Christmas is Love
CHRISTMAS IS LOVE… Christmas is a lot of things. It is celebration, a time of rejoicing. It is meditation upon the Incarnation. It is participation in family events and church services. We are looking forward to our Christmas Day Service. But most of all, Christmas is love, the love of almighty God expressed toward sinful men and women in the incomparable gift of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ…
KJV 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.
CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT THE LOVE OF GOD FOR YOU AND FOR ME…(Some do not think John 3:16 refers directly to the Incarnation. I must confess I do not see the logic of their argument.)
TODAY I AM GOING TO DRAW UPON SOME SCRIPTURE that you may not at first identify as being Christmas verses. But I think you will agree at the conclusion of this blog that these verses – as well as the more familiar verses from Matthew and Luke – also wonderfully tell the Christmas story…
I’D LIKE TO PUT THAT WORD “WONDERFUL” ON THE CLIPBOARD of your mental computer. Christmas is love, and that wonderful…
“WONDERFUL” – That which excites or calls forth wonder. And “WONDER” is a feeling of amazement, astonishment, and reverent admiration…
NKJ Luke 2:18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
marvel – to wonder at; be filled with wonder.
amaze – to overwhelm with surprise or sudden wonder; astonish greatly.
astonish – to fill with sudden and overpowering surprise or wonder.
admire – 1. to regard with pleasure or approval, often mixed with wonder. 2. to regard highly; respect; esteem. 3. to regard with wonder or surprise.
IT’S GOOD TO APPRECIATE ALL THE TRADITION AND SENTIMENT OF CHRISTMAS… because there is value in that. But I’d like us to go beyond that to the very personal – “personal” as in personal relationship with Jesus Christ…
“THOUGH CHRIST A THOUSAND TIMES in Bethlehem be born, If He’s not born in thee, thy soul is still forlorn.” – Old poem
With this in mind, I’m going to begin with the lyrics of a familiar song, a familiar Christmas song…
“JESUS LOVES ME, THIS I KNOW; FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO!
Yes, Jesus loves me; Yes, Jesus loves me; Yes, Jesus loves me; For the Bible tells me so”…
THAT’S THE CHRISTMAS STORY IN A NUTSHELL: JESUS LOVES YOU AND ME!…
MAY I ASK YOU, HAS THE DEEP TRUTH OF THAT simply stated – or sung – fact yet gripped your heart this Christmas season? JESUS LOVES YOU!… Before we talk about anything else, let us profoundly, joyously, and thankfully consider the fact that JESUS LOVES US!…
JESUS…THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, THE SUSTAINER AND SAVIOR of mankind – the blessed hope of humanity – loves you and me!…
GOD THE FATHER SENT GOD THE SON TO EARTH SOME 2,000 YEARS AGO TO express true love to the world…
NKJ Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
“JESUS LOVES ME, THIS I KNOW…”
“THIS I KNOW… FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO”
DO YOU KNOW?…
THE ONLY WAY YOU REALLY KNOW FOR SURE IS IF THE BIBLE DOES TELL YOU… People are often well-intentioned and often they are right. But, they might be wrong. If you’ve opened the Bible and sincerely allowed it to tell you that JESUS LOVES YOU then you know for sure…
“JESUS LOVES ME, THIS I KNOW; FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO!”
MANY PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THAT JESUS LOVES THEM… Many people feel unloved or unforgiven at Christmas. That is very sad…
MAYBE EVEN SOME OF YOU…
BUT THAT CAN END THIS VERY MORNING… When I wrote this blog I was struck again by the thought that the Christmas message is really one long invitation…
LISTEN TO THESE WONDERFUL WORDS FROM THE BIBLE…
NKJ Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
NKJ 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
IF YOU ARE ONE WHO STRUGGLES WITH FORGIVENESS, you can be forgiven right now…
AND THEN, LISTEN TO THIS INCREDIBLE PASSAGE FROM SCRIPTURE…
NKJ 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
IF YOU ARE AN UNBELIEVER and you do not know Jesus as Savior, you can be transformed by His love this very moment! JUST BELIEVE (with the intention of being saved) that Jesus Christ is who He says He is and that believing in His death, burial, and resurrection is the only way to heaven…
PLACE ALL YOUR TRUST IN CHRIST…Trust Him for today; trust Him for tomorrow, trust Him forever…
NAS Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”
SOME SAY, “I DON’T CARE WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS; I’m going to be who I am apart from God, and Christmas is nothing but a holiday…”
HOW COULD ANYONE WHO REALLY KNOWS WHO JESUS IS REJECT HIM?
MAYBE YOU’RE READING THIS AND YOU HAVEN’T REJECTED Jesus; you’re a believer. But maybe you haven’t been walking with Him. Maybe you’ve strayed like a sheep from following Him, the Good Shepherd…
THE BEST REMEDY IS TO GO BACK TO THE SCRIPTURES and focus on what Christmas really is…
CHRISTMAS IS A TIME OF WONDER…
THE WONDER OF ALMIGHTY GOD BECOMING A HUMAN BABY in order to save men and women from their sins…
PEOPLE WONDERED THE NIGHT JESUS WAS BORN…
KJV Luke 2:15-18 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
IS YOUR HEART FILLED WITH WONDER THIS CHRISTMAS? The wonder of what Jesus has done for you?…
THERE IS A SONG…that we occasionally would sing where I used to preach in Jamul. I do not know the name of it, but it had the unforgettable words, “He is my breath, my sunshine.” Maybe that’s the title. Think with me of those words for a moment, what they are saying: “He is my breath, my sunshine”… Consider the value of breath; consider what you are without breath. Consider what we have without sunshine…
HOW MANY OF US CAN SAY WITH CONVICTION AND ASSURANCE THAT He is our breath and our sunrise?…
THE PERSON WHO SEES JESUS IN THESE TERMS LIVES A LIFE OF WONDER…
ALLOW ME TO HUMBLY SAY, I KNOW I DO… I am in awe of Jesus. I marvel at Him. I am utterly astounded at every facet of His peerless being and what He alone has done for me and to me, and can do for anyone who knows Him, loves Him and obeys Him…
HE IS SO PRECIOUS TO ME…
“PRECIOUS”… In Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary the word is defined as “very valuable, highly esteemed, dear, beloved, darling, excessively refined, cherished”…
WHEN I USE THE WORD… I think of the concept in even more extreme terms. Precious as I relate the word to Jesus means to me “in a class by Himself… the One placed high above all others– even Merry and my family – so unique, essential, and esteemed that He defies description, so precious that the very thought of Him takes my breath away and reduces me to tears inside, the realization and emotion of His presence in my spirit so overwhelming as to lift me out of myself into inexpressible communion with Him and all that He wants to do in my life – Oh, that I might forever live in the wake of that precious apprehension…” No, I am not exaggerating. I humbly do not apologize for the effusiveness of my words…
HE IS SO PRECIOUS TO ME… “So precious is Jesus, my Savior, my King, His praise all the day long with rapture I sing; To Him in my weakness for strength I can cling, For He is so precious to me…’Tis heaven below, my Redeemer to know, For He is so precious to me…”
“YES, JESUS LOVES ME; YES, Jesus loves me; Yes, Jesus loves me; For the Bible tells me so!”
THE INEXPRESSIBLE COMPREHENSION I EXPERIENCE in Christ is perhaps best articulated by the simple, profound word LOVE. Maybe one definition of love could be said to be that which is composed of experience, apprehension, and emotion so towering in our spirits that to attempt description is to diminish its reality and power…
LISTEN TO THESE BEAUTIFUL WORDS FROM THE BIBLE about the love of God in Christ…
NAS Titus 3:3-7 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
THAT’S LOVE…
HOW CAN YOU NOT GIVE HIM YOUR VERY LIFE in appreciation?… How can you turn Him away? How can you not serve Him with every ounce of energy in your being? If you don’t know Him, allow me to encourage you to come to Him. If you know Him and you’ve strayed away from Him, come back to Him…
“WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS” (my favorite hymn)… You’ll recognize the last verse: “Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all”…
“YES, JESUS LOVES ME, YES JESUS LOVES ME, YES, JESUS LOVES ME… The Bible tells me so”…
JESUS LOVES YOU… Christmas is all about that incomparable love…
THE VERY MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL IS LOVE… (1) Jesus died for our sins because He loved us; (2) Jesus was buried because He loved us; and (3) Jesus rose again because He loved us…
SOMEONE ONCE SAID, CHRISTMAS ISN’T REALLY CHRISTMAS UNTIL… it happens in your heart. Somewhere deep inside you is where Christmas really starts. So give your heart to Jesus, you’ll discover when you do, that its Christmas, really Christmas for you…
THAT IS THE “PERSONAL” OF WHICH I SPOKE EARLIER… GOD BECAME FLESH 2,000 YEARS AGO BECAUSE OF LOVE… CHRISTMAS IS LOVE BECAUSE GOD IS LOVE…
NAS 1 John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
THIS GOD OF LOVE LOVES YOU!…
NAS Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
ALL OF THESE VERSES I AM READING ARE “CHRISTMAS” VERSES… Even though they are not part of what we might call the traditional “Christmas story,” they are indeed Christmas verses because they speak of God’s love, and God’s love is the Christmas story…
LOVE IS THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS…
“YES, JESUS LOVES ME; YES, Jesus loves me; Yes, Jesus loves me; For the Bible tells me so!”
CHRISTMAS IS LOVE… The true spirit of Christmas is the recognition that Jesus loves you and then sharing that love with others in His name!…
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
