If Christmas is so Important, Why Do We Create so Many Distractions?
Christmas is a big deal in just about everyone’s estimation. Why does our activity reach frenetic levels every year, leading up to this holy day? Why do people multiply traditions? What compels them to overspend, in order to give gifts to others? Why do cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses opt out of Christmas?
Before we answer these questions, let us first try to capture the core essence of Christmas commemoration. Christmas is the one day of the calendar year that Christians set apart to remember the birth of Jesus, our Savior (Titus 1:4; 2:13; 3:4–6), who is Christ (Messiah), the Lord (Lk 2:11). Why is Jesus’ birthday so important?
God, more specifically, God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, was enfleshed (Jn 1:14). This means that He who was fully God, a Spirit, took on flesh and dwelt among us. God the Son became fully man, without forsaking His status as fully God. Why is that worth celebrations that occupy most of the month of December, for most people? God must have become a man for a reason.
The reason is that God had chosen a people (1 Pet 2:9), before Creation (Eph 1:4–5), that would become vessels of mercy, prepared for glory (Rom 9:23). In His predetermined plan (Acts 2:23), God ordained a remnant of fallen, sinful humanity to eternal life (Acts 13:48; Rom 11:5). In this, God would be glorified for being the sole Deliverer, of those saved from eternal destruction under the wrath of God (2 Thess 1:9; Rev 20:14–15). Why was the incarnation necessary, for God to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21)?
The first man, Adam (Gen 2), was the federal head of humanity. In other words, Adam represented all who were in him, biologically, that is, everyone who was ever conceived in the womb of his or her mother (Rom 5:12–21). The original sin of Adam was passed down (Rom 5:12), along with the corrupt sin nature (Eph 2:3), to everyone except Jesus, who was conceived, not by the seed of a man, but who was brought forth by the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary (Mt 1:20).
Jesus was conceived without original sin. He did not have a sin nature, as do other men, nor did He ever sin against God in the flesh (Heb 4:15). Just as the incarnation was required for Jesus to have the title, “the second Adam,” so His perfect sinlessness was also mandatory, in order to fulfill the purpose for which He came (Eph 3:11). He came to suffer and die in the place of God’s elect people (Rom 5:8; 1 Pet 2:24), who had been given by God the Father to God the Son, before the foundation of the world (Jn 6:37). It was their names that were written in the Lamb’s book of life before Creation (Rev 13:8; 17:8).
For the joy of gathering His elect people from every nation, tribe, and tongue (Rev 5:9), Jesus endured the cross (Heb 12:2). In bearing the sins of His people, in His body on the cross (1 Pet 2:24), Jesus purchased His church for a price (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23). He bought His bride, the church, off of the slave market of sin (Rom 6:6, 16, 17, 20; Eph 5:25).
With His precious blood (1 Pet 1:19), Jesus made atonement, reconciling His church to God (2 Cor 5:19). He cancelled our debt of sin (Col 2:14), granting us full forgiveness (Acts 10:43; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14), of all our sins committed in the time of our lives. Even Adam’s sin was paid, on our behalf and in our stead, so that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1).
That our salvation treats us as dead men (Eph 2:1), helpless to contribute anything (Rom 8:7), useless to will or work, does mean all the glory is ascribed to God (1 Chron 16:28–29; Ps 29:1–2). Although many people attempt to steal glory from God, by claiming they chose to be saved, by their own free will, and others imagine they do good works, to merit favor from God, in truth, salvation is all of God and none of man.
The Gospel message, preached in June, is the same Gospel for Christmas Day. Therefore, absolutely everything else that pertains to Christmas is meant to be a distraction, away from the simple explanation I have written for you here. Yes, God bestows this salvation to His elect, as a free gift, by His grace (Eph 2:8), but what does that have to do with wrapped packages under a pine tree, for Aunt Millie?
The devil is behind every distraction. He has great interest in making sure everyone’s focus is on gift giving, decorating, music and food. Sadly, the death of Christ is far removed from our minds at this time of the year. The gift of God, the gift of His salvation, is the Person, Jesus Christ (Jn 3:16; Eph 2:8). Those who receive Christ, by the will of God (Jn 1:12–13), were ordained to receive eternal life, given by Jesus (Jn 10:28; Acts 13:48) because the gift of faith is the work of God (Jn 6:29; Rom 12:3; Gal 5:22; Heb 12:2). We believe because we have already received. It was God who decided to transfer each soul, of His choosing, into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13), granting a new heart (Ezek 36:26), with new affections for God (1 Jn 4:19).
It is God who has given the only Christmas gift that ever mattered. Every other gift is mere distraction. Only One came into the world, on mission to give His life a ransom for many (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45). Because Jesus is God incarnate (Jn 1:1, 14), the Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to celebrate Christmas. Because others do not want Him, they busy themselves with traditions and mere fodder. As for you, child of God, may Christmas Day and every other day be one of meditation for you, that Christ may be your all in all…all the time.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
December 23, 2021
