Wonderful in His Birth

Matthew 2:11-15; Galatians 4:3-7; Revelation 12:1-5 — Jesus, wonderful in His birth

Over the years, I have written much pertaining to Christmas, Christ’s birth, and the Incarnation. This post got quite long. Just so you know at this stage, here are the main sections:

  • Has the Baby grown up yet?
  • The wise seek Jesus
  • Questions to chew
  • What Christmas means to me
  • Is Christmas for the Christian?
  • What makes a Christmas celebration Christian?

Now, let’s get to it!

He’s wonderful in His birth, but Has the Baby grown up yet?

Look around you with some attention to the obvious details, and you would think the answer is negative. This alleged celebration of Jesus’ birth mostly takes us back to His babyhood and infrequently focuses on His adulthood. In the US, the birthdays of certain Presidents rate a national holiday of sorts. That is appropriate for any country to do. But how inspirational would it be for the citizenry to remember these men only as newborn infants?

Has the Baby grown up yet? Imagine celebrating your birthday the way Christmas is celebrated! We would hang up pictures of you in your crib, but generally disregard you in favor of other festive and seasonal activities. And if anyone would get around to remembering you, it would be to reminisce about your birth. Maybe you’d get a baby rattle for a gift.

Has the Baby grown up yet? YES!! And let our remembrance focus on that! Let’s make this season a celebration of His accomplishments — past, present and future. And let’s make our gifts to Him worthy (at least in a minuscule way) of His maturity and accomplishments.

The Baby is grown up now! So let’s get beyond the baby stuff this Christmas!

We like the “Baby in the Manger” and the “Savior of the World” dimensions of Jesus Christ. We even have Christmas for the baby part and Easter for the savior part. But what about “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”? And “Head of the Church”? I wonder if we have no days left for such remembrances. Surely we must have an empty, unallotted season yet that we could reserve for His lordship. Got any suggestions? I certainly do.

Let’s make Today that special day that focuses on the lordship of Jesus. What a grand idea, eh?! That shouldn’t be too difficult to remember. Every day Today comes around, we’ll remember and live the lordship of Jesus.

And the special season will be the season of our lives.

(I excerpted the above something I wrote some 20 years ago. Do read the full piece here: Good Tidings of Great Joy.)

Because He is wonderful in His birth, The Wise Seek Jesus

Hohum. Another familiar story. Some fellows long ago see an unusual, unfamiliar star. Somehow they manage to follow it to where they wanted to go.

Those wise men sought Jesus and I want to know if people still seek Him. I know the world out there keeps getting colder and colder, but I want to know if God’s people are keeping their fire.

In other words, do we seek Jesus?

In our devotional times. This morning I read Proverbs 17. Did I do so because I was seeking Jesus, or because my conscience would smite me if I didn’t? In all fairness to myself (and to you), I believe another option exists: I wanted something to challenge, encourage, direct and energize me for the day. But that doesn’t qualify as seeking Jesus. I hope I remember for tomorrow morning.

In our church services…

In our crisis moments…

In our everyday times. Ah yes. The Daily Grind. Life at Its Essential Level. Eternity by the Second. Real Livin’. Whatever you call your every-moment every-day times, how conscious are you of this truth: The Wise Seek Jesus?

Excerpted and adapted from Wise Men Worship Jesus

How wonderful in His birth! -- He humbled himself, and became obedient (Philippians 2:8)

Questions to Chew…

  • Is my giving planned and purposeful?
  • Which of my treasures am I planning to give the Lord?
  • Why should I dare give anything less than my best to The Highest Sovereign?
  • If an item is “good enough” for God, why should I have anything better?
  • Do I believe God cares for me the way He watched out for His Son?
  • Being God’s son makes what difference to me?
  • Do I care about the daily battles involving God’s Son?
  • How have I sought Jesus so far today?

A bit of what Christmas means to me… and Jesus is wonderful in His birth!

  • Times together as families — special times
  • Letters and pictures and cards
  • Struggling and stressing to know what to give to others
  • Stressing about juggling schedules and plans and revisions
  • Indulgence of the flesh — overindulgence, really
  • Eat, drink, and be merry
  • Pretty lights and manger scenes
  • Christmas trees, Salvation Army bell-ringers, and some fat chimney sweep with sandy claws (or something)
  • Giving mostly to those who can give in return
  • Comparing — what I got vs what you got, what I gave vs what you gave
  • The poor feeling _______ at the _______ of the rich
  • a season of too much generous greed — Season’s Greedings
  • Merry Christmas!

For me, there’s Christmas and there’s Christ’s birth.

  • They’ve come to mean different things to me.
  • So let me tell you some of what Christ’s birth means to me

Nativity — the Navidad part of “Feliz Navidad”

  • another step in the fulfilment of the promise of Genesis 3:15, the promise of a coming One who would bruise the head of the Serpent
  • another part of God’s best plan for our redemption
  • the sacrifices of a mother and her husband…and the Child
  • a phase in the humiliation of God
  • the Greatest becoming one of the least
  • God giving His best gift to those He loves most — you!
  • when the Child came, “grace and truth came” (John 1:17)
  • the Creator in a baby’s body all His own
  • Emmanuel — God with us
  • ­Feliz Navidad!

(Read my full set of notes for a brief talk I gave at our church for Christmas 2017: What Christmas Is to Me.)

Since Christ is wonderful in His birth, Is Christmas for the Christian?

The question arises mostly from this celebration’s suspect past. Look up Christmas in an encyclopedia and you will likely see that some Christian leader “invented” the Christian Christmas as a more palatable alternative to some heathen observance of his time. He even picked the same date: December 25.

Does this mean that Christmas originally meant nothing more than a different name for a pagan celebration? I don’t know, though I suspect the answer should be negative. But even if the answer were positive, would such a fact be reason enough for us to develop a conscience against Christmas observance? I suspect not. Otherwise, it seems consistency would require similar action against the names of the days of the week. (Research those sometime.)

I believe Christmas is for the Christian…if. If the observance is about Jesus. If the practice is marked by purity, temperance and simplicity. If the purpose is kept Biblical. If all aspects of the celebration edify. If its spirit permeates the year.

Otherwise, why would a Christian want anything to do with Christmas?

What makes a Christmas celebration Christian?

The prefix does little to accomplish this. In fact, it does nothing towards the end of making Christmas Christian. Furthermore, our choice of songs, pageantry and activities don’t produce a Christian Christmas.

What are we left with, then?! If we have to ask that question our answer must be “A non-Christian Christmas.” And if that is the case (and even if it isn’t), I suggest we build our Christmas observances on these two stones:

Christ-centeredness. What we do, what we plan, what we say, where we go — these all should be about Jesus. Would it be too strong to say they should be for Jesus? I suspect we would have to admit that a lot of our Christmas “stuff” lacks tremendously in this essential focus.

Christ-likeness. “What Would Jesus Do?” is a terrific question. And as we have seen, it makes a catchy slogan. But it doesn’t seem to catch on very well as a lifestyle, even among professing Christians. So, what would Jesus do at Christmas? Well, what did He do while He lived among men so many years ago? May our Christmases resemble that more!

Excerpted from Emmanuel!

Additional Reading about Jesus Christ, wonderful in His birth

Now we are listening for you...

Above all, love God!