The following is a devotion I gave in Church after our annual kids' Christmas program:
I’d like to take just
a few minutes now to put that story in a broader theological context. The Christmas
story actually begins with an unfathomably powerful, intelligent and loving God
who created human beings for mutual love and fellowship with Him.
Unfortunately,
people—without exception—rebelled against their Creator by their thoughts,
words, actions, and attitudes; destroying the very purpose for which they were
created. You might almost say that human beings collectively extended their
middle finger in God’s face saying, in effect, “We’re going to do things our
way!”
So in his wrath, God
did one of the worst things he could have done to us. He let us have our own
way! He gave us up to follow our own desires, to live as we pleased, and
to reap the natural consequences of our own rebellion. You might say he
allowed us to stew in our own juices.
The result was
generations of what has often been called, “man’s inhumanity to man”—murder, torture, slavery, rape, robbery, corruption, extortion,
adultery, pornography, hatred, racism, drunkenness, physical and emotional abuse,
vindictiveness, arrogance, callousness, lies, bitterness, greed, envy, gossip, self-centeredness,
self-righteousness, refusal to forgive—and failure to show empathy, compassion
and generosity. And above all else: failure to love, worship and give
thanks to the God who created us and provides for us daily.
Our rebellion not
only destroys human relationships; it destroyed our relationship with God. It
destroyed the very purpose for which we were created! And every one
of us have contributed to this stew to varying degrees.
God allowed this insurrection in the hope that people would acknowledge the disastrous
results of their rebellion and turn back to him.
But not so fast! The
relationship was broken. Mutual love and fellowship are impossible when
one party is in rebellion. Besides that, no amount of philanthropy or other
good works could ever make up for rebellion against a holy God, or for the
utter destruction that rebellion caused to God’s originally perfect creation.
And that’s where Christmas
comes in! Rather than destroying his rebellious creatures—which may be what
many of us would have done—the Gospel of John says that God became flesh and
lived among us. God—in the person of Jesus Christ—was born as a baby in a
manger and grew up in a world of corruption and oppression. On that first Christmas
day he entered the stew of suffering that we created; and suffered
right along with us. He willingly submitted himself to mocking, beating, and
torture on a Roman cross as a sacrifice in our place. Jesus did this to save us
from the eternal consequences of our rebellion; and to restore us
to the purpose for which we were created. The good news is that all those who
turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith will have their sins forgiven and be
reconciled with God.
But there is a dark
side to this “good news.” Those who persist in rejecting the love of God that
was born in a manger on that first Christmas Day; and was later poured out on a
Roman cross—those who unrepentantly continue in rebellion against their
Creator; will face God’s wrath at the final judgment. The Gospel of
John says, that "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but
whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on
them."
All that is
necessary to be saved from that wrath, is to renounce or “repent” of our sinful
rebellion against God; and commit our life to Jesus Christ in faith. This faith
is not about something we do. It is about having a heart of loving
devotion dedicated to Jesus Christ above all else. Such faith—if it is
genuine—always produces a desire to follow and obey him. If
you have no desire to obey Jesus, you don’t have biblical saving faith. As the
book of James says, faith without works is dead.
This faith does not
guarantee freedom from trouble or tragedy in this life—in fact, it may
sometimes make life harder—but it does give forgiveness of sins, peace
and fellowship with God, a purpose for living, a sense of stability in a
turbulent world, and a bright hope for life after death.
In the words of the
Gospel of John, Christmas is the time when we remember that God—The Word—became
flesh and dwelt among us. And that God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
everlasting life.
According to Acts chapter
2, Peter had just finished preaching to a large crowd when he concluded by
telling them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you, for the forgiveness
of sins…” To anyone here this morning who has not committed their life to
Jesus Christ in faith, that would be my plea to you as well.
