“The Spirit of the LORD [is] upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to [the] poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to [the] captives And recovery of sight to [the] blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” – Luke 4:18-19 NKJV
A CHRISTIAN MESSAGE
By WARD PIMLEY
Pastor, Journalist, Author
THIS IS THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS.
Our Lord’s First Advent. His first arrival in human life as Himself human. There were prior appearances as Christophanies, but never before had He come as man. Fully man and fully God.
We cannot understand how He could do that, but He could because He is God.
This message completes the two-part message of The Meaning of Christmas. The first part is here.
PART 2. THE MEANING
This birth of our Lord was a downpayment on the future promise of Paradise Restored after sin cost us Paradise Lost.
Jesus would preach the Gospel – “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Repent! The Kingdom of God is at hand. Me. I AM the Kingdom of God. I AM here. Therefore, you repent.
That’s a beautiful message, and we who believe entrust our very salvation and future in Paradise to the truth of that message; yet most men and women in His time and even today reject the Message, want nothing to do with it because He is interfering with their sin, and men and women love their sin. We love our sin.
That’s still the Gospel message that we are called to carry on, to urge those we meet to repent before the time is fulfilled, that the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe. Tell them what God has done for you.
He then lived a sinless life and died an ignoble death on the cross, having been beaten and lashed so that the Bible says He no longer looked human.
After dying, He rose from the dead, taught for 40 days and nights, then was ascended in glory to sit next to the Father and to send the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us, which took place 10 days later.
Before leaving the Earth, He commissioned us to carry on His ministry – of preaching, forgiving, healing, baptizing – all in His name.
Through all of this, a tension was building, is building still. Faster and faster this tension builds. Can you see it? Can you feel it? Do you hear the sound of something approaching? Is there not a whisper that says, “Hold on, folks, this is not the end. There is more, much more, coming.”
As glorious as the First Advent was, all of history is building for the crescendo, and that will be the Second Advent, the Second Coming of Jesus, when the whole world will recognize Him as the Jewish Messiah – Yeshua HaMachiach.
In that moment, the Bible tells us, every knee will bow before Him, and every tongue will confess that He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings.
In that moment, the Bible tells us, the whole world will recognize and acknowledge that Jesus was, is, and forever more will be the Christ, the Messiah.
No longer just a Babe in the manger. You see, that was just the beginning.
PART 3. SECOND ADVENT
DO YOURSELF A BIG FAVOR. Work your way through the three Bible passages below and see if you find anything discordant with the Christmas message.
[HINT: Although they are familiar passages read at Christmas time, they largely reference the Second Advent, not the First Advent.]
The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to [those who are] bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” – Isaiah 61:1-3 NKJV
“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of [His] government and peace [There will be] no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. – Isaiah 9:6-7 NKJV
“Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.””- Luke 1:30-33 NKJV
THE REAL JOY OF CHRISTMAS for many evangelical Christians – and certainly it is for my wife and me – is the promise of the Second Advent, of Christ’s return. At that time, He will establish His forever Kingdom, the one prophesied by Isaiah 750 years before Christ was born – 750 years before Christmas – 750 years before the Babe in the Manger.
If you worked your way through the three Bible passages above, you’ll see something that most churches glide over. The passages do not focus on Christ’s first coming but His second, not His coming as a sacrificial lamb but His coming as a conquering king.
When Jesus spoke in the Temple, He stopped His reading of the prophet Isaiah in the middle of the sentence – at the comma.
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God.
That hasn’t occurred yet, but it will. Just as sure as we know the Babe in the manger was fulfillment of biblical prophecy, we know His next arrival also will fulfill biblical prophecy.
PART 4. FINAL WORDS
THAT BRINGS US TO OUR MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: SO WHAT?
All of that is well and good, but what does any of it have to do with me and my life?
Good question. Here’s the answer: All of us are called to make a decision. We have to decide if we are willing to accept the gift that Jesus is offering us.
Are you ready for the Messiah to return? He will catch us up in the air _ either as the dead in Christ who will rise first or as we who remain _ in the great Harpazo – “to snatch away” – the Rapture.
Unless you are born again, or reborn – know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior – all of this will be done without you. You will be resurrected, but the Bible tells us it will be after the Tribulation and Millennium are over, when God holds court for the unsaved, called the White Throne Judgment.
Do you know for certain that you are saved and that you will spend eternity in Heaven with God? If you are not sure, let’s change that now. Just repeat after me:
“Lord, I am a sinner in need of Your grace. I believe that Jesus is Your Son, that He lived a perfect life and died on the Cross for my sins, taking Your wrath upon Him for my sake so I could be reconciled to You. I need Your forgiveness. Help me to turn from my unbelieving ways and be counted in Your Kingdom. Please come into my heart now and lead me, both as my Savior and as my Lord. I come to You, Lord, in childlike faith, saying, ‘Save even me.’” In Your name I pray, AMEN.
If you prayed that prayer and were sincere, then welcome to the Kingdom of God!
If you have come to know the Lord before this, then rejoice for those who now have joined us.
This is the meaning of Christmas. It is more than the celebration of a baby’s first cry in the dark but the celebration of forgiveness, of God’s mercy and kindness, and of restored fellowship with the Creator.
This is the fulfillment of the protoevangelium. Let us resolve together never again to let Christmas be just a warm smile for a squirming infant but to recognize with deep humility and gratitude that Almighty God humbled Himself for our sake to redeem us.
His journey was planned in eternity past, but the execution of His salvation plan began at Christmas 2,000 years ago.
Our job is to believe and to carry the message forward.
You see, Christmas was just the beginning.
CLOSING PRAYER & BENEDICTION
LORD, WE THANK YOU for this Christmas season, when we who believe Jesus is the Son of God praise You for this incredible gift, that when our first parents sinned in the Garden of Eden, You proclaimed the First Gospel and vowed to reclaim us in fellowship through the birth, death, and resurrection of Your only Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, and that You promised to send the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, to come and live in our hearts.
Now, as we enter our Mission Field, go with us in front of us to lead, beside us to encourage, and behind us to protect, and may we be the Salt and Light that our Lord assured us we are.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.
In Jesus’ Name we pray, and we all say, “Praise God; Praise the Lord.” AMEN
Ward's Words | BY WARD PIMLEY 