What is The Wonder of Christmas?
Many children experience a certain wonder about Christmas. My fondest childhood memories of Christmas include the lighted décor of (seemingly) every house, songs of the season, like Jingle Bells, TV specials, caroling, Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, presents, wrapping paper, and the yearly reading of “The Night Before Christmas.” One Christmas eve, I woke in the night, crept into the living room, and actually saw "the big guy" putting presents around the tree. Yep, I saw him, and no one could persuade me otherwise.
However, some Christian parents fear the tainting of the true Christmas message by the secularization of the holiday. I say, let your kids dream. Too often, I've heard the concern that Christmas myths undermine faith. Quite the contrary. Investing in our child's imagination prepares them for seeing, by faith, the unseen realities of God. Moreover, if they see you living year-round for Jesus, you need not fear that they will confuse the myth with the Messiah.
No doubt, two Christmas traditions fill the December holidays. Reindeer, Santa, mistletoe, decorated trees, gifts, and frenzied shopping represent the one. The other focuses on the Nativity, the Christ Child, songs of redemption, and gratitude for salvation.
As fun and marvelous as this season can be, in the hustle and bustle, we can lose sight of the profound wonder that far exceeds every other Christmas wonder: God became man. Jesus, the fully divine Son of God (Phil 2:6), existed before all things (John 1:1). God established an eternal plan to rescue man from his sin (Rev 13:8). Jesus set aside His eternal majesty to set the plan in motion and entered our world as a baby.
Christmas celebrates, above all, the love of God reaching out to all humanity through the incarnation of Christ: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “Whoever” means you and me. None need “perish,” if they place their faith in the Christ of Christmas.
Now that is truly wonderful!
–Pastor Scott (www.askpastorscott.com)
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