It's Not What You Think...

It’s Not What You Think

    So, the time of year has come again where we redecorate our homes, sing a different set of songs, and are barraged with sale after sale.  Yes, my friends, it is Christmas time. The secular side of Christmas is that of Santa Claus bringing toys, snowmen (and women), cookies, and sleigh rides.  The Christian side of Christmas will paint the picture of the neatly designed nativity. Mary, Joseph and a few important guests; the shepherds, wisemen, and a few animals crowded around the manager.  While both Christmases have their place, even in my life, neither gets truly to the nature of what Christmas is all about…its not what you think.

    To start, I will mention that Santa Claus (aka Saint Nick, Pair Noel, Sinterklaas, etc.) has very diverse roots; many of them pagan.  Saint Nicholas the person was a follower of Christ as well as a giver of gifts. He was once defrocked for hitting a peer in full assembly when a Bishop, named Arius, downplayed the divinity of Christ when he stated Jesus was not equal to God the Father; painting a lesser picture of the significance of Christ in the church.  Being a believer today often makes us the minority, watching what we say and how we say it in the workplace and in many public settings (sometimes to extremes in places such as China). Christmas is the one time of year we can get a little braver, declaring our faith by the carols we sing and the nativities we display.

    The focal point of every nativity scene is the manger and more important the baby that lay in it- Jesus.  Much is said in the Bible about this baby that bears many names beyond that of Jesus, “and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).  The entire Old Testament foreshadows His coming and the New Testament is about His time here and why he came.  While the nativity scene is a symbol of celebration and the birth that changed everything, it is not completely what Christmas is about.  If the meaning of Christmas is only about the baby in the manger, then I will challenge that Christmas is not about what you think it’s about.

    So what is Christmas really about then, you might ask...? The musical group Go Fish sums it up very well with their song “It’s about the Cross”. The first verse and chorus are as follows:

“It's not just about the manger
Where the baby lay
It's not all about the angels
Who sang for him that day

It's not just about the shepherds
Or the bright and shining star
It's not all about the wisemen
Who travelled from afar

Chorus:
It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday

It's about the cross
It's about the cross”

Go Fish – Album “Christmas with a capital C”

    Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ, but really, it’s about the ending of the story 33 years later.  It is about the cross, “it’s about the one who came to be born once so we can be born again” (Go Fish). Yes, the birth is important, and we must always celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we need to remember what it is really about…” God so loved the world He gave His one and Only Son for us” (John 3:16).  

Merry Christmas everyone!  Now I call you all to go tell it on the mountain; not just that Jesus Christ was born, but why.

Please enjoy the link to Go Fish’s “It’s About the Cross”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjOR4PBzvbo

~Written by Christian Love