Have you ever thought about who you’d be or where you’d be if there wasn’t a Christmas, if Jesus, part of the Triune God – the Son, had not come in the form of a man? Simply… we would still be waiting for a Messiah. There would be no Gentile grafting into God’s family. We all would still be under the Mosaic Law. And we would still be dead in our trespasses and sins. And that only begins to describe our fate. Scary.
However, if there was no Christmas there wouldn’t be an Easter! The most terrible reality is that we would not be saved from all that Jesus purchased for us with His substitutionary act, nor would we have any of the gifts He brought. If Christmas hadn’t come and Jesus hadn’t been born then there would be no Easter. And if there was no Easter…there would be no salvation. Obviously it is our decision whether we accept His wonderful gift of eternal life with Him and the Father and Holy Spirit. But there would be no decision for us to make.
From a carnal viewpoint … if there had been no Christmas there wouldn’t be the joy of seeing a child’s face light up with a gift that they had been waiting for. If there had been no Christmas there wouldn’t be the smells of cookies baking or other delicious aromas wafting from kitchens and there would be no smells of pine gently permeating the senses. There would be no special music bringing happiness in the hearing. There wouldn’t be a lightening of the pressures of disagreements or issues of life’s and relationships. And that only superficially scratches the surface of what would be missing.
No Christmas. No Easter. No salvation.
The whole of the Old Testament is informing, reiterating, giving signs to people that God knew of our need for a Savior and that He would provide. One of the most remarkable chapters is in Hebrews – which gives us a listing of some of the Old Testament prophets and people who stood in their faith, not seeing the promise in their life. Continuing to believe in and stand for a belief, a promise knowing you may not see the fruit in this life is incredibly difficult. BUt these chose to stand their ground and to announce and declare their belief.
Frightening, isn’t it if Christmas and all it portends… and Easter and all it provides hadn’t occurred!? I really cannot imagine the condition the world would be in and where I’d be without Christmas… Easter. Thankfully… Praise God. He knew our frailty, He knew our weaknesses, He knew our need so from the beginning He knew the need for both Christmas and Easter. We do have hope, we do have redemption. But we do have to choose this. Salvation comes from no other source [Acts 4:12] but we have tp choose to be chosen.
