For those who have asked us questions regarding Christmas, we have compiled our answer into one article. We celebrate Christmas. Some Christians choose not to celebrate it because the holiday is derived from "pagan origins". We would like to point out a few things about the Christmas season to put it all into balance. Is the Christmas holiday rooted in paganism? Yes, but Christians are not pagans and the Christmas holiday for hundreds of years been associated with the Lord Jesus. So how can we find balance? Should one celebrate Christmas? This is truly between each individual Christian and the Lord. The Lord is working on each of us and next year, we might all think and write differently about this subject, as the Lord would have us to. The Lord never instructed us to celebrate His birth. Most likely Jesus was not even born in the month of December. The Bible does not record what date Jesus was born. Nowhere in the bible will you find a commandment to "celebrate Christmas". The bible says that we are to remember the Lord's death and resurrection. But even so, we believe this time of year is one of the best times afforded to the Christian to share the Good News that Jesus saves! Since this is a Christian Holiday, we can lift up the name of Jesus to a lost and dying world. Jesus is the Reason for the Season! The greatest opportunity to share the Gospel message is now...why Jesus came-- to save His people from their sins. The message of the manger must always point people to the Cross-- the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Question is: do most Christians use this time wisely or do they get caught up in the worldly hype? Something to think about... Hollywood, since the beginning, has sought to create "holiday tradition" with films such as "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street". Santa traditions were recreated, laced with worldly songs and materialistic attitude. Remembering Jesus was taken out and "warmth and home" were brought in-- so much so that the suicide rate is very high at Christmas. Unrealistic expectations...People want to experience what they see in the over-the-top Christmas movies. Humanism has sought to kick God out of society all together. Even at Christmas, the manger scene which once was the focal point of the town square during Christmas is now considered "offensive". The grinch is now the main attraction. Even with the above mentioned, a Christian may appear like a "Scrooge" to his neighbors if he opts out of Christmas. One may look like an atheist if he does not celebrate Christmas. We must be careful not to be a stumbling block either. By tradition, Christ has been in Christmas. The world has made it "politically correct" to remove Christ from "Christmas" with the new "Happy Holidays" slogan. But even if a Christian celebrates Christmas, it does NOT mean that he should celebrate it in the same manner as the world. A Time of Opportunity Certainly, the Christmas season is a GREAT opportunity for the Church to preach about WHY Jesus came to earth. Many unsaved people, who do not darken the door of a church all year long, will come to church on Christmas. Hopefully, the pastor will preach a sermon on the Lord Jesus and His purpose for coming to earth to redeem His creation-- sinful mankind. The purpose of any sermon is to bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. A Christmas sermon should point people to their need of the Savior. Remember Why Jesus Came Though the Bible does not teach us to celebrate the birth of Jesus, it is important to remember why He came. We are to remember His death and resurrection. For this is why Jesus came into the world— to shed His precious blood and to die for our sins. Matt 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. John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. A Time of Thanksgiving For the Christian, Christmas should be a time where families gather together in thanksgiving. We should give thanks for our wonderful Savior and the price He paid to redeem us. We have access into the very Throne Room of God because of what Jesus did for us at the Cross. We must remember the Lord every day of our lives but sadly many Christians are preoccupied with everyday things that they do indeed forget to look unto Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2) This season should remind us of how the Word became flesh for the sole purpose of dying for us and rising again that we might live with Him forever. Without Jesus, there is no hope. Without Him, there is no Resurrection. John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 1John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Remembering The Risen Christ The world remembers Jesus as a baby. “Sweet little baby Jesus…” but we must remember and emphasize to the unsaved that we have a Risen Savior. Our Savior is not the “Sweet baby Jesus”. Our Savior, though altogether merciful and sweet, is the POWERFUL God-Man who sits glorified in Heaven, ever interceding on our behalf. Jesus has skin like brass, eyes like flames of fire, and white hair. We are to remember that our Savior lives in glory. He is fully God and fully man. He is not a baby. Jesus says, "All power is given unto me..." For Christians to sing songs about the "baby Jesus" is not Scriptural. Jesus is not a baby. He was a baby; born of a virgin and born in a manger. But He is glorified in Heaven now-- the man, Christ Jesus. When we think and meditate upon the Lord, we must remember who He is now. If you don’t know who He is, get to know Him—read the Bible. God’s Word is the greatest treasure chest. Phil 2:9-11 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We should be aware of the fact that many of the Christmas carols we all sing have doctrinal errors in them-- considering the fact that Jesus is not a baby anymore. Certainly Santa should NEVER play a part within a Christian's life because Christians must have integrity and not lie to their children. As Christians we are supposed to remember our Lord's death, burial and resurrection and we are to look forward to His Second Coming. Jesus is our Blessed Hope! He is coming in power. Some Things That We Should Keep In Mind: The holiday, "Winter Solstice" is pagan in origin. Christmas does stem from this holiday, practiced by the pagans in ancients past. The Roman Catholic Church replaced the paganism with Christianity to improve the holiday or "Christianize” it. Does this mean that we are pagan for remembering the Lord on December 24th or 25th? No. We, as Believers in Christ, must remember Him every day of the year. It is only when we start acting as the heathen/pagan that it becomes grievous...worshipping man's decorations on trees, Santa Claus lies, materialism, selfish attitudes-- "gimme this" attitude; man-made traditions rooted in mysticism-- such as the mistletoe and lastly: making the house of God a house of merchandise...peddling a watered-down "Gospel" through Christmas dramas. CHRISTMAS TREES: In the commercialization of Christmas, there is too much of an emphasis on decorations and "holiday spirit". Decorating trees was a practice of the heathen. Even today, people gather around the tree almost in a form of worship. They gaze upon the tree. They look upon the tree in awe of all the beautiful decorations. One hundred years from now, we shall look upon tree trimming as outright silly. What should be realized is how ridiculous people look gathered around a decorated artificial tree singing songs and looking at the tree in awe. Most today own artificial trees-- that don't even smell good-- and they dress and fuss with the tree. People spend hundreds of dollars decorating their trees and their homes and their churches. These things will not be counted for much in the spans of eternity. Christmas trees are beautiful but decorations should not be the primary focus of Christmas. Our remembrance of the Savior should be. If you're going to celebrate Christmas, then act like a Christian while celebrating. If one wants to decorate a Christmas tree, make sure that it is not the focal point of your home. If you find yourself looking at the tree constantly, you might want to not decorate one next year-- lest you find yourself in idolatry. Jesus should come first every day of the year. THE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PLAY: Churches put on grand productions at Christmas time. Many churches are decorated with the very best and thousands of dollars are spent in preparation for the Christmas season. Many large churches now spend thousands of dollars on props, sets, and production. The church members spend months in preparation and rehearsal. "Let's grab the attention of the community..." Yet the hype is not needed. It almost makes the suggestion that God's Word is not good enough to win the lost. "We must have a grand presentation at Christmas...We have to put on a production on a grand scale so that one can get saved." What it boils down to is entertainment for the sheep and God's Word is added to the script. Sinners get entertainment by living in the world. They need to hear the Gospel in its pure form-- the preaching of God's Holy Word without distractions. They need to be told why they need a Savior and why Jesus died for them. EMPHASIS ON PRESENTS: "Buy, Buy, Buy..." It comes to the point where you don't know what to buy for the person who seems to have almost everything. "Let's create more gift ideas..." and the world keeps turning and turning. The devil loves to distract mankind from the things that really matter. Each person is busy thinking about everything else but his own eternal destiny. A great illustration that can be given is that each unsaved person on this earth dwells within a prison. There is only ONE door out of the prison-- which is the Lord Jesus Christ but the devil tries to distract mankind from the Door by providing every kind of vice imaginable, to keep them occupied. Most never enter the Door because they are too busy and distracted to think about leaving their prison cell. Yet once a person receives Jesus as their Savior, they begin to see things much more clearly. They look back upon their life to see what a poor wretch they really were without Christ and all the gifts in the world would never satisfy the longing in their heart for forgiveness and peace-- that ONLY comes from receiving Jesus as Savior. Gifts will never fill the void. Only Jesus can forgive our sins and fill the emptiness inside. So the emphasis in the Christian's life should not be upon material possessions or "Christmas gifts" but rather upon the greatest GIFT ever given to mankind-- the Lord Jesus Christ. Our focus should be upon reaching those who do not know Christ...not only helping meet their material needs (food, shelter, clothing, money) but sharing with them the Gospel. Only Jesus can satisfy the longing of the soul. What good will you do if you give a homeless man a blanket but you do not share with him the greatest message of all? Give him Jesus! Give the blanket but give the message as well. Don't wait for someone else to tell the Gospel story...tomorrow is promised to no man. All Christian charities must return to preaching Jesus to those that they help. MAN-MADE HOLIDAY HYPE As we have stated before in a previous article, the world makes a BIG deal of man-made holidays. Non-Christians are empty, in search of something to occupy their time and to give them a sense of fulfillment. The problem is that their joy is temporary and is based on the seasonal holidays of the year. These man-made holidays give only a temporary- momentary happiness that is soon over and they, the following day, immediately look forward to the next holiday. They wait in anticipation of it. The have high hopes and have bought into the "hype", only to find out the holiday they so longed for came and went and then they must look forward to the next holiday. It's a vicious cycle that never ends until one receives Jesus. as Savior and Lord. People are stressed out during the "holidays". Many are depressed during the holidays. What man has attempted to do is to create a sense of pseudo happiness for the holidays. Each person has believed the hype in the holiday movies and is greatly disappointed when their holiday is not as great as it could have been. The emptiness is realized the day after the holiday is over and all the hype has silenced. One should not teach their kids to live for the holidays or weekends but rather that they must receive their happiness from the source of all life-- The Lord of Glory. We all love receiving gifts. When is enough truly enough? We have become a materialistic society that is programmed to desire more but how many things can we possibly own? Our homes get cluttered with things we don't use, purchased by family relatives who don't know what to buy for us. People then have to buy storage bins to store the things they don't really need and then they feel the need to purchase a larger home to house all of the useless things that they own, etc. The holiday season hype is a WORLDLY conditioning of the mind. Yet the Bible says in Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." KEEPING THE ETERNAL PICTURE IN FOCUS: James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. 1Tim 6:17-19 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. Encourage your pastor and church to reach out to the community. Reach out to the needy, support your local homeless shelter, hand out Gospel tracts along with your charitable services. Reach out to the poor within the church body. There are many Christians who attend church with you every week who live in poverty. Whatever we do we should do all for the glory of God-- keeping in mind the eternal picture. What will count one hundred years from now? CONCLUSION No matter if you celebrate Christmas or not, REMEMBER the Lord and why He came. 1 John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Use this time to minister to others-- whether it be financially or the giving of your time. The Christmas season is truly a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel message with others. Use this time to spend with your family, reflecting on all the wonderful things God has brought you through this year. His faithfulness is beyond words! Psalm 36:5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and Thy faithfulness unto the clouds. We serve an awesome and powerful God! He should be remembered every day of our lives. Our Risen Savior, the Lord Jesus, is coming back again. Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. We are to remember WHY Jesus came. We are to remember His death and Resurrection and we are also to look forward to His coming again. We are given a commandment by our Lord-- to fulfill the Great Commission in reaching lost souls for the Lord Jesus. The Lord shall return. Are we ready? Matt 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Copyright © 2004-2005 Cobblestone Road Ministries All Rights Reserved WISHING YOU ALL A MERRY AND JOYOUS CHRISTMAS! Further Reading: Jesus Died For Us The King Was Born In A Manger - NEW! The Wise Men and The Star of Bethlehem Should We Teach the Kids about Santa Claus? Laying Up Treasures.. Where Is Your Treasure? Are You Rapture Ready? Consider who the Lord is! JESUS IS - OUR GREATEST TREASURE! CHRISTMAS BIBLE STUDIES AND LINKS |
Should Christians Celebrate Christmas? |
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