Why Christmas? It’s Old News
Good Morning,
This month we are going to ponder the question, "Why Christmas?". To find the answer to the question “Why Christmas?” you cannot begin to look where you might think; the New Testament. We need to remember that the Bible is one book and beginning to end it points to Jesus. It is a grand story of redemption that starts in Genesis and continues to this day.
There are over 300 prophesies in the Old Testament fulfilled by Jesus. For those of you who enjoy statistics, the odds of anyone fulfilling this amount of prophecy are staggering.
o 1 person fulfilling 8 prophecies: 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000
o 1 person fulfilling 48 prophecies: 1 chance in 10 to the 157th power
o 1 person fulfilling 300+ prophecies: Only Jesus!
Why look at this? Because the bible has amazing credibility. The story of Jesus coming to earth is more than a cute idea to share with our grandkids. It is a story of both historical fact and significance, as well as one with eternal implications. Here are just three of the prophesy’s that Christmas fulfills.
The long-awaited prophet: Written in 1200 B.C., Duet.18 prophesies that God will raise up a prophet like Moses (as in someone who speaks to God). After Jesus feeds the 5000, we read the following in John 6:14: After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” We read more affirmations of this throughout the New Testament.
Born of a virgin: Isaiah 7:14 says: Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Then 700 years later, the angel visits Joseph and tells him, Joseph, son of David, ‘do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ (Matthew 1:20-23). Thus, fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah.
Messiah will be born in Bethlehem: Micah 5:2: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village in Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past.” The glorious fulfillment of this prophesy on that first Christmas night is simply and clearly stated in Matt. 2:1: Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. This is chronicled again in Luke 7:42 “For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” Get this. Micah was an 8th century prophet!
To understand the why of Christmas we must understand that God has been at work setting His plan of redemption in place since the beginning. There is nothing haphazard or coincidental about it. It is a plan of highly intentional love, sacrifice and grace we can only begin to marvel at.
Question to ponder this week:
1) How can knowing that Christmas was God’s from the beginning of time plan help you have more confidence in your faith?
Live on purpose, Ron Klopfenstein, CPLC
