Yet thanks to Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, the whole world hears for one month the concept of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us--one of the most important events in human history (remember Philippians 1:18--whether or not December is even Christ's birth month, Christ is still preached, and we as Christians should rejoice with Paul). It would be ideal, for the gospel's sake, if that message was not drowned out by the massive amount of materialistic commercialism and self-centric attitudes--the exact opposite of the message of Christ's birth--so visible during the last month of the calendar year. It's nice to display that skillfully-carved nativity scene complete with the electric-powered twinkling star above it, but how often during the season do we actually just sit down and contemplate the meaning of the birth of Jesus? How often do we turn off the Christmas movies and music, open the Bible and read the accounts of the birth of Jesus and think about its application for us today?
After studying this for the holiday season, it became very clear to me that a) the birth of the Anointed Jesus is cause for tremendous celebration and a Christian has the freedom in Christ to celebrate it in faith regardless of what anyone else thinks or believes, and b) such a celebration was not meant to be just a one day thing but every day--not in the gift-giving as we know Christmas to be but in understanding that Christ's birth begins the example He came to bring to apply and live out in our own lives.
John 3:16-17
How does Scripture say God approached this broken, sin-infested world? If God sent His Son to condemn, Christ would have come with conquering armies to destroy it. No, Christ was sent to save the world, and that began with His birth as a helpless human baby. A lot of the time we think of Christ giving Himself just in His death, but He gave His whole life as well. He gave up His godhood and emptied Himself, becoming fully human for our benefit (Philippians 2:7) in order to give us an example to follow (1 Peter 2:21). He did this to make us into a people who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:14). Through love, He invested blood, sweat and tears in people and gave people a true sense of worth.
And it all started with His coming to Earth as a baby: helpless, hated by the pretend-king of Judea, and completely dependent on His Father and His earthly parents. He came as a baby so that in every instance of His life, in every instance of the example He came to give, He could stand with the helpless, the hated, and the rejected and say, "I am one of you!" This is the good message of the Anointed Jesus.
How often does the world see these things among the followers of Jesus at any point in the year? Often there is condemnation from a distance without sitting down and getting to know people and their struggles. We look down on people and call others "wrong" while we set ourselves up as right, even though sin is just as great in our own lives. Often we miss the point of Christ's birth and His call for His followers to become little children (Matthew 18:3; John 3:3).
Our pride--our desire to control the world around us, to be our own gods and to get what we want at the expense of everyone else, to look down on others and think of ourselves as better than others, to save ourselves and make a name for ourselves--this is what separates us from God. It's why the world is so broken and chaotic. In being born again, we give up all this as Christ gave up His divinity to become human--we deny ourselves and place our trust and reliance in Christ (John 3:13-15; Matthew 16:24). Turning from our self-centric ways, we as Christians have met Him in the water and submitted to the crucifixion of our old selves, a burial and the resurrection unto new life as new creations in Christ, trusting in the salvation provided by God through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-7, 22-23). We no longer walk in the law that says we must fend for ourselves, fit a certain social standard, or "eat or be eaten". We walk in the law of faith that says we don't have to labor to earn the love of God or the approval of men. God already loved us before we came to love Him (Romans 5:1-10; 1 John 4:10; John 3:16) and we walk free in reliance on God, preaching a message not of condemnation but of God's love and desire that none perish but all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). We gladly extend the gift of God (Romans 6:23), the gift of the Son (John 17:3), and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) to the broken world around us that God desperately wants to heal.
There is nothing wrong at all with a person in faith celebrating annually the birth of Christ as long as that person does not mandate it necessary for justification. Likewise, no person or group should forbid a personal celebration of the birth (Romans 14:1-23). But I don't think the birth of Christ was ever meant to be just an annual celebration or else the Bible would have given us a date to celebrate. Instead, the birth of Christ was meant to be a daily celebration of the gift given to mankind. It is not about giving toys, candy or material things as if we are mimicking the magi. It is not about decorating trees or about what we give of our money (nothing about Christianity has ever been about giving just of our money). It is all about the example Jesus initiated with His birth and the call for His followers to declare in our every day actions that Jesus really is LORD (Revelation 19:16), that God really is LOVE (1 John 4:8), and that this love is extended through the followers of Jesus--those who have become like little children--to the hopeless, the depressed, the oppressed, the enslaved, the trampled, the mistreated, the lonely, and those of every other walk of life. Only in this do we truly celebrate the birth of the only begotten Son of God.
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