“Rejoice, Rejoice Emanuel has come to thee “O Israel.”
The True message of Christmas is found in Luke’s Gospel, chapter two, in the fifteenth verse. There we have the account of Jesus’ birth. In the following Scripture, we have the shepherds as they go to Bethlehem.
In the true message of Christmas, the shepherds came to see this thing the angels said had come to pass,
”That unto you is born in the City of David, a Savior which is Christ The Lord.”
They came, and they saw, then went forth glorifying and praising God, telling others what they had seen and heard.
Man’s praise and worship of God for the revelation of His glory that night has not ceased.
Neither the skeptic’s doubt; the mocker’s scorn; the profession’s criticisms; the public’s apathy; crowd’s ridicule; the pagan’s blasphemy; the executioner’s sword; the Devil’s lies have diminished the hope that was born that night.
Nor has it dimmed the glorious dawn of His glory that continues to radiate down through the years and envelopes your heart and mine.
The true message of Christmas is that Eternal God came to earth in the form of a man in order to save His own creation.
It was necessary because fallen man is mired in sin, and there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood,
In order to show that this tiny babe in swaddling clothes came for a purpose, the manger and the cross must be seen together.
He came to die for your sins, my sins, and for the sins of the whole world.
The small infant’s hands that were later nailed to a rugged wooden cross are the hands that so often lovingly reach down and pick us up during the difficulties Of life
The One we see in the manger is fully God who came to earth to die so that you and I could have forgiveness of our sins so that we would receive the greatest gift of all.
Your best Christmas comes not from the gaily-wrapped presents under the Christmas tree but from the One wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a wooden manger in the town of Bethlehem, the One whose birthday we celebrate.
2 Corinthians 2:15: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.”
Bethlehem’s manger crib-bound a lost world to a loving God.
When you see a manger scene and the baby, think beyond the babe, to His reason for coming.
Make the effort to remember the real message of Christmas and His undying love for you, and remember His hands.
So again, ”Rejoice, Rejoice for God has come to us.”
Faye Byrd
