Gospel

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I write this knowing that many will consider me a kill joy. As it is, my own reason to write this is for the sake of the truth, even it it leads to controversy. I personally believe controversy for the sake of truth is a divine command.

I believe the meaning of the holiday has been lost over the stretch of time and the addition of traditions. The only way one can regain the original meaning of the event is to refer to Biblical scripture.

Anyone would agree that the holiday and purpose of Christmas was to celebrate the birth of Christ, the one many agree is named Jesus. But why His birth? Why any birth for that matter? What makes His birth noteworthy?

First of all, the birth of Christ (Latin for Anointed One, in Hebrew the word is Messiah) was prophesied  in the Old Testament. I cite a couple of verses from that book:

“For unto us a Child is born,
      Unto us a Son is given;
      And the government will be upon His shoulder.
      And His name will be called
      Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
      Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
      Of the increase of His government and peace
      There will be no end,
      Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
      To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
      From that time forward, even forever.
      The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” - Isaiah 9:6-7

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
      Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
      Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
      The One to be Ruler in Israel,
      Whose goings forth are from of old,
      From everlasting.” -  Micah 5:2

Then, of course, we have the Christmas story in the Gospels, particularly of Matthew and Luke. I have to wonder where did the story of the Drummer Boy appear, since we find nothing of him in the Gospels. Neither do we find three Wise Men or Three Kings. It appears we deduce there were three because of three gifts, but when we look for the actual number of persons we find nothing mentioned.

What I wonder then is why the point of adhering to these traditions not venerated by the Bible, the one source for the revelation of God and Christ? Is it to feel good?

Is my being a Christian about feeling good, a warm fuzzy? Oh, God I hope it is much more than that!

How about this for a Christmas scripture:

"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." - 1 John 4:10-11

The interesting thing about the story of the Little Drummer Boy is that it does something man is prone to do: exalt self. This because it is the point of the story is how a child did a loving thing for the baby Jesus. The song ends with the approval of His mother and the baby Himself.

But the verse I quote above implies there is nothing wonderful about the love of man. Do we not know that human love is fickle, unreliable? Even the in Old Testament God declares there is nothing impressive about men, in this case the Hebrews.

“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;” - Deuteronomy 7:7-9

God basically says He only loves the Hebrews because He can do nothing else. It appears this same motivation is revealed in the statement of the Son of God Himself, which could be a Christmas scripture:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” - John 3:16

It seems to me that the point of Christmas is not love, but what God willed to do, even though we are unlovable. It seems that is the gift found in Christmas. If we have forgotten that, let us also forget to wish one another a Merry Christmas.

I suppose someone see me as being legalistic because I bring up Bible verses. My point then is what do we know what to believe in then? Beyond the Bible, is not everything else supposition? If the Bible is not true then it is a fable, like the Drummer Boy.

Pardon me, but I do not want to base my life upon a fable.

If it cannot be supported by Biblical scripture, we would do well to throw it out. Whatever man esteems  God calls an abomination (Luke 16:15).

Yet the Bible teaches that God on upholds one thing: His own Word, even above His own name (Psalm 138:2). If He does, should we also as well? If it is not in the true Christmas story, is it really Christmas?

So then so what? So what if a baby was born? Why celebrate the birth of a Child?

Maybe I should refer to something Jesus was revealing to His disciples:

“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” - Matthew 16:21

It appears the Jesus knew that His purpose for being born was to die. From this one could say that the shadow of the Cross loomed over the manger. One cannot have Christmas without Easter.

So I will conclude this with a quote from the Christmas Story itself, declared by the angels that announced the Birth of Christ to shepherds:

“Glory to God in the highest,
      And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” - Luke 2:14

A better translation would be: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, toward men of goodwill!”

What is men of goodwill but men who have resigned their wills to the One true God.

With that in mind, I wish you a Merry Christmas!

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