Decorating
homes, distributing goodies, get-together with friends and family, and getting
drunk are some of our favorite means to celebrate Christmas. Over the years we
have been habituated to practice these celebration routines. But are we
celebrating Christmas the right way – the Biblical way? Is there a biblical way
to celebrate Christmas?
The Bible
reveals the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So it is plausible that the
Bible also reveals the manner in which we should celebrate the birth of our
Lord.
Unbelief to Belief
The gospel
of Matthew reveals Joseph’s transformation from unbelief to belief. Prior to
the revelation of Christ’s birth, Joseph planned to divorce Mary. But after
Christ’s birth was revealed to him, he believed the message of Christ’s birth
and took Mary as his wife, “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came
about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they
came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because
Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her
to public disgrace, he had in mind to
divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy
Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”…When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded
him and took Mary home as his wife.” (Matthew 1: 18 - 24, NIV, Emphasis
Mine).
Believing
in the Lord Jesus Christ as your God and Savior is the most appropriate way to
celebrate Christmas.
Bless God: Praise
& Glorify HIM
The sight of the child Jesus in the
temple invoked Simeon to bless God, but what does it mean to bless God? Pastor
John Piper expounds the meaning of blessing God, “My thesis is that in the
Scripture when God "blesses" men they are thereby helped and
strengthened and made better off than they were before, but when men
"bless" God he is not helped or strengthened or made better off.
Rather (with C. A. Keller in THAT, I, 361) man's blessing God is an
"expression of praising Thankfulness" (ein lobendes Danksagen), when
the OT speaks of blessing God it does not "designate a process that aims
at the increase of God's strength" (THAT, I, 361). It is an
"exclamation of gratitude and admiration" (THAT, I, 357)…They do not
mean that we make God larger or higher. So to bless God means to recognize his
great richness, strength, and gracious bounty and to express our gratitude and
delight in seeing and experiencing it.”1
J.I Packer
in his most famous work, “Knowing God,” explains that to bless God is to
praise, exalt and worship HIM. When we praise, adore, thank and love God, we
are in fact blessing God.
The
shepherds, after having seen the birth of the Lord, praised and glorified God,
for what they saw was what was told to them, “The shepherds went back,
glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had
been told them.” (Luke 2: 20, NASB).
Similarly, every
aspect of our Christmas celebration ought to praise and glorify God. In other
words, drunkenness as a means of celebrating Christmas is not an option for
Christians.
Significantly,
we cannot bless God if we do not know HIM. Simeon knew God well; HE was able to
recognize the precious Holy Spirit’s voice in HIM that directed him to the
child Jesus. Likewise, this Christmas, let
us desire to grow in our knowledge of God. One lifetime is not enough to
know God. So let us make the best use of our life by knowing God.
Go Tell It
The gospel
of Luke includes the narrative of the angels revealing the birth of our Lord to
the shepherds. The shepherds responded to the birth of our Lord Jesus by spreading
the news of Christ’s birth, “When they had seen this, they made known the
statement which had been told them about this Child.” (Luke 2: 17, NASB).
Similarly,
we are to spread the word of Christ’s birth to all in our domain. Caroling is a
wonderful means to spread the news of Christ’s birth to unbelievers. Moreover,
the Christmas season offers us a grand opportunity to invite our non-Christian
friends into our homes to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Fulfillment of Hope
The
narrative of Simeon’s encounter with child Jesus emphasizes another interesting
phenomenon. For Simeon, the sight of child Jesus was the fulfillment of his
hope in God, “Now, according to your word, Sovereign Lord, permit your servant
to depart in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared
in the presence of all peoples: a light, for revelation to the Gentiles, and
for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32, NET).
Hope is the
only lifeline for many around us. They hope for a better life – spiritually and
materially. This Christmas, may we be the channels of blessing for them to realize
their hope.
God will certainly
fulfill our hope in HIM. The greatest hope we have in God is for us to spend
our life with HIM unto all eternity. God will most certainly fulfill this hope
when we believe and remain in Christ always. May our celebrations reflect our hope
in God.
Conclusion
If our
Christmas is all about decorating our homes, distributing goodies and meeting
family and friends without blessing God, sharing HIM with others, praising and
glorifying HIM, and being a channel of blessing those who are deprived, then our Christmas celebrations cannot be biblically appropriate.
This Christmas
Believe in Christ
Bless HIM
Share HIM
Grow in HIM
Fulfill the hope of
the deprived
And know that HE will
fulfill our hope in HIM.
I pray that
you and your family enjoy a blessed Christmas.
Endnotes:
1http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-does-it-mean-to-bless-god
(last accessed on 22nd December 2016.)
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