Seeing the Truth of Christmas
“For my eyes have seen your salvation,
Luke 2:30-32
which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
Christmas cards are arriving in the Tada mailbox and with each sentiment on every card, my joy is rising. Even as I write, I’m listening to “Joy to the World” on Pandora and the words keep fanning even more joy. Across the living room, my friend is wrapping my Christmas presents I’ll be giving to family; just watching her skill with ribbon and wrapping paper brings a smile. There’s something inexplicably charming and other-worldly about Christmas. Crisp nights and tiny twinkling lights, hot cocoa and coffees, and friends at your front door bearing gifts and a fresh wreath… oh, the wonder of it all!
That’s a good word for it: Christmas is filled with wonder. It’s a feeling experienced by even those who do not know Christ. It’s something even unbelievers sense this time of year.
How is that possible?
David Mathis says in his book The Christmas We Didn’t Expect, that all people sense this enchantment because “at the very heart [of Christmas] is the essence of the supernatural: God himself entering our realm. At Christmas, God ‘came down,’ not just to observe human sin and inflict righteous judgment from the outside, but to be human and work his mercy from the inside.”
So why does Christmas still have this magnetism in a world that tries everything it can to empty it of its true meaning? Because even people who do not know Christ sense something profoundly different about this splendid time of year. David Mathis adds, “Even non-believers sense that the real magic of Christmas is not in gifts and goodies… or homespun traditions with indoor coziness and outdoor snow. What lies at the heart of Christmas, and whispers to every soul is the most stunning and significant fact that God himself became one of us.”
And yet people who deny Christ try to “suppress this truth” as it says in Romans 1:18. The truth about Christmas is so evident in the words to Christmas carols and more. People who don’t believe know that Christmas is different. They realize something is happening that’s beyond them because
“since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20).
So, people don’t even need a Christmas card or carol. They can look up into the brilliant night sky. They can wake up in the morning, step outside and everything they see is an expression of God’s invisible qualities. People know that, but they suppress it.
This season, help your unsaved neighbors and friends to recognize the truth, the stunning fact that God himself came to rescue them. Oh, the wonder of it all!
Pray with me: Dear God, I ask that you would have mercy on my loved ones and friends who have suppressed the truth of Christmas. Help me to further announce the truth of your eternal power and divine nature. I ask that the wonder of the Christmas season would draw those around me ever closer to the Truth.
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