No Christmas, No Easter
My three kids and I were having a discussion the other day — about Christmas. We were talking about the importance of the events that we celebrate. Obviously we celebrate the advent and birth of Jesus Christ. We celebrate that by giving gifts and sending cards out to those we like. (How those have to do with the birth of Jesus I have yet to understand.) But there is a grander celebration.
It is clear that Jesus was born, if one is to believe the Bible. It is certainly a momentous occasion for all of us; do we not annually celebrate our own arrival on earth, as well? Jesus was different though — He understood that His time on earth was only a fraction of who He was. It may sound trite, but Jesus was born to die.
If we understand the grand plan, then we acknowledge that God indeed loves us humans. We see that God hates sin. Since we, as humans, commit sin, then He must be distanced from us. His love is so great, though, that He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the price for this sin. The outcome allows Him to be together with us again. The price is death, so Jesus came to earth to die.
Jesus, as God, is immortal and cannot die. It was important, then, for Jesus to take on the humanity of mankind and become both fully God and fully human. This allowed for Him to die as a man. We celebrate His death and His resurrection on Easter. So, as you can see, without Christmas, there would be no Easter.
Paul makes it clear that the death and resurrection of Christ is the utmost priority for our faith.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 17-19 — For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures… And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Truly we are to be pitied if none of this is true. But it is true! And our hope lies in the simple fact that Jesus actually existed. If Jesus truly lived on earth and then died for us — if He was truly buried and then raised again — then we certainly should celebrate His arrival here.
Whether you give gifts or send cards or spend time with family or eat a turkey in the next week — remember this: we are eternally free because of the greatest act of love. We are loved and Jesus is the proof. May your holiday be filled with admiration, worship, and joy towards our God. May that exude through you to those around you. And may you be motivated by the concept that Jesus was here for a reason — and so are you.
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