For my title, I am borrowing the first line in John Lennon’s song entitled So This is Christmas, also called Happy Christmas.
Christmas is all about the eternal possibilities that God offers us through His Son, Jesus Christ.
The church decided to celebrate this magnificent miracle on December 25th. It is not an accurate date of Christ’s birth, but it serves the purpose nonetheless, by establishing a particular day where we remember the Father and the Son’s magnanimity in their love towards their highest creation – humankind.
Jesus is the living word of God, the visible representation of the invisible Jehovah God. Christmas celebrates Their combined efforts to save humanity. How so?
I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security). The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His [own] life for the sheep. Jn. 10:9 – 11. AMP
Notice the first line of that Scripture. ‘Anyone who enters in through Me will be saved.’ Christ was sent to earth to save everyone – that includes you.
Let’s look at how God’s plan plays out…
Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]…” Gn. 1:26 AMP
This may not jive with your picture of Christmas, but it is vital to it. It is telling us that Jesus was with God when humankind was created. Let’s corroborate that with another word of God:
He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. Jn. 1:2, 3. NLT
We see then that Christ was both present with God, at the very beginning of the creation of the universe, and for the formation of all that inhabits it. Jehovah designed the same and created it all through His Son. How is Jesus able to do that? God tells us through the Holy Spirit:
He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation. Col. 1:15 AMP
Jesus told us that God was a Spirit being. (Jn. 4:24). Thus, prior to Christ’s physical incarnation on earth, He too must have been a Spirit being, because the Bible tells us that flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 15:50).
Christ is as old, at least as far as time is concerned, as the universe itself. However, His resurrected self, like His Father, lives outside of time.
Since, humankind was present, God has sent us His salvation plan in several prophecies concerning His Son:
In what is possibly the oldest biblical book, Job, we are told that the ‘Redeemer’ lives and will come to the earth (Job 19:25). Moses, in a similar time frame, (1400 years before Jesus arrived), told us that He would battle the devil until the end of time, that He would be Jewish in His incarnate form, and that He would speak for God (Dt. 18:18).
Four hundred years later, Jehovah would send a message, by way of the prophet Samuel, to King David – telling him that his descendant (the Messiah) would establish an eternal heavenly kingdom (2 Sam. 7:12 – 14).
King David also received a heavenly vision of Christ’s future crucifixion. (Ps. 22:16 – 18).
Leaping forward to 740 B.C., the prophet Isaiah revealed that Jesus would be born of a virgin, and that He would play the most important role in the Kingdom of Heaven:
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! Is. 9:6, 7. NLT
Jesus plays a big role in your salvation, of which, God brought about. Here’s how big:
…for through him (Jesus) God created everything in the heavenly realms and on the earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. Col. 1:16 – 20. NLT
Like I said earlier, God brings His salvation, through Christ, to all peoples:
And now the LORD speaks – the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The LORD has honored me, and my God has given me strength. He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Is. 49:5 – 6. NLT
The prophet Isaiah also prophesied about how poorly most of the people treated Jesus when he arrived; yet He gave up His life for all peoples. In His death and resurrection, He provided the way to live in eternity with Jehovah and Him. (Is. 53:4 – 7.)
Most of us are very familiar with the Christmas story: God sent His only Son to bring the Gospel. Jesus, being the faithful and obedient Son, allowed His all-powerful Spirit to be housed in a frail human body, so that we could commiserate with Jehovah’s exact image.
We know of the angel Gabriel, Joseph and Mary, the virgin birth, and the angels’ proclamation of its importance:
“Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all people. For this day in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (the Messiah).” Lk. 2:10, 11. AMP
This miracle Savior grew into a His manhood – working miracles, revealing the truth of God, admonishing those who twisted it, and despite the resistance He faced from unbelievers, kept His invitation for salvation open:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] an My burden is light.” Mt. 11:28 – 30. AMP
Finally, Christ makes it clear that there is no other way to salvation:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” Jn. 14:6
So, let us return to our title of this post: So This is Christmas and What Have You Done? Far and away, it’s all about what God and Jesus have done to free us from the sting of death.
However, for all what we have talked about, the gift of Christmas, is only available to those who do accept Christ. I hope, that is what you have done…
Merry Christmas!
Goodnight and God bless.