Christmas Good

Steve Arterburn

And in the same region
[Nazareth] there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their
flock by night.  And an angel of the
Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they
were filled with fear.  And the angel
said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that
will be for all the people.  For unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will
find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’  And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased’ (Luke
2:8-14).

‘That,’ as the Peanuts
character Linus so memorably said, ‘is the meaning of Christmas, Charlie
Brown.’  But what is the need for Christmas?  Okay, so Jesus came.  But why? 
For what purpose did he come?  The
most ancient creed of the church confesses that Jesus came down from heaven to
be born of the Virgin Mary ‘for us men and for our salvation.’  In other words:

Jesus came because, as a result
of the Fall, all people are spiritually dead, alienated from God, and subject
to God’s judgment.  That is to
say, the eyes of their hearts are blind to the truth (2 Cor. 4:3-4).  Their minds are unwilling to countenance or
obey the truth (Rom. 8:7-8).  They are
without a saving knowledge of God, and so without hope (Eph. 2:11-12).  And they stand without adequate defense or
plea before the righteous condemnation of the holy God against whom they have
sinned (Rom. 1:1-3:20).

Therefore, Jesus’ coming
addresses the deepest, darkest circumstances of the fallen human predicament.  That is to say, Jesus came to witness to the
truth (Heb. 1:1-3).  To open blind eyes
and closed hearts (John 5:30-47; 6:22-51), and to renew recalcitrant wills to
the truth of the gospel (John 1:1-18). 
Most importantly, Jesus came to address the debt we owed but could not
repay by accepting the penalty for our sin in our place (Isa. 53; 1 Pet.
2:24-25).

But ultimately, Jesus came to
give us a present hope that cannot be taken from us, and a glorious future that
will never end!  That is to say,
through faith in his all sufficient and utterly complete work of his life,
death, and resurrection, Jesus has taken away all that stood in the way of our
reconciliation to God the Father.  We
have eternal life that begins in the here and now.  And that life can never be taken from us’not because our grip
upon Christ is steadfast, but because his gracious grip upon us neither
flinches nor fails (John 10:1-30; Rom. 8:31-39).  Moreover, those who believe in Christ should be agents of
goodness in this world, following the example of Christ’s self-giving love in
the truth by the indwelling power of Christ’s Spirit.  And doing so in full assurance and great anticipation that, one
day, the Lord himself will wipe every tear from their eyes, drive every sorrow
from their hearts (Rev. 1-4), and bring them to dwell forever in a place
greater than any eye has seen, any ear has heard, or any heart has ever
imagined (1 Cor. 2:9).

My friends, I hope that this
holiday season you’ll take some time to read and meditate on the texts that
I’ve referenced here.  For
this, and nothing less, is the meaning of Christmas!  Joy to the world, the Lord is come.  Let earth receive her King!

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Also, see our New Life Devotionals and Bibles.