Christmas: According to the Scriptures

As the song says, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” I love this season, all the decorations, the lights, the festivities and the family time. There is a lot to be thankful for.

Growing up in a Christian home, Christmas was always a part of my life. My parents made sure that every Christmas we spent time together as a family, typically by candle light, reading the Biblical account of Christ’s birth. Admittedly, as a child I wanted to rush through the story so I could get to my presents faster, but in time I began to treasure the time we read together more and the presents became less important.

I thank God for giving me a childlike faith very young to hear the words and receive the gift of Christ. I am grateful for being blessed with two godly parents who shared the Word of God with me continually as they raised me. I became acquainted with the amazing stories of the Bible, from creation, to the flood, to the crossing the Red Sea, David and Goliath, the virgin birth, the life of Christ, and the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord, just to name a few.

As an adult looking back I realize that I grew up believing some amazing and fantastic things. It wasn’t until my mid-twenties that I encountered a “crisis of belief” season, where I continually asked, “do I really believe this stuff.” But at the core of the questioning there was a foundation of faith that never wavered from accepting the biblical account.

What if I grew up in a non-Christian home and didn’t hear the story of the Bible, the true story of Christmas, the resurrection, until my mid-twenties, or even my forties? Would I just accept all the stories as I did when I was child? Or would I wrestle through tough questions?

As Christians, we tell a fantastic story, with supernatural events that contradict our perception of reality. It’s not a story we made up, but one given to us by our Creator. It’s not a human myth, but a divine plan. The Bible is clear that our eyes, ears, and hearts have to be made alive to understand the glorious Gospel. So we should not be surprised when someone says, “I don’t believe the virgin birth, that is borrowed from pagan myths!” Or, “I don’t believe miracles exist, I only believe in what science can prove.”

But God, in His wisdom, provided a resource for everyone who desires to know the truth when He gave us the Bible.

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30–31)

“that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:4)

The Bible has been written that you may believe, and have certainty in the things that it teaches us. Which means, we can be confident in what God’s Word says about Christmas!

Briefly I want to give a few reasons why we believe the biblical account about Christmas:

The Birth of Christ was Expected:

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: (Matthew 1:22)

Fulfilled Prophecies

The story of Christmas doesn’t begin in a small Israeli town 2,000 years ago. No it begins much earlier than that, even “before the foundations of the world.” When God spoke the world into existence, He already planned to send His Son to redeem a fallen world. All throughout the Old Testament are lamp posts pointing to the coming Messiah (or Christ), Savior and Redeemer of His people

Immediately we see in the first few chapters of the bible that man messes up God’s perfect creation. But instead of getting angry and destroying man, God provides a covering for Adam and Eve and initiates a promise that the offspring of the woman will crush the enemy (Gen 3:15). This was spoken 4,000 years before Christ.

Fast forward to when the nation of Israel was divided and in captivity, Isaiah prophecies even more specifically that the sign of the Messiah’s arrival is that a virgin will give birth to a son and call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14 cf. Matthew 1:23), some 700 years before Jesus.

Micah prophesied that the Messiah would come from a little town called Bethlehem (Micah 5:2 cf. Matthew 2:6) 700-750 years before Jesus came.

A hundred years later (600 BC), Jeremiah prophesied that there would be a great sorrow for the loss of children in Israel, which was fulfilled when Herod massacred the children 2 yrs old and younger (Jeremiah 31:15 cf. Matthew 2:18).

And Hosea, (700 BC) prophesied that God would call his son out of Egypt, which was fulfilled when Joseph to Mary and Jesus to Egypt so Jesus wouldn’t be murdered by Herod (Hosea 11:1 cf. Matthew 2:15).

I could go on, but the point is clear, books written hundreds of years before Jesus was even born gave specific prophecies that were fulfilled when Jesus was born. These were not obscure writings, as the magi came across prophecies in the East and traveled to see their fulfillment.

One special account is given in Luke 2:25-32, where an faithful older man waited upon the Lord for years, and the Spirit revealed to him that he would live to see the Messiah born. Read the text as he sees the baby Jesus and worships God.

The Birth of Christ was Historic

The biblical account does not make up characters, but includes real people, who really lived and were really in Israel. Joseph and Mary and Zacharias and Elizabeth and Simeon and Caesar and Herod and Quirinius (Cyrenius) are real people, and Bethlehem and Jerusalem and Nazareth are real places, and all these events happened in real time.

The biblical record was given by eye witnesses during the life time of other eyewitnesses. So if Matthew was making something up, there were eye witnesses who could call him out or correct him. So, when you are bored of looking at all the names in Scripture, remember that at one time those people were alive to testify to the events written.

The Birth of Christ had a Purpose

Jesus didn’t come to the world just so we could set aside a few days to exchange presents. His purpose was much bigger and grander than our imaginations can comprehend. As we saw earlier, the story of Christ began before time began, God had a plan.

Jesus said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

The virgin birth and incarnation of Christ that first Christmas was so essential to everything the Bible teaches. Jesus was born of a virgin, without sin. He lived a perfect life in complete fulfillment of the Law and therefore was the perfect sacrifice for fallen humanity. His resurrection was evidence of the payment being received.

The purpose is to provide the way to forgiveness and reconciliation with God for all who believe.

The Birth of Christ has Impacted all of History

 What kind of impact has Jesus had on the last 2,000 years of history? What sets His story apart from other religious myths or legends? Consider the fact that our historical calendar is divided by His birth: BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, meaning “the year of our Lord”).

Dr. James Kennedy wrote a book called, “What if Jesus had never been Born?” In it, he writes,

But what if Jesus had never been born? What difference would it have made if a Bethlehem stable had never served as a makeshift deliv­ery room? A great deal. Jesus, the greatest man who ever lived, has changed virtually every aspect of human life. Much of what we take for granted — our high regard for hu­man life, the elevation of women, education, science, charity, hospitals, capitalism, the abolition of slavery, representative govern­ment, literacy, and the development of art and music — all find their roots in Christ and His teachings.

Perhaps the most convincing evidence is the power of a transformed life, when one sinner comes to repentance and truly follows Christ. When we encounter Christ and surrender to His loving embrace, and allow His Spirit to guide us, we become a beacon to this lost world that Jesus lives.

Have you encountered Christ? Do you know that you are loved by God and that Christmas is the story of how God is pursuing you?    

Scandal: The Kindness of God

Have you ever received a good grade when you deserved a bad grade? Maybe your teacher graded on a curve or was feeling generous, you just knew you deserved a worse grade than you got.

One paper I wrote in seminary (school for Bible studies) I was particularly fond of. I won’t bore you with the title and topic as it was, or at least I thought it was, some deep theology. I spent well over 30 hours crafting this paper, I used more than 50 sources and it was over 30 pages long. I thought my professor was going to read it and be like, “this is the best paper ever!” Was I ever wrong.

When I received my paper back it became very evident that my professor didn’t not agree with my assessment. Instead, he marked up everywhere I was wrong. To this day, I still think he used all the ink in two red pens! It was awful. One look and I dreaded looking at the grade. Somewhere around half way through the paper he stopped grading and wrote, “well I think you got the point.” That point being that this was an inferior paper!

So, I turned to the last page expecting a failing grade, but I was surprised to see that I received a “B”! How is this possible? From the markups, I certainly deserved an “F”, so how did I get a “B”? His response was, “when I am forced to read inferior work, I go into conflict mode and I am mad at you for making me read this, so I markup everything. Then when I finish, I consider my emotions and have grace upon you.”

When we come to the end of Hosea, a book that is about God’s anger against sin where God points out the depths of Israel’s sin in the story of Gomer. If you skipped the story and just read the judgment against sin, you’d expect the final report card to be destruction. But chapter 14 reveals a different response than anticipated.

God calls out to Israel to return to Him, an invitation to repent, and find grace. The book paints the picture that they deserved judgement and hell. But God’s response is full of grace!

Allow me to paraphrase: “I will heal them, I will love them, my anger has turned away, I will refresh them, I will protect them…” God sees their unfaithfulness, their rebellion and their sins, and they were warned about the judgment, but He offers kindness, mercy and grace!

Paul tells us in Romans 2:4 that the “kindness of God leads us to repentance.” When we understand that we are sinners and we deserve judgment for our sins, but we hear about God’s demonstration of His love toward us, we are drawn to repentance because of His kindness and goodness. The truth is this, without the commandments of God and His declaration of judgment, we would not know the kindness of God that leads to repentance.

I thought my paper was good, well written and deserving of praise, until I saw my professor’s remarks. Then I felt like they were worthless and deserved a bad grade. Much like our lives, we think we are overall good and deserve good things, until we are confronted with the Law of God and the judgment on sin. You and I are underserving of God’s grace, we deserve just punishment for our sins, BUT God is gracious and kind and has made a provision for our sins. He turned away His wrath by sending His Son to take our place on the cross. Jesus’ sacrifice opened the doors for us to receive forgiveness of sins, healing to our brokenness, refreshment to our weariness and protection from the judgment to come!

When Gomer hit rock bottom, Hosea’s love appeared all the greater. When we see, and understand our brokenness, the kindness of God draws us to Himself. Our response is then repentance. Genuine repentance is simply a change of heart and mind that leads to a change of action.

Listen to the my paraphrase of their prayer of repentance: “God take away our sins, we will sacrifice bulls to demonstrate our seriousness, we know that Assyria cannot save us, we will stop trusting in them, we will stop worshiping gods of our own creation, for in You we will find mercy.”

For us, it would be more like: “God, please forgive my sins, I am trusting in you and I want my life to reflect my seriousness to follow you. I will stop trusting in human effort and my own control to save me. I will stop pursuing my sinful desires, for only in Your Son will I find mercy.”

Hear the story of Hosea’s love for Gomer, hear the story of God’s relentless pursuit of Israel, and know that He loves you so much! Allow the understanding of judgment on sin to magnify the kindness of God that will lead you to repentance. Turn from your sins and trust Him.

As you do that, remember the importance of telling others about God’s goodness and kindness toward sinners. I still to this day tell others of the kindness of my professor on me, how much more should I tell others of God’s kindness toward all unbelievers?

Scandal: Better Than I Deserve

Have you ever found yourself saying, “I deserve better than this?” Why do you think that?

What do you deserve?

That’s an interesting question, but certainly needs a context to adequately answer it. If I didn’t study at all for a test, then I deserve an “F”. If I worked very hard and put in my 40 hours at work, then I deserve my paycheck. The question needs a context: School, Job, Hobby, Relationship, etc. Each context results in a different answer.

What about the greater context of life? Or how would you answer it regarding eternity? What do you deserve then?

The Bible clearly spells out the context and the answer to this question for us. We are all sinners and deserve hell. That’s what we deserve. We’ve been given the gift of life, but we have squandered it with sin. Sin is real and it corrupts everything about us. We deserve death, we deserve hell, we don’t deserve grace.

Thankfully God doesn’t make His decisions according to what we deserve or not. His plan is far bigger than us, and His ways are far higher than our ways. He painted a vivid picture for us about how He operates in the story of Hosea and Gomer.

It’s been a couple of weeks so let’s review. God told Hosea to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him. Hosea married Gomer. They had a child together, then Gomer had two more kids. God told them to name the kids Jezereel – judgment is coming, Lo-ruhama – No mercy, and Lo-ammi – Not my people. Those are not fun names.

Hosea continues to love Gomer and be a dad to his kids. As a prophet, his life and his misery is a picture of God’s relationship with the unfaithful nation of Israel. Hosea’s steadfastness and broken heart is a picture of God’s love for His rebellious people. Gomer’s unfaithfulness is a picture of the unfaithfulness of Israel, and ultimately all sinners (you and me included).

Unfaithfulness, sin, will result in judgement. Staying on the road of sin will never result in mercy. When your life is characterized by sin, you are not God’s people.

BUT, even in your rebellion God is patient, loving, and kind; he offers forgiveness and reconciliation to all who repent and believe in Him.

Chapter 3 picks up the final chapter of Hosea and Gomer’s drama. After Hosea and Gomer married, she was unfaithful to him several times while they began their family. After the third child was born, Gomer left Hosea to pursue her promiscuous ways. Soon she became a prostitute, and ultimately a sex slave.

This is where chapter 3 picks up. Gomer is at rock bottom. She no longer has her freedom. She is enslaved and being sold to the highest bidder. She has become an object, no longer seen as a person.

Now pause here for a moment. What feelings do you have regarding this story? Do you pity Gomer or do you feel that she is getting what she deserves? What thoughts do you have about Hosea? How must he have felt to hear that his wife, whom he never divorced, is being sold as a sex slave?

Have you ever been rejected? Have you ever lost a best friend or a boy/girlfriend? It’s very hard. Some people never recover fully from betrayal or rejection. It’s heart wrenching.

The Command 

Now God speaks to Hosea again, “Hosea, go buy back your wife and love her, even though she has loved many lovers.”

If I am Hosea I’d be thinking this is crazy. I’ve done my part. I married her, I’ve been faithful to her, I haven’t divorced her. I raised the kids. I don’t deserve this. She doesn’t deserve my love. I don’t want to go buy her back because she just hurts me every time.

But Hosea didn’t respond that way. God wasn’t finished with just telling him what he is to do.

So why does God command that of him? “Even as the LORD loves the children of Israel event though they have loved other gods and love cakes of raisins.”

Hosea, go buy back your wife to be a clear picture of what I am about to do for my people. That’s why. Hosea, your life is painful, but your pain is a picture of my love and my pain.

The Problem: 

Listen how God describes Israel: they turned to other gods and they love cakes of raisins.

They turned to other gods. They wanted to be like the other nations around them, so they began to worship their gods, the false images that are made by hand, the Baals and Asheroths of the world.

They are not so different then our day. Yeah they turned to carved images and Baals and Asheroths, but what do we turn to? How many NFL teams can you name? What about Celebrities? What’s the latest celebrity news? What’s the latest video game? What’s new on the technology front?

Ok, name the books of the Bible, yes all 66 of them. Who were the 12 apostles? Where was Jesus born? Raised? What river was Jesus baptized in? Can you tell me the 10 commandments?

Now I know that some of that is just trivia. But my point is this, we get so caught up in the world and succumb to what is popular. We want to fit in. We want to see the latest movies or listen to the hottest songs so we know the lines and lyrics to fit into conversations. We want the latest fashion, the coolest shoes, the slickest hair cut, etc. We prioritize the temporal, and neglect the eternal. That is what made God said about Israel, and we continue to break God’s heart today too.

The loved cakes of raisins. What in the world? God doesn’t like raisin cakes? What’s wrong with raisins. Raisin cakes in biblical times was considered an aphrodisiac, a reference that they became consumed with sex as a culture.

Hmmm, does that sound familiar? I often tell students that if they want to stand out in this world, seek purity in their relationships. Christians who stand strong in their pursuit of purity and don’t give into sexual temptations will stand out in this society today. That includes conversations and the way we talk about sex, the opposite sex, and sexual issues of our day.

Sadly, Christians today have eaten the raisin cakes of our culture and many have rejected the biblical standards for what feels good, what is convenient, and what our culture does. Many who claim to be Christians do not think that premarital sex is wrong. Many don’t think its wrong to live with your special someone before marriage. Many who claim to be a Christian don’t think homosexuality is a sin. Many who claim to be a Christian affirm everything about the LGBTQIA agenda today. Many think its okay to abandon your marriage to pursue “true love.” And the list goes on.

You see, we are the same as Israel. And God’s message to Israel is extended to us as well.

We see God’s heart for us in the story of Hosea. Hosea goes to seek his wife. He finds her at the auction house. He spends his hard-earned money on the unfaithful, used up Gomer. He takes her home and declares she will no longer play the whore, she will learn to be faithful to him and he will be with her.

The Story:

I picture it this way:

Gomer is spent, she feels used, worthless and unworthy of anything good. She never intended to be here. She just wanted to find love, to be loved, to feel loved. But as long as she could remember, she always felt empty and unworthy. Now she is chained to the auctioning post and will soon be a slave, no freedom, no love to look forward to. She will be used, abused, neglected and cast aside.

The auction begins, she doesn’t even want to look at the crowd. She doesn’t want to know who bids on her, or what sick and twisted person would want her. “This is what I deserve, I couldn’t expect anything else,” she thought. The auctioneer keeps chirping, buyers keep calling, and bystanders are jeering.

As the commotion builds, her mind travels back to that day when a gentle and good man asked her to marry him. She remembered her wedding day, and the moments of joy and happiness she felt in the early days. Why, oh why did she reject that life. He had vowed to give her everything she needed and wanted. He said he knew she wouldn’t stay with him, but he loved her anyway.

In the beginning, she felt remorse when she would sneak off for a rendezvous with another man, only to find him willing to take her back. But the urges seemed to control her, her self-doubt and self-loathing drove her to continue rejecting the good man and pursuing an unfaithful lifestyle.  

She began to sob uncontrollably. The auctioneer paused and said, “stop that crying, nobody wants to buy a crier.” But she couldn’t hold back the tears as the memories kept coming. She was broken and tried to sink into the ground and disappear. “How did I get here,” she wondered.

“SOLD! For 15 Shekels of silver and some barley” Cried the auctioneer.

She couldn’t bring herself to look up at the buyer. Her broken and used up body couldn’t even earn the normal slave price. She felt so worthless and wished she could disappear. She huddled in the corner trying to cover her nakedness and feared the life that was coming.

The buyer quietly and slowly approached her. She couldn’t look up, she expect demands, maybe grabbing the chains and pulling her away. No sense in fighting it, she thought. The buyer didn’t say anything. He knelt down beside her, and wrapped her naked body in a soft blanket and just cried over her. It seemed like they were frozen in time, a gentle warmth began to creep over her trembling body as the unexpected kindness caught her off guard. She didn’t know what to do, so she stayed balled up and still hadn’t looked up.  

But then she heard a familiar voice, broken and gentle, speak, whispering her name… “Gomer…” he sobbed. “My Gomer…I…I waited for you…I searched for you…and now... I have purchased you back.”

Nothing in her world could have imagined this moment. She was perplexed. She didn’t know what to do, what to say. She lacked the ability to even move or look up. How could she respond to this display of humility, of love and kindness. So she just wept.

He slipped one arm around her neck and the other under her legs, and with the greatest of ease he lifted her off the ground and pulled her close to him. The bystanders never expected this seen. Never in the history of this auction site had a buyer ever treated a slave in this manner. The crowd began to buzz.

“That’s Hosea! He’s bought back his wife!” someone shouted. The buzz of the crowd erupted into a fervor as Hosea walked away carrying his wife.

Hosea whispered into her ear so only she could hear him, “you are no longer the whore, you no longer have to look for love with other men, for you are mine forever, and I will never leave you.”

As he finished these words, she summoned all the courage and strength she had to look up at him. Their eyes met and she realized he had changed. Once he was the carefree young man, but now he is aged. His eyes are blood shot from crying and she saw the pain she had caused and yet there was a gentleness there, not a harshness as she expected. She saw honesty in his eyes, he meant every word he said.

She was overwhelmed by the demonstration of his love. She had nothing to offer him, nothing about her deserved this kindness. There were no words. What could she say? So she said nothing, but wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her face in his shoulder and she cried.

Hosea carried her home, never faltering, never looking back.

That’s how Jesus loves you. He left heaven to pursue you and me while we were sinners. Romans 5:8 says it all, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He paid the ultimate price for our freedom. He offers us forgiveness. His resurrection gives us the power to overcome sin.

Jesus is calling to you right now, “believe in me, trust my love for you. You are no longer a sinner, you are my child. You no longer have to look for love, meaning and purpose in all those empty places, for I love you and have bought you back. I will be with you and will never leave you.”

Oh sinner, hear these words and know that they are true. No, you do not deserve this kind of love, BUT it is freely given to all who will receive it. Stop turning to the false gods of this world, look to Jesus and know peace and love like you’ve never imagined.