Last week we asked, “Why Christmas?” We learned it was because of sin, the universal sickness that has plagued humankind from the beginning.
The times we live in are dangerous and perilous. Instead of getting better, the world seems to be getting worse. Why? Because we are sinful people.
More violent crimes and acts of destruction are taking place today than ever before. Yet, in the middle of all this comes the comforting message of Christmas.
God solved our problem. In His love, grace, and mercy, He provided His only son Jesus Christ to be the Savior. Jesus died on the cross to take the guilt, penalty, and punishment we deserve for our sins.
Today, let’s look at the positive—what Christmas is about. Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ the Prophet Isaiah gave us the names of Christmas:
Isaiah 9:6, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Circle the word “given.” Christmas is based upon an exchange of gifts, the gift of God to man—His unspeakable gift of His Son, and the gift of man to God—when we give ourselves to Him.
These are five, descriptive, awe-inspiring names of our Lord Jesus. Isaiah wrote these prophetic words hundreds of years before Christ’s birth. They encourage us, thrill us, and fill us with hope. The first name is “wonderful.”
Some want to make this an adjective of “counselor. “He will be called wonderful counselor,” as the New International Version has it. That’s okay because He is a wonderful counselor.
But I like the King James here because I believe the name stands alone… “He will be called Wonderful.”
When we read the divinely inspired record of His birth—His sinless life, His vicarious death and His glorious resurrection, how can we but help but think, He is wonderful!
His life was wonderful. He associated with sinners, yet never sinned himself. He was a guest of the rich of his day, but had no place to call His own, no place to lay his head. He was untainted by gold and money.
His enemies could not find any flaw in His character. Not only was He above reproach, He was without reproach. Even the Pharisees’ soldiers, His bitter enemies, said, “No one ever spoke the way this man does” (Jn. 7:46).
He is wonderful because of the work He accomplished. Jesus was wonderful in His death. As He died on the cross the Roman centurion said, “Surely this man was the Son of God” (Mrk. 15:39). His vicarious death was a fitting climax to His selfless living.
Even as people jeered and ridiculed Him on the cross, He prayed, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34).
He is wonderful because He is our Savior. More than anything else, Jesus’ death on the cross brought about reconciliation between us and God. The crucified Christ became the risen Christ on that glorious first Easter morning. He lived for others—He died for you and me. He is Wonderful!
If ever the world needed the counsel of Jesus Christ, it’s today. He’s our Counselor because He reveals the Father’s will to us. The Bible says in John 1:1, 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. Jesus is that Word.
It is by the Word that God makes known His mind. Jesus came to make God known. Through Jesus God has made His heart known.
Millions of Christians everywhere in the world have found the solution to their baffling problems. His word makes known to us the paths of life. His word shows us the only safe way to travel through a world of sin.
Christ, our divine Counselor, has met the needs and the problems of literally millions of men and women in this troubled world. He shows us the way to the Father; and He empowers us so that we can walk in a manner that is pleasing to the One who has saved us.
Here is a very interesting description. Think about it! When the wrongs of the world needed righting, and the fallen race needed redemption, God didn’t send mighty angelic armies to accomplish His majestic purpose.
He sent a tiny, helpless baby in the person of His Son. Jesus the Son and God the Father are one. Who would have thought it?
He who resided in Heaven, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, willingly descended into our world. He breathed our air, felt our pain, knew our sorrows, and died for our sins. It takes a mighty God to do that.
When He came to this earth He was as truly God as He was Man; and He was as truly Man as He was God. He could not have made atonement for sin otherwise. He had to be who He was in order to do what He did. Only a mighty God could do this.
The Bible says about Christ in Psalms 90:2, 2Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Christ is “from everlasting to everlasting”. He had no beginning and He has no end. John 1:1 again, In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. When Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, that wasn’t His beginning—it was His incarnation as one of us.
Jesus is the designer, the Creator of the entire universe. He himself said in John 8:58, 58“I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!” He is our everlasting Father. Jesus is eternally a Father to us, to every believer of every age.
Each election time the presidential candidates promises peace if we will elect them to be president of the United State. That isn’t going to happen!
There have always been and always will be wars and rumors of wars. In our world there as always been armed conflict someplace.
Because we rejected Him and in spite all our efforts, there will never be lasting peace for Israel or any nation on earth until He comes again to reign in righteousness.
Then there is the wars that rage within us—why we cannot get along with one another, why we treat each other so badly, why we are so unhappy!
But for His followers He is the Prince of Peace in ways the world will never understand. Jesus gave us peace by the blood of His cross. All who trust Him as their Savior have peace with God.
Said another way, none of us can have peace with God apart from Jesus and the peace that He made available on the cross.
Colossians 1:19 – 22, 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
You cannot have peace in your heart apart from your relationship with Jesus Christ. When you learn to commit to Him everything that normally troubles you, God’s peace will fill your heart and control your life.
He will give His peace to you this Christmas if you will put your trust and faith in Him. So here’s…
There is coming a golden day of prosperity—a day when all the perplexing problems of life will find a solution. It will be a marvelous time for this poor, confused, mixed up world.
At that time, according to the Bible, there will be an abundance of grain—the Bible’s way of saying there will be prosperity of every conceivable kind. What a wonderful message to starving people all over the world.
The Scriptures also tell us that, “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox . . .” (Isa. (65:25). What a glorious hope this is to troubled people throughout the world.
But listen! This golden age will not be brought about by our efforts. We are too flawed and sinful. We simply do not have the ability to repair the damage that has been done to our world. God is our only hope!
Jesus Christ was despised and rejected by men when He came the first time at the first Christmas. He is still rejected by the majority of the human race.
But God has promised to someday place everything in full subjection to Him. That time is coming soon. This is what Christmas is about—Christ is coming again.
Hear this well. Treasure it in your hearts. At a moment when the human race least expects it, Matthew 24:27, “As lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
He will reign over this planet. Every knee will bow to Him, and every tongue will confess Him as Lord (Phil. 2:10-11). The day we are living in now is our day or man’s day. But there’s a day coming that will be called the Day of the Lord.
We humans are having our way on this earth. But in the Day of the Lord, His divine Will will be done. Until that day comes we believers are under the orders of King Jesus, to tell others about Him.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
The immense step from the Babe at Bethlehem to the living, reigning triumphant Lord Jesus, returning to earth for his own people--this is the glorious truth proclaimed throughout Scripture.
As you celebrate the joy of our Savior’s birth, also be alert for the final trumpet that will announce his return, when we shall always be with him. This is what Christmas is about.
The Bible is crystal clear about this. God doesn’t pick and choose who may and may not enter Heaven. Jesus himself said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
When Jesus said, “Whoever believes shall have eternal life,” I believe Him. He also told us to go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). This is proof positive that God’s love is not limited. God’s salvation is offered to all people everywhere. At that first Christmas God offered Himself to all humanity of all times.
Jesus, in His final appeal to humankind in the book of Revelation, said in Revelation 22:16-17, 16“I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." 17…Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”
This “water of life” flows through the world. Jesus bids the world to come to this stream and drink of this water of life. This is what Christmas is about.
I pray, this Christmas season, that the message of Christmas is personal to you. I pray that to you personally Jesus is wonderful, a special counselor, your mighty God, an everlasting Father, and your Prince of Peace.
But, we cannot keep this to ourselves. One of the first songs I learned as a child was, “Jesus loves the little children; All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white; they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the children of the world.”
In the midst of all the tinsel and sparkle, and the giving and exchanging of gifts, let the names and the message of Christmas bring you comfort and joy. And that we will make that message known to our world. This is what Christmas is about. And it is our privilege and our honor to share Christmas with our world.