(Isaiah 9:6,7) "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."
(Isaiah 53:1-6) "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
During the Christmas season many people in America and around the world are captivated by all the different things that take place during this holiday season such as Christmas shopping, Christmas caroling, Christmas decorations, Christmas trees, Christmas candy, Christmas dinner, and all the trimmings that come with Christmas. Christmas is the time of year where we can spend time with our families and reflect on the past year. Christmas is the time of year in Christendom where we remember the birthday of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Nobody knows when Jesus was born. He probably wasn't born around December 25th. Legend has it that December 25th was chosen was because that date occurs during the winter solstice. Christmas has its pagan origins to it. During ancient Rome, Saturnalia, a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture--was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time where food and drink were plentiful and the normal social order in Rome was turned upside down for a month. There were all kinds of pagan celebrations in Rome that occurred during this time of year. It wasn't until the 4th century A.D. that church officials decided to institute the birth of Christ in this holiday season. Throughout the centuries since that time in church history, celebrating the birth of Christ was a major component of the Christmas holidays.
Even though the Bible doesn't mention a specific day when Christ was born, we designate December 25th as the day to remember Christ's birth. The Bible doesn't give a commandment that we celebrate Christ's birth. However, without the birth of Christ, there would never have been the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible does specifically command us to remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ by the partaking of the Lord's Supper (I Corinthians 11:24). The 17th century Puritans in Massachusetts were opposed to the celebration of Christmas because (1) the Bible didn't command it, and (2) the celebration of Christmas in that particular era was a time of drunkenness, rioting, and gluttony. However, regardless of whether or not people abuse the celebration of this holiday, Christmas is a time set aside where we remember the Biblical promise fulfilled in the Bible where Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and was lying in a manger. We need to remember that the purpose of Christ's coming was not for the purpose alone of just being born. Christ's birth wouldn't have been as significant to mankind if he was just born into this world. Christ was born into this world because of Calvary on Golgatha's hill. He was born into this world so that one day he would go to an old rugged cross to die for the sins of mankind. That's why we can celebrate Christmas. He came into this world to redeem us from sin. The Jews were looking for a Saviour to deliver them from the oppression of the Romans. However, Jesus' purpose wasn't to deliver the Jews from Roman rule. He came here to die for the sins of mankind and that mankind might be saved. It's not Christ's birth itself but what his life here on this earth led to which makes his first coming significant--Calvary. We should never lose sight of that.
In the next post I'll be presenting a historical background behind the reason why Jesus had to come into this world. It was due to the fall of mankind that Jesus had to come to this world. We'll explain that in the next post.
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