The True Meaning of Christmas
A Christmas Booklet depicting who Christ Is
The True Meaning of Christmas
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S
Š All rights subsists 2008
Christmas Thoughts This booklet is designed to look at the true meaning of Christmas. As this time of year is celebrated as the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior who was born to die for the sins of the world. God at His appointed time fulfilled His promise to humanity to send a Savior to save the world from its sins and wickedness. As man’s sins had caused a separation between man and God. Through Christ’s death, burial and resurrection the gift of Salvation is offered to all, but one must accept God’s gift.
Christmas C- Is for Christ as He is the Savior of the world. Christ is the Son of God. Christ is God in the second person. He is divine and the last revelation of God Himself.
H-Heavenly Host; “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God saying Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men” (Luke 2:13-14). If the heavenly host can sing praises to His name why can’t you and I.
R-The resurrection established Jesus as God’s Son with power. Resurrection of Jesus Christ which is the Easter miracle validates Christ’s deity as the Son of God and is the heart of the Christian faith. Romans: 1:4 supports this and validates this belief. Christians, God is not simply God, but He is the God who raises the dead, (Romans 4:16-17; Ephesians 1:19-20; I Peter 1:21). More importantly, Christian’s faith in the resurrection on Easter Sunday morning transforms the tragedy of Friday’s cross into the Gospel message of Christ---He is alive. “By virtue of His resurrection, our Savior entered upon His ministry as High Priest, presenting His own sacrificial blood to the Father, performing the functions of intercessions” (Romans 8:34 Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary).
I-Immanuel, this name means God with us (Isaiah 7:14; 8:8; Matthew 1:23). Both scriptures support each other as Isaiah’s prophecy of the virgin birth and Matthew 1:23 record the prophecy as being fulfilled. The importance of Jesus’ virgin birth was for the Redeemer to qualify as the Savior and provide salvation to all He must be without sin, and the only way for Him to be sinless was to be conceived by the Holy Spirit thus He would be divine and human. This means God was His Father. The name Immanuel takes on a newer and deeper meaning when Christ was born because He is the begotten Son of God
S-Savior is one who delivers or saves. In OT times God is the deliverer of His people. Also, in the OT, Savior applies to the Messiah, but in the NT it is used both as God the Father and Christ the Son. God the Father is the Savior, for He is the author of our salvation which He provided through Christ (Luke 1:47; 1 Timothy 1:1; 2:3; 4:10; Titus 1:10; 11 Peter 1:1; 11; 2:20; 3:2, 18; 1John 4:10). At the birth of Christ, the angels announced Him as “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Lastly, salvation that Christ brought into the world for all mankind makes Him “the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). Believers wait for a future work of Christ as Savior when He comes again to consummate our salvation and the transformation of our bodies (Philippians 3:20). Christ is the Savior!
T-Temple
is the body of Christ and all baptized believers, and since Jesus Christ embodies the meaning of
the temple and the church is His body, then members of His body are designated as “temples of God,” being indwelt by Christ and His Spirit (1Corinthians 3:16; 11 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21-22). Being that the Spirit of Christ lives in His church, the believer, this requires His body, the church to be holy. Therefore, our bodies are to be holy as God cannot live in an unholy place.
M-Messiah means the anointed one. Therefore, Christ in the English form of the word is the anointed one. Messiah also refers to the coming Savior and this translates to the anointed one or Messiah as He came to save the world and will return to rule the world when He establishes His earthly kingdom. Christ was anointed by God the Father before creation to be the Savior of the world, as He was begotten of the Father. John 1:1-4 refers to Jesus as the “Word made flesh”, which further authenticates Christ as the Messiah.
A-atonement means to be forgiven of ones sins, or the bringing together of two who have been at odds with one another. Atonement removes the barrier that once existed between man and God and through Jesus’ death on Calvary restored the peaceful relationship between man and God. His blood sacrifice removed the need for animal sacrifices ever again (Hebrews 9:12-18). The difference between animal sacrifices and Christ’s sacrificial death is that animal sacrifices covered over sin whereas Christ’s sacrifice done away with sin. What a difference! Lastly, Christ’s atonement permanently removed guilt and sin thus turning away God’s wrath and reconciled
humanity back to God. Thank God for Jesus----what a fellowship!
S-Salvation means deliverance from evil, the bringing safely through, or protecting from harm, and eternal life (Isaiah 12:2; Luke 19:9). Our salvation comes only through God’s grace, which He freely gives, and our faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24) which is based on His death (Romans 3:25; 5:8; resurrection (Romans 5:10) and continued intercession for believers (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus is the way to Salvation! Salvation is described as having two sides or three stages: (1) Salvation is a gift of God’s graces that is received through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22; 24-25; 28), and it is extended to us as a result of His grace (John 1:16) (2) It is received by us through the response of that faith (Acts 16:31; Romans 1:17; Ephesians 1:15). The three stages of salvation are past, present and future as outlined below: Past consists of the personal experience by which believers receive forgiveness of sin as a free gift (Acts 10:43; Romans 4:6-8) and pass from spiritual death to spiritual life. Believers have been rescued from Satan’s powers. Present is that salvation saves us from the bondage, power and dominion of sin and brings us into a fellowship with God, the Holy Spirit. There is a person-to-person relationship with God as our Father and Jesus as our Lord and Savior (Matthew 6:9; John 14:18-23). Believers are dead to sin (Romans 6:1-14) and believers submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit (Roman 8:1-17), God’s Word
(John 8:31; 14:21; II Timothy 3:15-16), an invitation to be filled with the Holy Spirit and separate ourselves from sin (Roman 6:1-14) and we are called to contend for the advancement of God’s kingdom against Satan and his demonic attacks. Future stage of salvation is the believer’s deliverance from God’s coming wrath (Romans 5:9; 1 Corinthians 3:15; 5:5). Believers will share in Christ’s glory as well as receiving our resurrected or transformed bodies (Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49). Lastly, believers will be rewarded as faithful overcomers as this is the goal for all Christians to achieve (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Philippians 3:8-14).
Summary: The first six letters in Christmas spells Christ which is essential for all believers who know Jesus as the Christ the anointed Messiah who came to earth as humanity deliverer. Christ’s purpose for coming to earth was to die for the sins of the world. Christ died so that you and I wouldn’t have to die. Humanity’s responsibility is to accept Christ’s atoning work at Calvary because He paid the price and our account is marked PAID IN FULL. Let’s close this discourse with the following questions, what are your views of Christmas? How do you spell Christmas? It is improper to spell Christmas Xmas because we X out Christ when we do so. Lastly, Christ is the sole reason for honoring His holy birth. Angels and the heavenly host sang praises to His birth while announcing peace had come to earth and this meant Salvation for mankind. Christ is Christmas!
The True Meaning of Christmas
Author’s Comments Thank you for allowing me to share God’s Word with you.
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Visit website at www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com wwhite@goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com williewhite8613@sbcglobal.net
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Bio
WILLIE B. WHITE holds two Masters of Arts degree in Adult education (MA Ed, MA SED). Weekly articles in The Oakland press (religion subsection). A monthly article appears in Divine Inspiration Magazine at www.divineinspirationmagazine.com and frequent articles in The Informer magazine of the SSPB. First book, “The Lord is My Shepherd”, (2007) PublishAmerica. “Expose of the Holy Spirit”, released June 2009, “Heavenly Bread”, released July 2009, a monthly devotional. Works in progress, DVD Who is God? An inspirational video and Season of Inspiration book, release day December 2009. All material is available through www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
The True Meaning of Christmas