On Christmas, we gather to celebrate Christ. Christmas literally means the celebration of Christ. According to recorded history, the first Christmas celebration on December 25th occurred in 336AD under the rule of the first Christian Roman emperor “Constantine.” However, the first Christmas celebration happened on the night of Christ’s birth when lowly shepherds responded to the spectacular prompting of an angelic herald and choir to go and worship the Christ-child, born in a stable and lying in a manger. For nearly 2,000 years, believers have celebrated the coming of Christ.
I love the Christmas story. We have the young virgin Mary and her faithful husband Joseph (devoted to Mary and the Lord). We have the shepherds, and of course, the angels. We see this scene throughout our homes in our nativity displays. They serve as a reminder of the humility of Jesus and the profound gift offered to us in Christ.
I make a simple spelling error this time of year. I often misspell “manger” with the word “manager.” Only one letter separates the two words, but that one letter makes a big difference. Unfortunately, spellcheck doesn’t catch it because manager is a word. However, I would propose that the Christ-child born in a manger is also the magnificent Manager of life and eternity.
My wife collects manger or nativity sets. She must have around twenty of them. I like having them around the house during the Christmas season. But, I realize that one spectacular reality that no manger scene can convey is the truth that Jesus is God incarnate. Therefore, we must remind ourselves of this great reality when thinking of the Christ-child.
John makes it clear in his Gospel that Jesus is indeed God (Jn 1:1-5). In fact, John affirms three vital truths about the Christ. First, Christ, as God, existed in the beginning. John writes that Jesus “was with God,” which literally means “face-to-face with God.” In His divine nature, Jesus is indeed God. Secondly, all of creation came into being through Christ. Jesus was not part of creation but God’s agent in His creative work. Thirdly, Christ’s life constituted “light,” revealing God’s plan of salvation to us. Christ offers a whole new outlook on sin and righteousness, which comes when we accept eternal life in Him. The good news John shares is that “Christ, the light, shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn 1:5). Then, John writes in verse 14 that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
A central truth of the Christian faith is that the divine Christ became a man and “dwelt” temporarily “among us.” The God who dwelt in the Old Testament tabernacle now came as a human being. The apostles and other witnesses “have seen His glory” in the miracles He performed, in His being lifted up on the cross, and in the resurrection. The apostles and other witnesses knew that God was indeed among them.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, the baby lying in a manger was more than a cooing infant; He is the heaven-sent Manager who would offer a gift exchange of sorts. Christ offers to exchange our despair for hope, our worry for peace, our sorrow for joy, our detachment for love, and our death for life. Think about it. Managing a universe is one thing, but managing salvation for each of us is quite another. It’s a remarkable truth that the baby lying in a manger did more than manage it; He gave His life to assure it (Jn 3:16).
Jesus knew there would be more than a birthday to commemorate; He knew there would be a resurrection day as well. You see, Christmas without Easter is romance without a kiss, joy without reason, extravagance without purpose. God came in Christ to manage our deliverance, offer an exchange from death to life, and reconcile the world unto Himself (2 Cor 5:19). Here is the simple truth, for us to make the gift exchange of our death for life in Christ, it takes more than a manager; it takes a truly Divine Manager, Savior, and Lord. When we accept God’s offer of a gift exchange with Him, He becomes our Savior and Lord.
On that first Christmas night, the angelic herald proclaimed that the Christ-child was lying in a manger. Here’s a staggering thought. The place where the King of Glory (the Divine Manager) first opened His eyes and uttered His first cry was not in the great halls of a palace or the room of a princess. Our Lord’s first human glimpse of the world as the God-man was in a dark and dingy barn. Manger scenes surely display the loving humility of God’s gift to the world, but not the reality of Christ being the Divine Manager of everything, including our salvation.
I want you to try something this Christmas. When you gather around a Christmas tree, I want you to remember something. Remember that the tree used to bring salvation to the world (you and me) wasn’t an evergreen but a cross. If the manger displays the loving humility of God, the cross reveals the loving sacrifice of God as the resurrection His unlimited power to save us. Unfortunately, for too many people, the true gift of Christmas is still under the tree. The tree is the cross, and the gift is abundant eternal life. I invite you to come to the One born in a manger so that He, Christ, can manage your sin with the power of His love and offer you the gift of genuine life, only found in Him. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!