A SEASON OF SALVATION

Christmas has different meanings for each one of us, but family gatherings, good food, friends, travel, shopping, ball games, exchanging of gifts and religious celebration still seem to be part of almost everyone’s Christmas celebrations. The true meaning of Christmas, of course, is that it is a season of salvation.

Paul writes in Galatians 4.4,5: “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” In order to have a season of salvation, the world needs a Savior.

Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve and the promise of a deliverer in Genesis 3.15, the Lord God was arranging for the birth of the Savior. God had predicted the birth of his Messiah, a son who would come out of the loins of Adam; from the loins of Shem, one of Noah’s three sons; out of Abraham through Isaac (not Ishmael ); out of Jacob (not Esau); out of Jesse’s son David (not one of David’s seven older brothers); out of Solomon (from all of David’s sons). Eventually, this son would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7.14) in the city of Bethlehem.

Some 700 years before the fact, the prophet Micah wrote:

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephratah, Too little to among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity. Therefore, He will give them up until the time When she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren Will return to the sons of Israel. And He will rise and shepherd His flock. In the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will remain, Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth. And this One will be our Peace” (Micah 5.2-5)

Some 30 years later, five miles away in the city of Jerusalem, this same Son would be taken down from the cross and placed into a borrowed tomb. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Corinthians, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that through He was rich, yet for you sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8.9).

In his book Psalms of My Life, Joe Bayly wrote the following poem:

Praise God for Christmas.

Praise Him for the incarnation for Word made Flesh.

I will not sing of shepherds watching flocks on frosty night or angel choristers.

I will not sing of stable bare in Bethlehem, or lowing oxen,

wise men, trailing distant star, with gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Tonight I will sing praise to the Father who stood on heaven’s threshold

And said farewell to His Son,

as He stepped across the stars to Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

And I will sing praise to the infinite eternal Son

Who became most finite a Baby,

Who would one day be executed for my crimes.

Praise Him in the heavens,

Praise Him in the stable,

Praise Him in my heart.

Christmas is a season of salvation. We should rejoice that Jesus was born in the ancient city of Bethlehem long ago, and our hearts should be filled with joy because that Child was and is the Savior Christ the Lord. The angel Gabriel had said to Joseph, “you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”

If there had been no Christmas morn,

No Christ Child in a manger born,

No shepherds watching in the night,

No angel song, no star of light

Then there would be no hope today

For this old world where sin holds sway.

No peace for souls weighed down with sin,

No deep abiding joy within,

No burdens lifted by His grace,

No strength to run life’s weary race,

No sorrows eased, no tempests quelled,

No fears dispersed, no doubts dispelled.

No song of praise, no answered prayer,

No loving Lord to guide and care:

But friend, there was a Christmas morn

When Christ, the Son of God, was born.

Oh, Hallelujah, praise His name,

Hope lives today because He came! – Harriet Heine

Christmas was and is and will always be until Christ comes again a season of salvation to every one who is willing to trust Jesus as their Savior.