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"If it wasn't for Easter, we wouldn't have Christmas" I said this on three different occasions, and each time my audience said I was wrong. "Christmas came before Easter" said one.
But I meant what I said and I said what I meant. The way I understand it, Jesus Christ wasn't born to be another prophet, or another church leader, or another king. God had provided many of those in the past. The ultimate reason for Jesus Christ becoming a man was to do what no one else had done, or could do - die for our sins. Between his birth and death, He argued with church elders (Luke 2:46), turned water into wine (John 2:9), fed thousands (Mark 6:38, 8:5), and preached the good news. However, if my understanding is correct, the primary reason for Him being made lower than the angels was to suffer death. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Hebrews 2:9). Thus, if the main purpose for His becoming a man was to die for our sins (Easter), Jesus Christ first had to be born as a man (Christmas). And so I make the statement that, if it wasn't for Easter, we wouldn't have Christmas. Yes, I know that Easter celebrates the resurrection of our Lord, but He first had to die before He could be resurrected, and He had to be sacrificed for our sins before we could celebrate His triumph over death. Now, as Christmas approaches, I know that I will be caught up in the fun and the excitement of shopping for my family and friends, giving and receiving gifts, and enjoying the holiday that comes with the celebrations. And I suppose now is a good time to remind myself that there is a lot more to Christmas than presents, holidays, and showing up in church. I need to remember that Man was almost wiped out once by a great flood (Genesis 6), and that God made a pact with Noah that He would never again seek to destroy the earth by flood (Genesis 9:11). By the way, according to the Bible, every time you see a rainbow in the sky, it is God’s reminder to Himself of that pact (Genesis 9:12-16). This, then, is what Christmas means to me: Jesus coming to die for our sins because God hates sin but loves us sinners. He could not destroy Mankind because of His promise to Noah, so instead He sent Jesus Christ to die in our place. In that death, sin was punished and the way was opened for the sinner to receive divine forgiveness. Christmas is a wonderful time, no doubt about it, especially if you have children or indeed are a child! I get such a kick out of watching my son opening his presents and marvelling at each one. And as he grows, I hope he will learn that, to us, the best Christmas present of all is Easter. Published: December 4th, 2005 My Sunday Examiner Articles
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