In our society Christmas is a time of joy, sharing, and family togetherness. It is also a time of overspending, overeating, and frivolity that cater to our sensual cultural appetite.
The reason for the season is Jesus Christ’s appearance in the flesh, the Incarnation. He was and is the eternal Son of God, who was willing to take on a body prepared of God. This body made possible the remission of sins through the demands of His eternal law. “Without shedding of blood is no remission.” A body that housed perfect sinlessness was crucial to the plan of redemption.
The Hebrew writer eloquently describes the purpose of God for the Incarnation. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1:1-3).
God was successful in bringing an end to the sin indictment against the human race, through His love, the obedience of the Son, and the cooperation of the many saints in the family lineage of Jesus. The angel declared forcefully about the mother of Jesus in Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
Jesus as the Son and Savior has appeared in the flesh, fulfilling the prophetic message. “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43).
The long history of the prophetic message was that the Messiah or the seed of the woman (while its fulfillment was yet future) was the answer to the sin problem. The birth of Jesus was accomplished in the timetable of God. “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal 4:4,5).
Through the long ages of prophetic utterance, the journey of the seed of the woman made its way to the fullness of time. While on this journey, it was being persecuted by the dragon or the satanic system. “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child” (Rev 12:13).
The woman in this verse is the faithful remnant who brought the journey to completion. Among the persecutors in this system were Cain, the Pharaohs, Haman, and Herod with his wicked plan to destroy all the boys two and under. All these were unsuccessful, but reveal a resolute, ages-long plan of treason to destroy the onward march of the Redeemer.
The dragon system has not changed in its determination to destroy the success of Jesus in bringing an end to the sin problem. It has, however, changed tactics. The tactics are much more subtle. While the dragon system understands it cannot prevent the birth of Jesus, it can destroy the purpose of Jesus.
The purpose of Jesus is to save people from sin. Diluting the holy plan of the incarnation with seemingly harmless but subtle cultural traditions, such as Santa Claus and the reindeer, undermines the reason for the season.
While America is called a Christian nation, it accommodates many traditions that undermine the foundation of Christianity; the appearance of God in the flesh is the reason for the season. These traditions become evidence of treason.
The definition of treason is “the violation of the allegiance owed to one’s sovereign or state; betrayal of one’s country.”
How is this done?
1. By engaging in the cultural traditions, such as excessive spending, alcohol use, and overeating.
2. By relegating the Biblical scenes to folklore. The Biblical picture of shepherds on the hillside is viewed in the same scene as Santa Claus and the reindeer.
3. By letting the virgin birth become part of mythology, much like Santa and his slide down the chimney, rather than remembrance of a significant step in God’s plan of redemption.
The entrance of the baby Jesus into the world no doubt brought fear into the heart of Satan. As he heard the angel proclaim, “For He shall save His people from their sins,” he knew that his domination as the “prince of this world” was nearing the end. This event signaled that his ages-long, determined effort to destroy the seed of the woman was unsuccessful. The master deceiver changed tactics and became friendly with the seed of the woman, using attractive, acceptable, harmless means to blend his system with God’s pure and noble plan of redemption. By this he has accomplished the season of treason.
May we be faithful in promoting the reason for the season and not making it a season of treason.