Christmas 2012 #01: This is an exposition of Hebrews 1:1-3. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, December 16, 2012.
Intro:
In just over a week it will be Christmas Day! I think the advertisements started just before Halloween or was it just after Easter? Advent used to be a time when the church counted down to the arrival of the Christ child. Now it is a countdown of shopping days left. It is easy to get cynical about it all. The commercialization, the shift to “Happy Holidays” in place of “Merry Christmas” and forgetting that Christ is the reason for the season. I know there are those Christian groups who want nothing to do with the Christmas celebration believing that such is an embracing of paganism. I will grant that there is nothing in Scripture or the early history of the church about celebrating the birth of Christ. We are certainly never commanded to do so. In fact we have no record of it being done until the 4th century.
In fact December 25 has nothing to do with Christ’s birth. All indications are that Christ was born in the late spring of 4 b.c. December 25 was a pagan holiday. That was the day the sun reached its lowest point on the horizon, and afterwards would begin its rise. The Romans rejoiced that the winter cold and darkness was ending, and they celebrated “the return of the sun” on December 25. According to historians, on December 25 “a huge log or a whole tree, the Yule Log, would be cast into a bonfire. Roman revelers would dance and sing around the fire, hoping to awaken the sun from its slumber.”
This Roman celebration of the sun occurred every year during the time Christ walked the earth. The week long festival, beginning on December 17 and culminating on December 25, was called Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the Roman god of the sun. December 25 was the highest holy day of Rome. Historian J.M. Wheeler writes, “Everyone feasted and rejoiced! Work and business were for a season entirely suspended, and houses were decked with laurel and evergreen. Visits and presents were exchanged between friends, and clients gave gifts to their patrons. The whole season was one of rejoicing and goodwill and happy indulgences.” The Romans called December 25 “The Day of the Unconquerable Sun.”
During the reign of Emperor Constantine (AD 306-337), Christians began taking and using the pagan customs of Saturnalia as an opportunity to tell others about Christ. It was through the intentional efforts of early Christians in using the customs of their culture as a vehicle to deliver the message of Jesus Christ that we Christians today have what we know as “Christmas.” Imagine being a Christian two thousand years ago in a culture where people are celebrating the resurrection of the Unconquerable Sun (“s-u-n”). Christians would say to their lost friends, “Look, you’re worshiping an inanimate object in the sky. Let me tell you about the Unconquerable Son of God. His name is Jesus, He was born in Bethlehem. He lived and died and rose again – a real resurrection – and He did it for your sins and for mine. As we approach December 25 I want to remind you that…
Thesis: Christmas for us, as the people of God, is a time for recognizing, celebrating, worshiping and declaring God’s incomparable gift of His Son, the Lord Jesus!
There is nothing greater, no more important message than the message of the Gospel. The telling of the good news of salvation in the person of Jesus Christ. Luke summarizes the work of the early church by saying, “…every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42). Philip went to Samaria where he “proclaimed the Christ” (Acts 8:5). When he climbed into the Ethiopian’s chariot “he preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35). Immediately after Paul conversion on the Road to Damascus, “he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues” (Acts 9:20). Paul told the Corinthian believers that he resolved to know nothing “except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
The true message of Christmas is the glorious good news of God’s great gift of His Son. We have every reason to sing, celebrate and revel in this Good News. Our text this morning is found in the book of Hebrews and the first three verses.
Text: Hebrews 1:1-3 Out of this text I want to give you three reasons for why this is a time of celebration and ministry.
- Christmas is a time to marvel at the wonder of Christ as creator, sustainer and focus of all things.
- Christmas is a time to stand in awe of glory of Christ’s as God of very God.
- Christmas is a time to revel in the beauty Christ’s redemptive sacrifice and reign as Sovereign King.