – He is with us. Immanuel. Philippians 2: 5 – 11.
Thank you, Rich.
God is with us! That is a good reason to celebrate Christmas!
🙂
I agree with R. It’s because of God’s amazing grace and agape. For God so loved the world… (my amazement focuses on the word “so”.) Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8.
Well said, JEC.
So you might say that we give gifts to each other because God gave us the best gift of all, eternal life!
Why is it important to celebrate the birth of Jesus?
Its important for us to celebrate everything that God has done for us, all that God has allowed to happen. To remind us of His love. A perfect Father in heaven that has given us so much.
I’ve been married for a short time and everyday when I wake up with Angela I get to thank Him for things that He has done.
Last night for some reason I’ve been sad about my relationship with my family falling apart having to walk away from those whomever think wrong is right and can’t accept Christ ( yet. And I pray for their salvation). It hurts but I get to know about a new family I have been adopted into. Ones who know how to love. Everyday I yet to celebrate that all good things are from above, that God knows me so well and knew that I needed a relationship with Him.
Pausing again to think more……and to be thankful…
Tim,
Thank you for sharing this morning. I appreciate your thoughts about God’s gift to us of being part of his family. It is a great gift! If I can offer you some encouragement about family it would be this: God does not give up on anyone. In my experience, I see him working to bring all of us into relationship with him. As long as people are alive, there is hope that they will awaken to the truth.
(John 3:14-15) So in addition to being thankful, we have been given the gift of being hopeful. (Romans 15:13)
12-24-2022, Why is it important to celebrate the birth of Jesus?
The birth of Jesus Christ was the most important event in all history. God Himself endured confinement to the womb of a human for 9 months, followed by 33 years of confining Himself to a body of flesh as He served His creation, all mankind. He then gave Himself to the powers of humans, allowing them to severely beat and crucify Him for the sins of all mankind.
His words have been studied for two thousand years and to this day confound many considered to be the most brilliant of mankind.
The birth, life and crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has taught us one critical point which is often missed. The “ true meaning of tell others” which is missed by many of us as we speed read our way through the Bible and get back into conducting our important activities in this world.
Jesus has taught us, we are to tell others by the actions of our changed life, not words. He lived His message as He humbled Himself, touched the untouchable, loved the unlovable, and sacrificed Himself for all.
We tell people about Jesus as we allow Him to express His love for others in our daily lives. By humbling ourselves before God and allowing Him to give His message to others, by ” doing ” unto others as we would have them do unto us. Doing unto others what He has done for us.
Let Jesus give someone a hug this Christmas.
Thank you, Ron!
Nice summation! I especially like the encouragement to be the conduit for passing Jesus’ hugs to others. 🙂
Thank you Ron. It goes along with what pastor Rich shared today about the light of Christ in us and being the light to the world.
What a wonderful God we have. Never asks us to do anything He has not done Himself.
Merry Christmas Brother!
Ron