Let us not lose focus!
We are on the eve of one of the greatest days in the history of the world, Christmas. For many people this day is only about singing Christmas carols such as Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, presents, family gatherings, Christmas meals, and traveling during Christmas vacation to warmer climates, that is if you live up north. The real meaning of this most holy day has been lost in the misguided celebrations that have been initiated by those people whose focus is on the things of this world.
In all reality there is no Christmas without Christ. The birth of Jesus, on the day we call Christmas, is the very plan of God being carried out through the working of His Holy Spirit in the life of a young virgin woman named Mary. This momentous event is the fulfillment of the long-awaited promise of a Messiah, who would come to bring salvation and hope to a lost and broken world. Immanuel (God with us) is not just a statement we make at Christmastime, but it is a foundational part of our Christian faith. It is only because God sent His Son into our world to be born in the flesh, live a sinless life as one of us, and be persecuted and hung on a cross for our sins, that we have the gift of salvation.
If Christ, the Son of God, and Savior of all, was not the one born that first Christmas, as the world continually tries to promote, then we are a foolish people to be pitied. But thanks be to our Lord God Almighty for that my dear brothers and sisters is definitely not the case. The Bible, the inerrant Word of God, clearly acknowledges and professes the authenticity that Jesus, the baby born to a virgin, in Bethlehem, on the first Christmas, is the Christ of Christmas. “For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above, While mortals sleep, the angels keep Their watch of wondering love. O morning stars, together Proclaim the holy birth, And praises sing to God the king, And peace to all the earth.” (O Little Town of Bethlehem v. 2) A blessed and Merry Christmas to all! Pastor McCarty