What Is God Saying To The World At Christmas? Part One
Christmas is the most celebrated holiday around the world.
I don’t believe this is accidental.
I believe it is on purpose.
I believe Christmas is the time of the year when God is speaking to the world clearly.
The question is: What is God saying to us at Christmas?
I believe God is saying to us at Christmas:
He exists.
He loves us individually.
He wants to know us personally.
He wants us to live eternally.
Typically, wherever we go in the world during the Christmas season we hear Christmas music.
When we watch television, there are many advertisements centered around Christmas.
When we are on social media, there are many references to Christmas.
Music platforms are dominated by Christmas songs during the Christmas season.
Many of these songs reference God.
But who is God?
Is he revealing himself to the world through Christmas?
Is he revealing his identity to the world through Christmas?
The answer is yes!
The first six letters of the word Christmas spell Christ (Christ also means Messiah).
The word Christ/Messiah is a word that comes from the Bible that means the anointed one…or the one specifically selected by God to come into the world as the world’s Savior and King.
As Savior, the Christ would die to bring peace with God.
As King, the Christ would rise and reign to bring peace on earth.
The Bible, which is collection of credible and historical writings that were preserved over the course of time and compiled into one volume (Can You Trust The Bible?), provides the information about the Christ, the Savior-King.
God’s prophets to Israel spoke about the coming of the Christ.
The nation of Israel was created by God to be the nation through whom God would reveal himself to the world.
He communicated with the people of Israel through prophets.
God would reveal information to the prophets who then revealed the information to others.
Some of the prophets spoke about the coming of a Savior-King (Christ) who would bring peace with God and peace on earth.
Let’s look at a few of these prophets and what they said about the coming Savior-King, the Christ.
Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 (see also Jeremiah 33:15-16)
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David [from the family tree of David] a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.
Zechariah 9:9-10
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
According to the prophet Micah, the Christ/Messiah/Savior/King would be born in Bethlehem.
Micah 5:2
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
The angel Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to the King (Gabriel quotes part of Isaiah 9:7), and he was to be named Jesus.
Luke 1:30-33 (see also Isaiah 9:7)
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
The angels announced the birth of Jesus, the Christ.
Luke 2:8-11
And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Just then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David [Bethlehem] a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!
When Jesus was born into the world, he was born as King and as Savior.
And now, all over the world, Jesus is proclaimed as the Christ of Christmas to be the world’s Savior-King who brings peace with God through his death and resurrection and will bring peace on earth when he returns as King.
Click below to read What Is God Saying To The World At Christmas? - Part Two.
