Three Wonderful Things About Christmas
Excerpt from a book forthcoming early in 2018; more info to follow and HERE.
For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
Luke 2:11; John 1:14; 2 Corinthians 9:15
One statement seems to crop up repeatedly each Christmas season—“This is going to be the best Christmas ever.” Another form or variation of goes like this: “This Christmas is going to be perfect.”
Every Christmas has to be better than the last one. We are always on the quest for a better Christmas. Everything must be perfect! Nothing must be out of place! Nothing must be allowed to cast a shadow over our celebration!
I want to ask those who toss “the best Christmas ever” around to explain what it is that they’re after. What is it that would make this Christmas better than all those that have preceded it? Do we mean that this Christmas we will get the best of all gifts? Do we mean that this Christmas we will see the best of all decorations? Do we mean that we will pull off our contacts with family members and friends without a hitch? Do we mean that we will laugh more? Do we mean that we will eat more? Do we mean that we will go to more Christmas parties?
I’m certainly not opposed to people having an enjoyable Christmas, but I’m not quite sure how to process this endless quest for the best Christmas ever. I wonder if our craving for the “best ever” is really a manifestation of the discontent that has plagued us since Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden. We had the perfect once, but we lost it. And we’ve been trying to get it back ever since. In other words, I wonder if our yearning for the best Christmas ever really amounts to us saying about ourselves what the Bible says about us.
When I hear “the best Christmas ever” mantra, I want to say: “Give it up! You’re too late—two thousand plus years too late!”
The best Christmas ever has already occurred, and it was such a great Christmas that it can never be surpassed. I’m referring, of course, to the very first Christmas, that Christmas without which there would have been no other Christmases.
The first Christmas was the best Christmas because the best of all persons came to this earth to do the best of all things so that we can enjoy the best of all ends.
The best of all persons? That would be the Lord Jesus Christ. Out of all the billions who have occupied planet Earth, there is no one like Him. He alone qualifies for the title “God-man.” God in human flesh! And He came to this earth, not as a full-grown man, but rather as a baby. Who would have thought that God could be held in such a tiny package?
And the best of all things? That would be the work of providing salvation for sinners. That work required Him to live in complete obedience to God (by which He provided the righteousness sinners lack), and dying on the cross (in which He received the wrath of God for sinners). All who believe in Christ rejoice in Him providing the righteousness we don’t have and paying for the sins we do have.
What are the best of all ends? It is getting back into the paradise we lost! The theme of the Bible is this: paradise lost through sin and regained through Christ. It is the account of our access to the tree of life being denied because of our sin (Gen. 3:24) and that access being restored through the redeeming work of Christ (Rev. 22:2).
Each Christmas season, we also hear people telling us Christmas is “all about.” Some say it’s giving, others say it’s family, and yet others say it’s having fun. But this is what Christmas is all about: “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).
Is there anything wrong with people desiring to have a better Christmas? No, but the way to make this Christmas better is to think less about it and more about the first Christmas, which was “the best Christmas ever.”