Leading theologian, Linus explains to Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about.
Yesterday's message by our senior pastor, Mark Mullery was entitled "Why Did God Become Man?"
http://media.sovgracefairfax.org/mp3/12-23-07.mp3
It was a rich message but the one point stood out to me -
It's possible to "put Christ back into Christmas" (my words, not his) but still miss the point of Christmas. Christmas is ultimately about Calvary.
Yes, Christmas is about the incarnation...but the incarnation was for a purpose - bringing sinful men and women to a holy God. We love the manger scene but it's a prelude to the glory of the cross.
How would you answer Charlie Brown? What is Christmas all about?
Monday, December 24, 2007
What is Christmas All About?
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6 comments:
Amen to Luke 2, of course.
Blessed Christmas and new year to you and yours, ESI!
A discussion sprung up from Charles Wesley's "And Can It Be That I Should Gain?" R.C. Sproul didn't care for this song because of these words:
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
I love and respect R.C., but I see this differently. Yes, it wouldn't make sense to say that God died for me... except for the incarnation. He became a man so that he COULD die. Death could not keep its grip on him because he was also God.
That in mind, I like the Christmas design I have seen with a baby's handprint... with a red dot in the middle.
Now that I read what I wrote...
Um, I wasn't personally having that discussion with R.C.
It was an audio CD from a lecture that spurred a conversation between a couple of regular blokes.
I love what you've written here, ESI. With New Year's approaching, I was thinking that Christmas is also about the resurrection. And the revelation.
It's about the angels saying, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain."
It's about the elders saying, "With your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God."
Happy New Year to you!
Craver
I've never heard that distinction by Sproul but I've heard others make it but unless it leads to some heretical movement, I'm just find with the general idea that God died for us.
The phrase "That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me" may not be technically correct but in view of the incarnation, it sounds better than "That Thou, Son of God shouldst die for me"...and for us non-theologians, it works just fine. ;-)
Marcus
I agree - viewing Christmas with the whole gospel in view was really my main point - incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection.
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