The Scripture lets us know that even in the midst of God’s pronounced judgment, His love for humanity abounded so much, that He provided a way for deliverance from this condemnation.  His plan was to send His only begotten Son into the world to pay the penalty for Adam and Eve’s sin; something that humanity could not do. 

Scripture tells us about God’s provision of deliverance this way:

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means, God with us.” (Matthew 1:23 NIV)

“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.” (Matthew 1:21 NIV)

God is a loving, faithful, just, and forgiving God; He never lies nor does he deceive.  On the 25^th day of December, over 2000 years ago, He fulfilled His promise of sending a Messiah, a Savior, and a Deliverer named Jesus to rescue all humanity as stated in Scripture this way: 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16, 17 NIV)

This is what Christians are to be remembering over this holiday season.  It is the essence of the Christmas message; a message that should be most dominate over the airways, but sadly is not.  It is replaced by messages of folklore, of Santa Clause, reindeer, rooftop excursions, gift giving, Christmas trees, eggnog, sports events, sales, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, etc.  Though these events are specific to our human experiences, and have merit, they are not specific to God’s plan of deliverance, salvation, redemption and eternal life, which is the “reason for the season.”

The most precious gift God gave to humanity was His Son Jesus Christ.  He was a gift because humanity could do nothing to bring Him into existence.  We are to be thankful to God for His gift; we are to honor His gift; we are to worship His gift and most importantly, we are to receive His gift.   Jesus is born; Jesus is alive; Jesus holds your future.  Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.  Jesus holds a gift for anyone who receives Him through faith as their Lord and Savior; He holds the gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sin. 

If you want to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, give your life to Him.  This is why He was born.  Through faith, Jesus saves the world from the condemnation of God, the eternal separation from God, and the eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire that awaits those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, on the Day of Judgment.

Therefore, when someone asks you “what is the reason for the season?” tell them it is found in John 3:16-17.

Why is it then that there are so many born again believers in Jesus Christ who pay more attention to ”worldly” nonsense than to the ”eternal” message of Jesus Christ?  Why are there so many believers who would rather “preach” a message of “abundant life” than the message of “repentance and forgiveness of sins”?

If not for the “cross of Christ” we would all still be lost, condemned, cursed and eternally separated from God.  This is the message that we are instructed to tell people; this is the message that brings hope into the life of every person wanting to be reconciled to God.  Why aren’t born again believers doing what the Lord has commanded them to do, now that they have received the gift of the Father’s grace?

Don’t be complacent because you are “saved” and “redeemed”.  Don’t be insensitive to the condition of those who are still “lost” and “separated” from God.  Walk in the shadow of the compassion that was shown to you by the Father and Jesus Christ; walk in the gratitude of the love that was demonstrated by Christ on the cross.  Pay more attention to the message that holds eternal consequences and less time on the messages of this world that have no signifcance. 

Show the love for your neighbor by preaching to them their need for repentance so that they too may receive forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and redemption; and be more willing to teach them in the way of sanctification.

Remember: The Lord is not wanting for anyone to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance. (2Peter 3:8-9)

The Bible calls any falling short of these requirements – SIN.  God characterizes anyone who has sinned as being “unclean” or “impure” in His eyes. 

How would you feel if someone called you “unclean” or “impure” everytime you were caught in sin?  What if the word “disobedient” were replaced with the word “unclean”?  Would that facilitate any desire in you to refrain from continuing in it or move you to want to be “cleansed” from it?

I thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ that “cleanses” me from the guilt and shame of sin…  How about you?

Jesus expected to find figs on the tree  to satisfy His hunger because the tree advertised it was carrying figs evidenced by its foliage, but when Jesus didn’t find figs, he cursed the tree.  What Jesus expected to find, he didn’t. 

When people look at you, a professing born again believer in Jesus Christ, what do they see?  Do they see the evidence of your union with the Holy Spirit or do they see your association with the world?  The fruit of your foliage is supposed to be the fruit of the Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Is that what people see when they examine you?   Be who you say you are – a born again believer in Jesus Christ.  Let the phrases: “it is, what it is“ or “what you see, is what you get“ be true of you.

Matthew 16:5-12 (NASB):  5 And the disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread. 

6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 

7 And they began to discuss among themselves, saying, “It is because we took no bread.”

8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?

9 “Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?

10 “Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you took up?

11 “How is it that you do not undestand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?  But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

Consider this: 

In the climate of Christianity today there is much “teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees” going on.  By this I mean there is a myriad of teaching going on in various denominations that are not truly reflective of God‘s perfect will as it pertains to man’s final destiny. 

We must all be cognizant of the warning of Christ to His disciples concerning the teaching that was coming from the two most influential demoninations in His time.  He warned them of the (leaven) being taught; the untruths of God’s message, direction, purpose and plan for unredeemed man. 

What Jesus was saying is there is only one gospel message of salvation, redemption, reconciliation, atonement, forgiveness and eternal life; and there is only one body of Christ – His Church.

We live in an era where there has been an exponential growth in the number of Christian denominations since the time of Christ’s ministry on earth.  The batch is therefore larger and the false teachings (leaven)  is more pronounced. 

Therefore, train yourself to search the Scriptures and evaluate any and all messages presented to you concerning your need for an eternal relationship with the Godhead.  Be sure that the message of Christ is crystal clear, for it is not the message from any man-derived denomination that matters – it is the truth of God that matters.  Therefore, train yourself to put to the test what you hear being taught to you about salvation, redemption, reconciliation, atonement, forgiveness and eternal life by filtering that message through the  Word of God and prayer.

Remember what the Apostle Paul said to the Church at Ephesus:  There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.  (Ephesians 4:4-6) NASB

When a person is offended, what is it that makes them become so insensitive to the Word of God to the point where they see the Bible as just a book with a lot of words that bring no relief into their situation?   What is it that makes an offended person PUSH the Lord away and WELCOME the sinful desires of a broken heart?  You know what I mean;  the desire to pay someone back;  to get revenge;  to hurt them; to slander their name;  or to become malicious and aggressive toward them.  

Many counselors will answer this question by saying it’s their “pride” that makes them do this but I think there’s another reason.  In fact, I know there is, and so do you, so  share your answer with me.  For you know you better than any counselor would.  What do you say is the reason you entertain sinful desires instead of asking the Lord to help you heal and get through the ordeal?  Tell me why you have such a hard time relying on your faith when you are offended?

The reality is that forgiveness is hard to give out when you are hurting emotionally.  The Lord knows this all to well that is why the Father has anointed Jesus with the power to heal the brokenhearted (Isa.61:1).  We are told in Psalm 55:22a(NIV) to cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you…, so why can’t you do this?  I believe it is because emotional hurt brings a person to a point of numbness; a numbness of the Spirit‘s presence in their life.  A time when room is given to the Adversary to activate the desires of their flesh; a time of vulnerability.

I believe hurt people ought to ask:  Lord, can you help me, please?  I believe hurt people ought to pay close attention to and guard themselves from their vulnerabilities to the Adversary.  I believe hurt people ought to faithfully rely on the promise of their Father to let Jesus heal their brokenhearts. 

You see, the work of forgiveness begins in brokenhearts and ends in healed hearts that stand ready to give forgiveness to the one who offended them.

Now people don’t usually put their trust into something or someone who cannot deliver the “goods” so to speak; especially if it involves their very life.  If the person falters on what they have promised they will usually disconnect with them; move away from them; give up on them; disown them.  They do this because they have lost ”faith” in that person’s ability to deliver what was promised.

Though this behavior of giving up on someone for not fulfilling a promise is consistent with being human, it is not a behavior that is consistent  with God.  Though people may fail to fulfill their promises, He never fails to fulfill His.

Ponder these verses of Scripture:

Numbers 23:19 (NIV):  God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should change His mind.  Does He speak and then not act?  Does He promise and not fulfill?

2Timothy 2:11-13 (NIV):  Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him.  If we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.

Everywhere you look and listen (television, billboards, newspapers, internet, radio etc.), you see a different gospel being spoken of.  It is a gospel that isn’t focused on the birth of Christ.  It is a gospel of fulfulling personal desires and wants; of pleasing others; of commercialism.  You have to look extemely long and hard if you want to find anything that speaks of Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection; if you find it at all.  Even our churches are moving away from this focus through the utilization of “non-traditional” Christmas plays.  Be careful that you are not someone that would fall into this snare.

Our salvation from the wrath and condemnation of God is the reason for  Christ’s birth.  If He never was birthed into history, all would still be condemned to the lake of fire and the second death.  But because He came, He provides a way for all to be saved from this punishment; for all to have a way to receive eternal forgiveness and have eternal life with the Godhead.  This is what we are to be thankful for during Christmas.  This is what needs to be remembered.  This is what is meant by the saying “Christ is the reason for the season”.  By the season it is meant when in human history Christ entered the realm of time; when He took on human flesh to complete the will of God the Father.

Be wise in how you govern yourself during this time of year.  It is easy to fall victim to apostasy; to respond to a different  ”gospel message”, if you stop listening to the Spirit of the Lord who resides in you.  Christ deserves your worship, praise, time, attention and gift during this time.  Tell those who do not know Christ that the greatest gift they have to give is their life.  This is more important than any gift they could give to anyone.  Tell them to give their life to Christ; ask Him to come into their heart and be their Lord and Savior. 

For those who have an ear, listen to what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to you…

The definition of witnessing is to testify to one’s religious convictions.  This usually takes the form of explaining to someone what the Lord Jesus Christ; the Holy Spirit or the Father have done in one’s life or in one’s circumstances.  This is witnessing to the goodness of the Lord, or the deliverance one experienced from the hand of the Lord.  It is testimony that affirms the presence of the Lord in one’s life and how that has caused changes in one’s behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, etc.  It acts as an “advertisement” so to speak to the one hearing the testimony.  It sturs awe, amazement, hope, anticipation and desire in the hearer to seek the Lord for themselves.  “If He can do it for me, He will surely do it for you”.

The definition of evangelize is to preach the gospel to.  This pertains to telling someone specifically about Jesus Christ – not you;  His mission, purpose, life, death, burial, resurrection and provision of eternal salvation.  It is the gospel message that convicts, softens hearts, brings contrition and repentance.  It is through the gospel message that one understands how to secure eternal forgiveness and eternal life.  So remember to ask yourself the next time you are having a discussion with an unbeliever if you are witnessing or evangelizing.  Both are beneficial but they are not synonomous.  Remember that it is only through Jesus Christ that one is saved – not through your personal testimony.

Query:  How literate are you in presenting the gospel message of Jesus Christ?