The Real Meaning of Christmas

December, 2002

by: Brock Bolde

Christmas — the mere mention of it sends many of us into a semi–comatose state as we think of all the work that awaits us! There are Christmas boxes, full of Christmas decorations, that must be taken out of storage; there are Christmas lights to hang; trees to cut down or buy; presents to purchase; parties to go to; goodies to bake and eat; cards to get out. The mere talk of it all makes it difficult for me to continue writing this article! But I must continue, because if I were to stop here, I would fail to talk about the real meaning of Christmas.

As parents, it can be a very difficult task to raise children with a proper understanding of Christmas. Try as we might, it gets difficult to put the focus on Jesus when our children are opening 20+ packages from friends and relatives. But let me urge you, and myself, to not grow weary in keeping the true meaning of Christmas in focus. With all the stuff that goes on, we can begin to take God's indescribable act of grace for granted. If we are not careful, we can begin to lessen the significance of Jesus' birth, turning it into nothing more than a mere historical event. As Christians, we cannot let this happen. As parents, we must do everything in our power to preserve the significance of Christmas.

When God the Son was born over 2000 years ago, he placed the exercise of His allpowerfulness, His all–presence, and His allknowingness under the direction of God the Father. It is this Jesus, “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth… who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father” (Revelation 1:5), that we need to celebrate and praise. R. Kent Hughes, in his commentary on Luke, shares the truth about Christmas when he writes:

It is not enough to hear about Jesus. It is not enough to peek in the manger and say, “Oh, how nice. What a lovely scene. It gives me such good feelings.” The truth is, even if Christ were born in Bethlehem a thousand times but not within you, you would be eternally lost. The Christ who was born into the world must be born in your heart. Religious sentiment, even at Christmastime, without the living Christ is a yellow brick road to darkness.

This Christmas, may God give us all the ability to have a proper understanding of Christmas. May He help us to truly celebrate the day that “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). May He give us a heart of compassion as we share the love of Christ with those who are on “a yellow brick road to darkness.” May he give us the strength to gently instruct our children, so that they might grasp the true meaning of Christmas this year. He is indeed a great God, so let us give Him the praise He deserves!