Nothing in this world is as misunderstood as the gospel of Jesus Christ. At first glance, this might come as a surprise. After all, its message has been confronting humanity for more than 2000 years. And the Bible has been open to the people for more than 500 years.
We’ve had ample time. There should be no confusion at all. Yet, not a single subject is so completely misunderstood as the message of the Bible, and with it, the message of Christmas.
Why? The misunderstanding is a consequence of, and proof of, sin. Sin affects our entire being as humans. Our actions and our thoughts. Our hearts and our minds. Sin blinds our eyes, it makes it impossible for us to see the truth.
It even makes us hate the truth! Just look at how the world treated Jesus, when He was here in this world. They hated Him. And they killed Him.
Man is not free in his thinking. He doesn’t start with a clean slate. He’s prejudiced. Against God and against the Bible. He is unable to read the Bible with an open mind. Instead, he’s constantly searching for arguments against it.
And as a result, the message about the coming of the Son of God into this world is completely misunderstood.
What, then, do people say the meaning of Christmas is? For some, it is simply a vague festival of good will and good cheer. It’s a season of kindness. They are glad for the “Christmas spirit” as a contrast to the dark world we live in. They light their candles and resolve to be nice to one another. It comes and goes every year, and they are happy about it. But apart from that, they don’t think about it very much.
For others, the message of Christmas is more serious. They say it’s about realizing that we need peace on earth. They think the message of the gospel is world peace. Putting their hope in politicians and conferences, they call for an end to wars, for peace treaties, disarmament and — while those things are being worked out — our welcoming care for refugees. Jesus’ way is the way of peace, they say. And so they urge us to stop the bombs and apply the teachings of Jesus instead. Even men and women who call themselves Christians do that. Others might urge us to save the planet or to usher in social justice.
But is that really what the message of Christmas is? What the message of the gospel is? Is it about what men are doing, about their mishandling of the world?
Nothing could be further from the truth. But what is the message, then? To understand it, we need to come to terms with two important principles:
Christianity is based on historical events
Christianity’s central message is tied to the events in connection with the comings of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Apostle Paul illustrates both principles and summarizes the message perfectly in these verses:
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)
Let us take a closer look at this passage.
Christianity is based on historical events
“The grace of God has appeared,” it says. That is clearly an event. Something has happened. Yet people insist on acting as if it were not an event. As if it were but a teaching, one of a number of philosophies, aimed at making the world a better place.
Yes, there are implications of the events. But there is no use in going to people, to talk to them about their behavior and warn them that if they go on like that it will lead to disaster. That instead they should love one another, put duty before rights, and all these other things that would be good for them and society at large.
That would be a pure waste of time. Why? All that has been done before. In the Old Testament, God has given us the Ten Commandments, a moral law for humanity, aimed at bringing order to the chaos of human society. The Greek philosophers were als trying to bring order to the chaos. They came up with their utopias, with rules and regulations for a good life, the role of the state, the importance of education, poetry, art and all that.
We were lecturing people on how to live long before Jesus came into this world. Yet, whether it was based on God’s revealed moral law, or based on human thinking: the results have been nothing but failure. Just look at human history.
Yet men and women today want to turn the gospel of Jesus Christ into just that again. Into yet another teaching, another appeal to tell people to stop fighting and to love one another. As if it were enough to simply ask people to do this. When history proves that all such appeals (even by God) avail to nothing. If Christ brought nothing but a plan, then we are without hope!
No, the gospel is not a plan. It is the proclamation of an event! Our only hope for this world is that God is interested in it. And that He is acting in it! Christianity is primarily history, not philosophy. It is not an idea. It is a fact! Bethlehem, the manger, the baby, Mary and Joseph, others coming to see Him are all parts of an event in history. God has done something! The entire Bible is about what God does!
We must stop looking at ourselves only, get rid of our subjectivism. We must look at the facts, that “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.” That’s an event. Something has made an appearance!
Christianity’s central message is tied to the events in connection with the comings of the Lord Jesus Christ
It’s in Him that “the grace of God, bringing salvation to all men” has appeared. Everything God does to save the human race is manifested in this person, the baby in Bethlehem, Jesus of Nazareth!
It all centers on Him. You can’t say you believe in God, if you don’t believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can’t pray to God except in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no forgiveness, except in the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone can justify you from your sins, it’s all in this person.
How can people who call themselves Christians, instead of speaking about the person, be talking about a teaching? There is no greater insult to Him than to do that!
No, we must look at the person. We must understand who He is, what He has done, and what He is yet to do.
He is the great God and Savior
He is the second person of the Holy Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is eternal. He did not begin in Bethlehem, He appeared.
”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” is how the Apostle John opens his gospel account. Only to add this monumental statement a few verses later:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. (John 1:14)
God has entered into His own creation! It’s the most momentous and astonishing thing that ever happened in human history.
God has visited and redeemed His people. This is how the grace of God appeared. Grace means kindness, benevolence shown to utterly undeserving people. He brought salvation as a free gift to people who deserve nothing but punishment and hell.
The baby in Bethlehem is none other than the Creator of the entire universe. And He came to bring us a gift — the gift of peace between men and God.
He came to Bethlehem, lived and died and rose again
There was no other way to bring salvation to the human race. God couldn’t offer any of us salvation without doing this. He couldn’t just grant us amnesty like that and say “you are forgiven.”
There are so many self-professed Christians today arguing, “God is a God of love, He will forgive me if I ask Him to.” But that is not Christianity.
God has pronounced judgment on sin, and He cannot just go back on His word. Sin must be punished. The world is as it is today because we all sin. We all live in ungodliness, as Paul observes in our passage and, perhaps most prominently, in his letter to the Romans, where he writes, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
There was only one way that sin could be punished and men be reconciled with God. He had to take on our nature, live a sinless life and then bear the punishment in our place! That’s what Jesus Christ did when He died innocently on the cross at Calvary. And then God confirmed it all by raising Him from the dead on the third day.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
That is the message of Christmas. It is not a teaching. It is a historical fact. What does it mean to you? Is it the most important thing? Is it everything to you?
How can that not move you? How can it not lead you to repentance?
He will come again to judge
But that’s not yet the end of the story. He came once. And He will come again. Christmas not only asks us to look backwards, but equally to look forwards. Consider not only what He has done. But what He’s yet going to do!
In our passage, Paul asks us to be “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior.” The second coming is as much a part of the gospel as is the first coming.
Yet, the second coming will be very different. This time, His glory won’t be veiled. He will come “from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, executing vengeance on those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8). He won’t come as a baby, but as the King of kings and Lord of lords. And every eye shall see Him (Revelation 1:7).
But what’s He coming back for? To bring an end to the day of grace. To bring an end to the offer of the gospel with its free pardon and forgiveness and reconciliation.
He’s coming back to judge. Every man, every woman, and every child who has ever lived will appear before Him. And then He will destroy all His enemies. All who haven’t believed in Him, who have rejected Him, who have ignored Him. All who have turned down His offer of love and grace. 2000 years have gone by. He’s given us the time that we might repent and believe. All who haven’t, will be destroyed out of His presence for all eternity.
But He will also come for another reason: for that blessed hope! What is it? A new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness reigns. The world will be no longer as it is now. Sin and evil and shame and all that is wrong will have gone. The world will be purified. And all who believed in Him and who belong to Him, will be there with Him.
That is also the message of Christmas. As certainly as He came the first time, He will come the second time. Yet, the foolish, sinful world doesn’t believe it.
But that doesn’t change the fact that every eye shall see him. You will see Him. You, who haven’t believed in Him. You, who’ve rejected Him. You, who’ve said He’s just a man. You all will see Him. And see what you’ve refused.
What’s your response?
I plead with you. On this Christmas Day, look back. In order to save you from judgment, He has already come. Look at Him! Look at the little baby and also at Him hanging on the cross, suffering for your sins. Believe in Him and give yourself to Him!
And then, as you also look forward, you won’t do it with fear, nor with terror or alarm. But you will be longing for it. It will be your blessed hope! And you shall spend your eternity with Him.
Merry Christmas to you.
(based on a sermon series by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, originally preached in December 1958)