Study – Grow – Know

Christmas: God Clothed Himself with Humanity and Lived Among Us to Save Us from Sin and Death

December 14, 2013 at 10:31 AM 3 comments

Merry Christmas! May you seek and serve the risen Savior!

by Fred DeRuvo

Amazing how atheists and other groups want to remove Christ from Christmas by turning Christmas into a general “holiday” that offends no one, except Christians that is. It’s a ridiculous move on their part, but it reminds me of watching the Shekinah glory of the Hebrew Bible slowly leave the Tabernacle/Temple, rest on the mount of Olives and then finally disappear from view.

In those days, God took His glory and left because He was being ignored completely. Of course, in today’s case, we have people deliberately attempting to push God out of the picture in fulfillment of Psalm 2 where we learn that the nations rage against God and do everything to throw off His “shackles.”

The problem with atheism of course, is that there is no value in being alive. Atheists generally believe there is no God and there is no life after death. Hence, there is no real purpose for living. It matters not whether a person lives a completely evil or righteous life (by the world’s standards). Once you die, you’re gone and all that remains of you are memories that others hold. As for you? You become literally extinct.

Atheists are not gracious enough to allow those who believe in God to do so publicly. They want all mention, all memorials of God removed from society. What they fail to realize of course is that even if they could be successful here, this would not cause all of humanity to do away with God. As we learn in Romans 1, God is in the details of Creation. Throughout the Psalms, we are reminded that the Creation itself bears witness to God’s presence and glory. This cannot be removed by ignorant, arrogant atheists who believe that they have become free of the shackles that magically bind them to some imaginary God.

Theirs is an asinine attempt to place their will and belief system above everyone else. Their arrogance drives them on. They have no patience for Judeo-Christian beliefs or the God we worship.

But here is the rub. Christmas is a reminder that Jesus was born into humanity via a virgin. Try as they might, atheists will never be able to obliterate this fact.

As we learn in Philippians 2, God took on the form of humanity, lived among us, and through Jesus, we see the Father. In other words, Jesus is the exact representation of God in human form (Hebrews 1:3). In another place we read that in Jesus, the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9). This is something atheists simply deny. They are entitled to their belief system, but in essence, when they try to eradicate Jesus from the public sphere, they are guilty of imposing their “religion” on the rest of us. Of course, they don’t see it that way at all.

Atheists would also argue that nativity scenes and other things like crosses should not be placed on public property because it is tantamount to the government supporting one religion over another. This is ridiculous, but arguing with atheists is about as valuable as arguing with a low-info voter. Doesn’t matter what is said, the low-info voter is already indoctrinated to believe what they believe and there is no getting around it.

We expect atheists to treat Christmas – the day the church has chosen to recognize our Lord and Savior’s birth – as something laughable. We know that every Christmas, atheist groups will come out of the woodwork to denigrate Christmas and Christianity in general. It’s what they do and it is how many atheists spend their lives. Certainly not all of them are quick to castigate those who believe in God. Many atheists I’ve encountered are respectful of my beliefs (not that I need them to be), which is appreciated. Yet, there are way too many atheists who are so arrogant about their disdain for any and all religion (which speaks more of their intolerance than anything else) and who live to rupture the sacred moment with their diatribes.

But what of Christians? What should our response to Christmas be? Too often, it seems Christians are way too caught up in the baubles, the pageantry, the tree, the lights, and of course, the gifts to notice that Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection provided something for us that is infinitely far greater than any of our puny gifts to others.

Do we recall the true reason for this season? Do we seek to contemplate the mystery of God clothing Himself with humanity in order to live among us, suffer with us, shed His own blood and die for us on the rough-hewn wooden cross of Calvary?

I’m not sure we do. I know that I fail at this miserably, to my shame and chagrin. If we took away all the bells and baubles that we have come to recognize as Christmas, what would we have left? We would still have Christmas in the form of the birth of our Savior and Lord in a cave filled with animal dung and stench. I have not seen a nativity scene that actually reflects that, have you?

Let me end with words by J. Sidlow Baxter in his daily devotional book called “Awake My Heart!” He asks, “are we so engrossed in the merchandise and merriment of the yearly commemoration that our Saviour (sic) is obscured by the very season which ostensibly honours (sic) Him? Oh, strangest mockery! While eastern sages travel miles and months to spread their rich devotion at His cradle, shall we who know so much more clearly the Baby’s divine identity spare only intermittent snatches of our time? Nay, this all-transcendental marvel of the Incarnation calls for undistracted contemplation.”

The reason for this season is Christ Himself. In fact, He is the reason for all life and salvation. We owe Him everything and He asks that we follow Him wherever He leads us. Are you willing to look past the gifts of Christmas to the only real and true gift who eventually offered Himself as a propitiation for our sin? If so, take up your cross as He took up His. Worship and adore Him by faithfully following Him.

Entry filed under: Atheism and religion, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation.