It is Christmas morning, the gifts have been opened, wrapping paper and trash cleared away, and I have a few minutes to sit and ponder the greatness of God and the sheer wonder of His love for us. As Townhall columnist Gregory Rummo wrote, there is in every single human being the imago Dei, the image of God. During the creation, God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,’ (Genesis 1:26 – NIV). And thus, from Adam and Eve to we who are alive today, we have all been created in the image of God. What does this mean? It means, as one professor explained to a class I was in, that there is something inside of each human that yearns for the touch of the Almighty, and yearns so mightily, that if there were no God, man would have (and has ) created Him.
But God Almighty is a Holy God. He is not as were the gods of the Greeks and Romans created by men to be like men— drunkards, debauchers of women, dishonest, and sly. Many through the ages, and especially today, would prefer the Greek and Roman gods, because there were no standards to meet, no purity required, no definitive morality, no absolute right and wrong. But alas, God is a Holy God who requires purity, morality and right living from His people. It is obvious that we, not being divine, fall daily short of God’s plan for His people. Adam and Eve were placed in a wonderful garden of friendly animals, abundant food, and daily intimate conversations with their Creator. Yet, they had one rule. They could not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for if they ate of the fruit of that tree, they would surely die.
Yet, eat they did, prompted by curiosity, tempted by the unattainable, encouraged by Satan in the form of a serpent. And thus, the closeness to the Almighty God was broken apparently forever. Each year the High Priest of Israel went alone into the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept and where the Spirit of God came down, to offer up sacrifices for the sins of the people. He wore bells on the hem of his robes so that they people would know that as long as they heard the sound of the bells, the High Priest was still alive for God had had mercy on them and accepted the blood sacrifices for their sins.
But God had a better plan. He sent His Son to be born of the Virgin Mary in a humble stable, the birth that we celebrate at Christmas. His angels appeared to lowly shepherds and they went to see Him and worship Him, the Messiah prophesied of old, who would save His people from their sins. And from the east, came the Wise men, wealthy, well-to-do, yet also anxious to see this King whose advent was shown in the heavens. The very presence of both shepherds and the “three kings” heralded the news that Jesus was born for everyone, of both low and high estate, born to die for them, for the forgiveness of their sins.
There are no more yearly blood sacrifices, no High Priest who alone can come into the presence of God, for the veil between God and man that had been erected with the fall of Adam and Eve was destroyed forever by the death and resurrection of Jesus. And the closeness of humankind and God was no longer broken forever, but forever a way had been created, a way to be accepted again as a child of God. But the way, as the Bible itself warns us is narrow, and there are few who find it. Yet, how can that be? The Way is so clear? We have but to repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Savior and then try to live our lives according to His example, following the rules set down in the Scriptures, asking daily for forgiveness of our failings, for we will always fall short in some way. Why then do not more people find the Way to Salvation? Every Christmas they see the nativity scenes and hear the Christmas carols played in stores and on the radio. How can they miss it? It is a coping mechanism called denial. Many like the lives they are living: sleeping in on Sundays, drinking with the guys late on Saturday night, gambling, taking drugs, lying to get ahead, cheating. They don’t consider themselves really bad people. After all, they are not murderers! And it would be so hard to give all of that up. And they know they would have to in order to live like Christ. So, they deny the sins they don’t like such as homosexuality and sexual immorality, and the admonitions to gather together with other Christians, call them “old-fashioned,” and take in an occasional church service— Christmas and Easter and weddings should do it.
Or, as many are doing now, you eliminate the necessity of even appearing to be Christians by denying the existence of God totally. If He doesn’t exist, if the heavens and earth miraculously appeared by some random cosmic explosion, if animals all came from the same animal which bore different offspring randomly for thousands of years before suddenly always producing animals of its own kind, if all plants came from a single plant which one year produced a rose bush, another year an oak tree, and yet another year a dandelion, then life for you is very simple. You do what you want, when you want, and you make fun of those who believe in God, because they make you nervous.
Sadly, these non-believers are so nervous of believers, so very threatened by them, that they try everything to get rid of Christianity entirely. They go to court (or threaten to ) when cities have signs saying “The churches of [insert town name] welcome you!), or if a town puts a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn. Yes, that surely makes their lives miserable and must go! They call evangelical Christians bigots because they believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God and thus must be followed. Life is a bleak place for them. Everything angers them. Everything is a cause celèbre. There is no light in their darkness because they have denied the Light. Christ is the light of the world and without Him in their lives, they are truly lost and adrift, though they would never admit it.
But the story of Jesus’ birth and of His offer of Salvation to those who choose to accept it, live on. The Romans couldn’t destroy it. The Muslims couldn’t destroy it. Hitler couldn’t destroy it, nor could Stalin or Mao or any other dictator. At times the Light was only the flicker of a tiny candle, but that candle lit another and another until the Light fills millions of souls with love and peace. “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Indeed, over two thousand years, and Christians still worship God!
Let the Light and peace of Jesus fill you this Christmas, and may you remember that no matter how difficult the battle, the end is ensured. God wins. And we who are Christians win with Him. As Jesus Himself said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world,” (John16:33)
Merry Christmas!