It's the most wonderful time of the year. It's the season to rejoice
-that's what we hear from many during the holidays in December.
I think the majority of the whole world is most excited about the December holidays. It is that time of the year where families get reunited, where blessings are recounted, where people enjoy good food and gatherings, and where people give and receive gifts. It's quite wonderful, right? But what really is this time of the year about? Yes, it is worth celebrating, but are we celebrating it right or do we even know what we are celebrating in the first place? Yes, it is wonderful, but what makes it wonderful?
Before I continue, I would like to say that it is not my aim to address when Christ was born. My aim in this post is to help people see what the Scriptures tell us about the essence of the birth of Christ. It is not so much about when He was born but why He was born. Now that that is clear and settled, I would like to move on laying down what the Word of God says about the reason why Jesus Christ needed to be born.
The reality of sin, our sinfulness, and God's wrath
It is of great importance that we understand first why the birth of Jesus is worth celebrating. In order to grasp its essence, we need first to have a grasp of the reality of sin, our sinfulness, and the wrath of God. Sin is a reality and it is heinous. It is a crime and can be regarded as a great treason. It is worthy of eternal punishment for it is committed against the eternally holy God. The Bible teaches,
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God -Romans 3:23
and it is for this reason that
There is none righteous, no, not one -Romans 3:10
To sin against God is to wage war against Him and it is a fearful thing. To sin against Him is a treason worthy of death. Thus, a sinner has no peace with God. His greatest malady is not his lack of job or food nor his empty bank account - it is his sin and the wrath of God that abides in him due to his sin (John 3:39).
So, a sinner must be punished for God is just and holy. He cannot just sweep our sins under a rag and call it a day. God upholds His character in everything that He does. Thus, He does not let even a single sin to go unpunished (Exodus 34:7). If we think that doing good works can neutralize our sinfulness, we're simply wrong. No matter how sincere we are in doing good thinking that we can work our way to heaven, we're just wrong for even all our righteousness are just filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6).
No peace with God
Again, to sin is to wage war against God and it is for this reason that a sinner has no peace with Him. Having no peace with Him means being far from Him. It means an utter separation from Him. It means not having His life. It means not having Him as our joy and treasure. It means having a great divide between us and Him. It means that His holy wrath abides in us (John 3:39). It means that we are children of His wrath (Ephesians 2:3). It means we're in the dark and darkened in mind and heart at the same time (Romans 1:21, Ephesians 4:18). It means that we loved darkness rather than the light (John 3:19). It means hopelessness. It meanns having no hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12).
This is the state of a sinful man, the state of having no peace with the Lord.
The Savior was born!
But then, God loves His own - those whom He chose for Himself before the foundation of the world. When the fullness of time had come, Paul tells us:
when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. -Galatians 4:4-5
The Son of God was born in Bethlehem. So the season that we celebrate each year is not so much about the date, it is about the incarnation of the Son of God, it is about God Himself becoming like one of us and dwelling among us (John 1:14) to redeem us from all of our sins.
Now let us go back for a moment to our malady which is sin. Sin is the greatest problem of man and the Lord Jesus Christ is the salvation from sin. Look at what the Angel told Joseph about the Lord Jesus:
And she (Mary) will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. -Matthew 1:21
The role of the Son of God is in His Name - He will save His people from their sins. So, the Son of God was born as a man for a purpose and that is to save His people from their sins. And that's exactly what He did. At the cross, He took our sins upon Him. He committed no sin. He had no sin of His own yet He suffered as if He did. He truly came "to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). When He paid the price that we could never pay, what was written concerning Him was fulfilled:
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6
He is prophesied to be the Prince of Peace. But why? Yes, he gives peace that surpasses all understanding. He gives us peace from all our worries. He is peace and the very source of it. But the depth of Him being the Prince of Peace is that He became our peace with God. He did not come just to give us the peace of God but to become our very peace with God. Paul tells us:
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation -Ephesians 2:13-14
So, why the Prince of Peace?
Jesus Christ became our peace with God when He took our sins and was punished at the cross for them. At the cross Him who knew no sin became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). He who is the Blessed One became a curse and the bearer of our curse (Galatians 3:10-13). What He did at the cross is perfectly laid out by the Prophet Isaiah:
Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him_, And by His stripes we are healed. -Isaiah 53:4-5
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him. It means that the punishment, the curse, the wrath that should fall on us fell upon Him. He received them all willingly and out of pure love. We now rejoice over the reality that through faith in Christ, we have now peace with God. The greatest reconciliation that we can have is now ours because of Him.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ -Romans 5:1
Christ's sacrifice at the cross brought us to God (1 Peter 3:18). We're no longer far from Him. We can now have Him as our very joy and the source of our joy. He can now freely enjoy treasuring Him and savoring His grace, lovingkindness, and goodness.
I don't know what your reason is when you celebrate this season. But my hope and prayer is that that this writing changes you heart with regards to this season. Again, we celebrate the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for we know and we believe that He is our Savior from our sins, that without Him, no amount of our works can reconcile us with the holy God.
I hope that the next time we celebrate this season, let's sit down for a moment and remember why our Lord Jesus came. Let us stop for a moment and pour out our grateful heart to Him for saving us from our sins.
-jep
