Christmas brings hope…tangible, life-changing hope.
Our world sorely needs it. The historical facts of Christ’s birth can show us things about God of which every generation needs to be reminded.
It is no secret that people today are abandoning values unquestioned by previous generations. American youth are growing up amidst a crisis of truth, a crisis of identity, and an absence of context.
Though about 51% of youth ages 13-19 identify as Christian, at best about 8% affirm beliefs and behaviors consistent with traditional, Biblical faith.1. Since COVID, teens indicating they have no religious faith has grown from 24% to 32%. Some 61% of teens now say, “It is not necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values. Only 38% affirm that it is necessary to believe in God to be moral. 2
People of all ages carry within themselves a quiet panic over the inability to answer some very basic questions: What is truly real? Who am I? What is my purpose in life? What should I care about? Can I be certain about . . . anything?
The birth of Christ speaks powerfully to us today
What comfort and context may world-weary people of the 21st century derive from Jesus’ coming?
Ponder the magnitude of what Christmas is about: Almighty God entered the stage of human history out of love for each of us, personally. Acknowledgement of this fact is transformative.
The Biblical record of Jesus is why we can still have hope in spite of the world. If Jesus Christ really came here, lived, taught, ministered, and conquered death for all people (and compelling lines of historical evidence point to the Biblical record being trustworthy on all that it reports), then what it says about each of us is also true.
And what does Scripture say about you and me? That we matter to God. Our life, hard as it may be at times, is incredibly consequential. Christmas reminds us that God is as close by as a prayer.
In C.S. Lewis’ book, Miracles, the veteran scholar wrote about God’s incarnation (taking on a human body, being born in the person of Jesus). Lewis says of all God’s interventions in the world, Jesus’ coming was “the grand miracle,” noting how specific and precise was this most important happening in history: (It was)
“Something done by God for, to, and about, Man. And the way in which it is done is selective, undemocratic, to the highest degree. After the knowledge of God had been universally lost or obscured, one man from the whole earth (Abraham) is picked out. He is separated from his natural surroundings, sent into a strange country, and made the ancestor of a nation who are to carry the knowledge of the true God.
Within this nation there is further selection: some die in the desert, some remain behind in Babylon. There is further selection still. The process grows narrower and narrower, sharpens at last into one small bright point like the head of a spear.
It is a Jewish girl at her prayers. All humanity (so far as concerns its redemption) has narrowed to that.”3
God sent angels to Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds to communicate the facts about Jesus’ birth. The Scriptural record of this and the story of Christmas itself has a message to say to every human being: “God loves you! He is acting on your behalf.”
Did Christmas happen, as the New Testament records? Yes: Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the angels, wise men from the East, and of course, the infant Emmanuel– it all happened. So, what does this mean for you and me? Several things:
God sees (He is aware of our needs);
God sympathizes (He cares about us);
God plans (He orchestrated Christ’s coming into the world);
God acts (He sent His Son, at a specific time and place);
God reigns (He defeated sin, death, and Satan himself, with . . . a baby!)
Christmas reminds us of the God who is: powerful, purposeful, personal.
This Christmas, remind yourself what Jesus’ birth, life— and promised return— truly mean:
“My life has purpose, and I matter to God.” The manger reminds us that Jesus sees humanity with unconditional love, and this was coupled with a willingness to embark on a rescue mission that just happens to be the central focus of history.
(Editor's Note: This blog was posted first on Dr. McFarland's website HERE.)
SOURCES:
- https://alignlifeministries.org/christian-youth-culture-statistics/ Accessed November, 2022.
- https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/10/10-key-findings-about-the-religious-lives-of-u-s-teens-and-their-parents/ Accessed October, 2022.
- Lewis, C. S. Miracles: A Preliminary Study. New York: HarperOne, 2001. pp. 187-191.
