After announcing that a Savior had been born in Bethlehem, the angel tells shepherds how to find the baby. “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). Notice a “sign” from God, but somehow the world missed God’s sign. We know that the Jews were looking for a Messiah. Even Herod’s scribes knew that Micah 5:2 predicted that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. Why didn’t they recognize him when he came? They could not see the divine in the ordinary. They missed him altogether! They wanted something spectacular, a political messiah who would deliver them from Roman domination. The Jews wanted “a sign,” but they weren’t expecting a baby in a manger. God gave them a sign and they missed it. It was too simple then and for many people it is still too simple today.
Billy Graham rightly said Christmas can be summed up in three words: a cradle, a cross and a crown.
Sin is the most miserable and expensive thing in the world. It is the violation of an infinitely important law — a law designed to secure the highest good of the universe. The entire welfare of a government and its subjects turns upon obedience. When we disobey either the law must be executed at the expense of the race, or God must suffer the worse results of disrespect to His law, or a substitute be provided who shall both save the sinner and honor the law. The Father God looked down upon the world and saw the suffering, misery and death sin had caused. With pity, His heart was moved with compassion as the heavenly Creator looked upon lost humanity.
Mankind, bewildered and deceived, was moving on in a gloomy procession toward eternal ruin – to a death in which was no hope. God’s answer came in the heavenly form of a Cradle, a Cross and a Crown. Hence Jesus was born in a human manger to common parents by human standards. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”Jesus was the only child born to die in human history. Our sins sum up the reason for a cradle, our having gone astray sums up the reason for the cross, and our ultimate destiny sums up the reason for the crown. Without the Christmas cradle, we wouldn’t have the Calvary cross and there Is No Crown without the Cross.
Jesus was born under the shadow of the cross. In that shadow He learned to walk, talk, live and die. The shadow of the cross was upon: His cradle; in the place He worked; on the scene where Judas betrayed Him; on the ground below the cross; and on the many crowns. He was slandered, He sweats blood in the garden as He prayed, He was arrested, He was jailed, He was tortured and He was executed in a most excruciatingly painful method by the Romans. Upon the Cross, the co-agent of all things good died in our place. The cross identifies Him with our needs. The Incarnation-Jesus Christ born as a baby in humility would culminate in Jesus Christ hanging on a cross in humiliation. The innocent Son of God had lived a perfect live, demonstrating perfect love, exuding compassion for the purpose of becoming a sacrificial Lamb. He hung on the cross, battered and beaten by man and abandoned by the Father. He endured the wrath of the Father as punishment for our sin and then he died.
In the cross of Jesus, we see the symbol of our faith, the sorrow of our sins, the sacrifice of our Savior, the surety of our redemption, and the glory of our souls. The cross is the most beautiful symbol of God’s amazing grace and redemptive love. The cross represents both Jesus’ sinless perfection as the perfect, spotless Lamb of God, and His substitutionary atonement when died for our sins. But the perfect Son of God also rose from the dead and defeated sin and death. Jesus comes to us, in the midst of our deepest hurts and upsets to give us hope and, more importantly, Himself. He comes to heal and restore. And now, for every man and woman who call on His name and trust in Him-it’s as if He was your representative on the cross. In every way He was our substitute-in His life, death and resurrection. He took what our sin deserved-listen-and gives us what his perfection earned. Forgiveness, right standing with God, new life, eternal life, peace, hope, joy. Ultimately, our relationship with God is restored.
We can only understand Christmas in light of resurrection —the cradle is given because the cross is coming. Without the cradle, we would not have the cross. However, even if we had not had the cradle and the cross, Jesus would still be King. Jesus is eternal, meaning He has no beginning or end. Jesus dwelt in glory from eternity past, reigning and ruling as Sovereign over all things. He left glory (the place of glory, Heaven) and came to earth to dwell with us. When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into glory, He was restored to the place from where He had come—the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19, Acts 7:55,Romans 8:34 , Colossians 3:1, Hebrew 1:3). The crown that represents His glorification after the cross belonged to Him from the beginning of time and from eternity past. It was not received by Him. The crown and glory was fully restored to Him, for He had set it aside when He came to live a human life. Yes, the crown represents the Lord’s rule and reign as King throughout all eternity and it represents the glory He received when He glorified His Father by completing the mission for which God sent Him (John 17:5)
From the cradle to the cross to the crown speaks of conquering. He conquered death, hell and the grave. He conquered sickness, disease, poverty and sin. As the spotless Lamb of God He came to take away the lack and replace it with eternal and abundant life. In His perfect, sinless life, in His sacrificial offering of Himself for the sins of man, Jesus magnified His love. God is perfect and holy and He requires the same perfection and holiness from man. (Mathew 5:43-45, 48) It is not just being good that is required to enter into the presence of God. God demands that “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mathew 5:48). That is something we can never achieve with our own efforts, so God sent a gift wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Jesus is God’s Christmas gift to you. But you will never experience real Christmas until you personally receive God’s gift—the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves: live a life of sinless perfection. And Jesus gives to us His righteousness—the righteousness symbolized by the Crown.
When we come to know Christ for ourselves, we can see God in him. The central message of Christmas is that Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection, can transform both individuals and society. Yes, Jesus is the Savior of the world. But not everyone will be saved. Only those who put their trust in Him to receive Him as Lord and Savior will be saved. This means that those who recognize that Jesus is God`s Son and who turn to Him in sorrow over their wrongdoing, they will be saved. Let the Crown of Christ be a symbol that brings to mind our great gift of Christ’s imputed righteousness. The life we did not live, and the righteousness we did not earn—the righteousness that Christ has given to us — perfection in the eyes of God.
When God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ in which we are clothed (Isaiah 61:10, Philippians 3:9). See the immensity of His life and the majesty of His righteousness. Keep your eyes on Jesus and your heart devoted to Him, remembering all He has done for you and all He has given to you. The cradle, cross, and crown should always be a reminder of the hope of glory. Our resurrected life began the minute Jesus saved us, but the rewards of our inheritance will be fully received when we enter into His glory. Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer to pray: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). The word "kingdom" in the original language means "rule" or "reign". God’s Kingdom is unique-it is not a human kingdom. Earthly kingdoms rise and fall, but the reign of God will prevail and last forever. God’s program involves the rule of righteousness. God's kingdom is the place that perfectly reflects his character and values. It is the place where things operate the way he likes them. It is a place of joy, truth, grace, health, righteousness, love, life, light, and shalom.
When we pray "Thy Kingdom come" We are asking God to advance and expand that Kingdom in the hearts of people, and we are anticipating the day when that Kingdom literally comes when Jesus returns. It is a Kingdom that is both present and future-it is here and now, and will one day come in fullness. A new world will be formed, a new social order will emerge. Sin will be eliminated. Tears will be wiped from every eye. Disease shall be no more, and even death will be eliminated from the human scene. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and war shall be no more. This is the promise of Christmas. This is our hope. This is the Christmas star that lights our darkness. This is the assurance that a new day is coming, through the Messiah, whose name is called by Isaiah the prophet, “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.” (Isaiah 9:6). The hope we have in Jesus Christ Brings joy into our heart; and when we know the love of God, His peace He will impart. Because Christ came the first time, we can live with hope, peace, joy, and love till He comes again.
May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, the gladness of Christmas give you hope, the warmth of Christmas grant you love, and the Joy of Christmas shine forever in your heart.
Have a Blessed Christmas.
After announcing that a Savior had been born in Bethlehem, the angel tells shepherds how to find the baby. “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). Notice a “sign” from God, but somehow the world missed God’s sign. We know that the Jews were looking for a Messiah. Even Herod’s scribes knew that Micah 5:2 predicted that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. Why didn’t they recognize him when he came? They could not see the divine in the ordinary. They missed him altogether! They wanted something spectacular, a political messiah who would deliver them from Roman domination. The Jews wanted “a sign,” but they weren’t expecting a baby in a manger. God gave them a sign and they missed it. It was too simple then and for many people it is still too simple today.
Billy Graham rightly said Christmas can be summed up in three words: a cradle, a cross and a crown.
Sin is the most miserable and expensive thing in the world. It is the violation of an infinitely important law — a law designed to secure the highest good of the universe. The entire welfare of a government and its subjects turns upon obedience. When we disobey either the law must be executed at the expense of the race, or God must suffer the worse results of disrespect to His law, or a substitute be provided who shall both save the sinner and honor the law. The Father God looked down upon the world and saw the suffering, misery and death sin had caused. With pity, His heart was moved with compassion as the heavenly Creator looked upon lost humanity.
Mankind, bewildered and deceived, was moving on in a gloomy procession toward eternal ruin – to a death in which was no hope. God’s answer came in the heavenly form of a Cradle, a Cross and a Crown. Hence Jesus was born in a human manger to common parents by human standards. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”Jesus was the only child born to die in human history. Our sins sum up the reason for a cradle, our having gone astray sums up the reason for the cross, and our ultimate destiny sums up the reason for the crown. Without the Christmas cradle, we wouldn’t have the Calvary cross and there Is No Crown without the Cross.
Jesus was born under the shadow of the cross. In that shadow He learned to walk, talk, live and die. The shadow of the cross was upon: His cradle; in the place He worked; on the scene where Judas betrayed Him; on the ground below the cross; and on the many crowns. He was slandered, He sweats blood in the garden as He prayed, He was arrested, He was jailed, He was tortured and He was executed in a most excruciatingly painful method by the Romans. Upon the Cross, the co-agent of all things good died in our place. The cross identifies Him with our needs. The Incarnation-Jesus Christ born as a baby in humility would culminate in Jesus Christ hanging on a cross in humiliation. The innocent Son of God had lived a perfect live, demonstrating perfect love, exuding compassion for the purpose of becoming a sacrificial Lamb. He hung on the cross, battered and beaten by man and abandoned by the Father. He endured the wrath of the Father as punishment for our sin and then he died.
In the cross of Jesus, we see the symbol of our faith, the sorrow of our sins, the sacrifice of our Savior, the surety of our redemption, and the glory of our souls. The cross is the most beautiful symbol of God’s amazing grace and redemptive love. The cross represents both Jesus’ sinless perfection as the perfect, spotless Lamb of God, and His substitutionary atonement when died for our sins. But the perfect Son of God also rose from the dead and defeated sin and death. Jesus comes to us, in the midst of our deepest hurts and upsets to give us hope and, more importantly, Himself. He comes to heal and restore. And now, for every man and woman who call on His name and trust in Him-it’s as if He was your representative on the cross. In every way He was our substitute-in His life, death and resurrection. He took what our sin deserved-listen-and gives us what his perfection earned. Forgiveness, right standing with God, new life, eternal life, peace, hope, joy. Ultimately, our relationship with God is restored.
We can only understand Christmas in light of resurrection —the cradle is given because the cross is coming. Without the cradle, we would not have the cross. However, even if we had not had the cradle and the cross, Jesus would still be King. Jesus is eternal, meaning He has no beginning or end. Jesus dwelt in glory from eternity past, reigning and ruling as Sovereign over all things. He left glory (the place of glory, Heaven) and came to earth to dwell with us. When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into glory, He was restored to the place from where He had come—the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19, Acts 7:55,Romans 8:34 , Colossians 3:1, Hebrew 1:3). The crown that represents His glorification after the cross belonged to Him from the beginning of time and from eternity past. It was not received by Him. The crown and glory was fully restored to Him, for He had set it aside when He came to live a human life. Yes, the crown represents the Lord’s rule and reign as King throughout all eternity and it represents the glory He received when He glorified His Father by completing the mission for which God sent Him (John 17:5)
From the cradle to the cross to the crown speaks of conquering. He conquered death, hell and the grave. He conquered sickness, disease, poverty and sin. As the spotless Lamb of God He came to take away the lack and replace it with eternal and abundant life. In His perfect, sinless life, in His sacrificial offering of Himself for the sins of man, Jesus magnified His love. God is perfect and holy and He requires the same perfection and holiness from man. (Mathew 5:43-45, 48) It is not just being good that is required to enter into the presence of God. God demands that “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mathew 5:48). That is something we can never achieve with our own efforts, so God sent a gift wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Jesus is God’s Christmas gift to you. But you will never experience real Christmas until you personally receive God’s gift—the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves: live a life of sinless perfection. And Jesus gives to us His righteousness—the righteousness symbolized by the Crown.
When we come to know Christ for ourselves, we can see God in him. The central message of Christmas is that Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection, can transform both individuals and society. Yes, Jesus is the Savior of the world. But not everyone will be saved. Only those who put their trust in Him to receive Him as Lord and Savior will be saved. This means that those who recognize that Jesus is God`s Son and who turn to Him in sorrow over their wrongdoing, they will be saved. Let the Crown of Christ be a symbol that brings to mind our great gift of Christ’s imputed righteousness. The life we did not live, and the righteousness we did not earn—the righteousness that Christ has given to us — perfection in the eyes of God.
When God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ in which we are clothed (Isaiah 61:10, Philippians 3:9). See the immensity of His life and the majesty of His righteousness. Keep your eyes on Jesus and your heart devoted to Him, remembering all He has done for you and all He has given to you. The cradle, cross, and crown should always be a reminder of the hope of glory. Our resurrected life began the minute Jesus saved us, but the rewards of our inheritance will be fully received when we enter into His glory. Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer to pray: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). The word "kingdom" in the original language means "rule" or "reign". God’s Kingdom is unique-it is not a human kingdom. Earthly kingdoms rise and fall, but the reign of God will prevail and last forever. God’s program involves the rule of righteousness. God's kingdom is the place that perfectly reflects his character and values. It is the place where things operate the way he likes them. It is a place of joy, truth, grace, health, righteousness, love, life, light, and shalom.
When we pray "Thy Kingdom come" We are asking God to advance and expand that Kingdom in the hearts of people, and we are anticipating the day when that Kingdom literally comes when Jesus returns. It is a Kingdom that is both present and future-it is here and now, and will one day come in fullness. A new world will be formed, a new social order will emerge. Sin will be eliminated. Tears will be wiped from every eye. Disease shall be no more, and even death will be eliminated from the human scene. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and war shall be no more. This is the promise of Christmas. This is our hope. This is the Christmas star that lights our darkness. This is the assurance that a new day is coming, through the Messiah, whose name is called by Isaiah the prophet, “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.” (Isaiah 9:6). The hope we have in Jesus Christ Brings joy into our heart; and when we know the love of God, His peace He will impart. Because Christ came the first time, we can live with hope, peace, joy, and love till He comes again.
May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, the gladness of Christmas give you hope, the warmth of Christmas grant you love, and the Joy of Christmas shine forever in your heart.
Have a Blessed Christmas.