Christmas is not just a holiday, but a deeply personal journey for me. The nativity displays, the bustling Christmas shopping - these are not just traditions, but memories that transport me back to a time when I was young and impressionable. I was fortunate to grow up in a family that truly understood the spirit of Christmas, but yet never lived it. Yet, even amidst the festive cheer, I pondered this beloved holiday's true essence. It had to be more than just gifts and dinners, I felt it had to be about something deeper, something spiritual.
When I received Jesus as my Savior at 18, the puzzle pieces
began to take shape regarding the meaning of Christmas and why Jesus had to be
born and eventually die for all of us. The birth of Jesus has its roots going
back to the beginning in Genesis 3, detailing the fall of the accuser, which
tempted Adam & Eve to disobey God, and Adam & Eve, declaring their
justification of their actions and Adam’s eventual blame for the woman’s part
in their combined sin, allowed sin to enter a perfect Eden and ended up
corrupting all of creation.
God created Adam and Eve as imagers to resemble Him in every
way, but that desire came with risks. Free will could foster rebellion, and God
knew from the beginning that His creation could rebel. But God did not want
unthinking humanoids who follow blindly. He wanted men and women to have the expression of their humanity fully on display. That is the marvel and beauty of
creation, while at the same time, the ugliness and cruelty of human behavior.
This rebellion was not just the fall of mankind from God’s
plan but also a spiritual rebellion from God’s heavenly beings. Genesis 6
details this rebellion of the fallen sons of God and their cohabitation with human
women that produced hybrid children. The Lord attempted to stem the tide of the
rebellion with the flood, but the rebellion continued even after the flood, as
detailed in Deuteronomy 32:7-9 – where it says, “Remember the days of old;
consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you,
your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations
their inheritance, when he divided mankind, and fixed the borders of the
peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the Lord’s portion is
his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.”
God appointed spiritual beings (sons of God) to rule over
the nations of the earth until the Messiah would come, but they also rebelled,
except for the Lord’s people (i.e., Abraham's descendants) whom He looked after
personally. Paul references these spiritual beings in Ephesians 6:12-13 “For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the powers, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. For this
reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your
ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.”
Why do I mention all of this rebellion? And what does this
have to do with Christmas? It is the reason for the Messiah to be born, not
just as a man, but to be fully God and fully man. This means that Jesus, the
Messiah, was both divine and human, a unique and essential aspect of his role
in our salvation. A Messiah who can represent us before the Father in Heaven
and become our advocate and Redeemer. This is the true meaning of Christmas, a
celebration of the birth of our Savior, who came to reconcile us with God and
to bring us back into a right relationship with Him.
The nativity story tells us in Luke 2:8-15 “Now there
were shepherds nearby living out in the fields at night. An angel of the Lord
appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
absolutely terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen
carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the
people: Today, your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord.
This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth
and lying in a manger.” Suddenly, a vast, heavenly army appeared with the
angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace among people with whom he is pleased!” When the angels left them
and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known
to us.”
The bigger picture of why Jesus was born and had to die for
us is this: Salvation. Jesus did not bring salvation; He died to become our
salvation. If Jesus had not been born, we would be lost forever without any
means to come to the Father; we would be eternally trapped in sin and death
without any hope of salvation. This is why the heavenly army appeared to the
shepherds; they knew the stakes were extremely high to redeem God’s people and
that only God Himself could perform what was necessary to accomplish it, which
He completed through His son Jesus.
Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “For unto us a child is born, to us a
son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall
be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the
throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with
justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The Zeal
of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
As an adult, my love for Christmas has only deepened. The
gatherings at church and at home during Christmas time bring me joy. I genuinely cherish the understanding that God intervened to draw us closer to
Him, shouldering the sins of the world and declaring us clean. This
extraordinary act was carried out through a baby born in a humble manger to a
modest family. The salvation of the entire world was to rest upon those tiny
shoulders. It’s astounding that even the rebellious spiritual sons of God failed to
recognize that Jesus’ death would lead to their demise, or they would never
have allowed it to happen. Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 resonate deeply:
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the
ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they
had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.”
The statement “Glory to God in the highest” declares that
God’s glory is the most magnificent revelation of His persona, surpassing all
others. El Elyon was an epitaph used not only by the Israelites; in the ancient
world, everyone worshiped gods and called them “el.” Likewise, they also used
the term “elyon,” which means most high god. The Canaanites also called their god
of god’s “el elyon.” This may seem confusing, but as the Israelites employed
names and words from their culture, they used the same names from different
cultures of the day for a diety with the highest powers.
Though they used the same name as a Canaanite god, it is
clear the Israelites were talking about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;
the confusion ends when you read Psalm 97, which includes the name of the
Israelites’ Most High God, Yahweh.
The passage in Luke 2 could be read this way: “Glory to Yahweh in El Elyon.” This comes from Psalm 97:9: “For you, Lord (Yahweh), are the Most High (El Elyon) over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.” Clearly, the Israelites were exalting their God, Yahweh! And the angels reflected that back to the shepherds in Luke 2.
Yahweh is above every god in our lives, for there is nothing or no one greater than Him. He is our redeemer, lover, and friend, inviting us on a never-ending journey of discovery of His presence. This journey is a lifetime of marveling at the intricacies of His creation and growing in our knowledge of Him. The most comforting truth is that He knows us completely, and we can rest in the assurance that our identity as His beloved sons and daughters is secure, both in this life and the next.
This Christmas, may you encounter the awe-inspiring presence
of God’s glory and rediscover the profound gift given to us: “For unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given.” Just as Jesus was born into a lost
world needing a savior, so we are born-again as sons and daughters of our
Heavenly Father, who is offering us to the world to spread the good news of the
new life in Christ Jesus, a new identity that reflects the Father’s glory in
and through us as we grow in His grace and stature.
May you be irresistibly drawn into the depths of the Father’s love to experience His enduring peace and righteousness as you flourish in Him.
Have a Merry and Joyous Christmas in our Savior!
Stephen Barnett
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