Many people have many different views as to what Christmas is all about. For some it is a religious Holiday. For others it is about Santa Claus and the exchange of gifts. Many view it as a time to spend with family. There are those who look at it as some or all of the above. Some despise it for many different reasons. Most everyone would know that it has to do with the birth of Jesus. What about the birth of Jesus? What is it really all about? How has this story, of the birth of Jesus, survived over two thousand years now? What is it's significance?
To understand the real meaning of Christmas and why it has survived as long at it has, we have to look at what Christmas is all about from God's eyes. First of all, God did not name it Christmas. Man named it Christmas as a celebration of Jesus birth. Many celebrate Christmas and still do not understand the importance of Jesus birth to them. If we look at it from God's eyes, we will see the beauty and wonder of it all.
The idea of birth of Jesus was conceived even before the earth was created. God, known as the Holy Spirit, for He had no form, had a plan to create a new existence. Not only a new existence for Himself, but also the new existence of a new living being. At this time, when God was planning to do a new thing, He was Spirit. All the other created beings who existed with Him were spiritual beings known as angels. One third of the angels had become fallen angels because they rebelled against God and followed after Lucifer's uprising to rise above God. These angels God renamed Demons and Lucifer was renamed Satan, which means, "the adversary".
I know, so far it doesn't sound like much of a Christmas story, but just stick with me. If we can see it from God's eyes, Christmas, or the birth of Jesus, reveals much about God and much about you. When God was planning the birth of Jesus, He had you in mind. God wanted to create a new living being. He did not want to do it as He had done before and just speak into existence beings like the angels who had no choice whether they wanted to be created or not. The angels are beautiful creatures and a marvelous creation. Because they had no choice in there coming into existence, one third of the angels misunderstood the Love of God and His character. They could not see God, for He existed as a Spirit, a Holy Spirit. The third of the angels that fell and followed after Lucifer, were probably captivated by the beauty of Lucifer who they could see. Lucifer was the anointed cherub who covered and was one of God's most beautiful creations. His beauty made him arrogant and proud to the point that he attempted to overtake the throne of God. This is when God cast Lucifer and the angels, that followed Satan, as fallen. Their eternal life existence was now gone. Their new fallen existence rendered them in a state that would later result in eternal death.
God can only create beings that are eternal and have an eternal life existence, because He is the Eternal Life. In Lucifer and the angels rebellion, they chose not to follow God who is the Life, therefore surrendering the part of them that had life and that being God. God could have just destroyed Satan and his demons. I am sure that He didn't want to spend the rest of eternity with the other two-thirds of the angels, having to always wonder if they were staying with Him only out of fear of being cast out like the angels that rebelled were. Looking at what had transpired in the heavenly realm, God wanted to come up with a new plan of creation. Not only was God desiring to create a new type of creation, but also He was desiring to create a visible body for Himself. One that could relate visibly with the new creations that He desired to bring into existence. The only problem here is that God had to come up with a way to create a being that would come into existence by wanting to do so, by choosing Him for His Love and character. These new creations would be beings who understood God's Love for them, and for all eternity never stop appreciating who God is and what He did for them. To achieve this, God had to somehow bring into existence a being with a fallen nature. He cannot speak such a being into existence. In doing His plan this way, I am sure that he wanted to fully express his true nature and Love in such a way that the remaining two-thirds of the angels will know that they had made the right choice in choosing not to rebel against the Most High God. So He comes up with a plan.
Where is Christmas in all this? We are getting closer, so hang in there. God's plan was this. God decided to create a physical realm. A physical realm that could sustain life for a physical being. Therefore, God created the Earth with the universe as we know it, with the sun and moon and planets working together to sustain a physical being that we know as humans. He needed a being that was a physical being that would choose to become an eternal spiritual being. Who wouldn't want that? You'd be surprised. To do this, God took a chance, knowing the deceptiveness of Satan, God would create a man and a women from man, on the earth He created, and just give them one commandment.
Hence, we have Adam and Eve. God gave Adam and Eve just the one commandment, "Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". The consequence for breaking this command would be, "On the day that you do so, you shall surely die". Here is where God's trust in Satan to slither in and deceive and tempt Adam and Eve to rebel and eat from the tree comes in. Satan got them to eat of the fruit by telling them that if that eat from the tree they will be like God. Such a Satan thing. Adam and Eve did eat from the tree but they did not die. Something about them must have died. Adam and Eve were created beings who had a soul that was filled with the life of God. They where created as an eternal spiritual and physical being that had the eternal life of God in them. When they disobeyed they lost that life that was in their soul. The living spiritual part of them died. God asked Eve, "What is this you have done?" God did not zap them. Instead God's plan was right as He desired.
God now had the mechanism in place to where Adam and Eve could now begin the process of inhabiting the earth with beings who had fallen natures and empty souls. God could not just speak such a being into existence, but now they could come into existence. This empty soul would be the very place that God would use to create a new creation. It would be, as you might say, an egg that could be fertilized by the very Spirit of God, that would become a New Creation. God also had in place the mechanism in which He could create for Himself a body. This is where the Christmas story comes in.
The prophet Isaiah wrote a verse in his writings that has become a very popular saying around Christmas and says something that I have found is seldom realize by the hearer. Isaiah wrote this in his 9th chapter, verse 6;
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest
on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
We often under play the reality of who Jesus is. When it refers to His shoulders and His name, the capitalized His refers to God. He is the Mighty God, Eternal Father. Do we realize that this Jesus, who was this baby that is celebrated during Christmas, was God at His birth and not only God but an Eternal Father. Do we not stop to contemplate and understand what this means and how is this possible? Two chapters earlier in Isaiah's writings, Isaiah wrote this in his 7th Chapter, verse14;
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give us a sign: Behold , a virgin will be with child
and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."
Immanuel means, God with us. This child, Jesus, born to the virgin will be "God with us". How is this possible? Do we ask ourselves, how does a virgin give birth. The story of Christmas as recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke reveal what made this possible and how this baby could be God and why He came. The Christmas story reveals the whole gospel message. So let's look at the Christmas story in my next blog.
May Jesus' peace be with you. 1
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