As we approach Christmas I remember once being asked to preach a message on, Unpacking Christmas! As I thought about it I became convinced that often we celebrate Christmas without considering major Biblical facts.
Though we focus our attention on the cradle at Christmas, we cannot forget the cross. Since that’s true we must also consider the curse which is the reason for the cross. If we consider these facts we must also consider the crown. Let me share what I mean by unpacking Christmas in this way.
The Christmas message begins early in the Biblical record. The seed of the woman, a promise of the Savior, mentioned in Genesis 3:15, is God’s answer to the curse brought on humanity by the sin of Adam. The cross was anticipated in the sacrifice of an innocent animal as God provided garments of skin for Adam and Eve. The crushing of Satan’s head looks beyond the cross to the resurrection and the victor’s crown.
These themes, begun in these early chapters of Genesis, are amplified throughout the Bible. We’re reminded over and over again that man is a sinner. David confessed he was “sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). Jeremiah 17:9 declares: “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” Paul concluded, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Without knowing this background Christmas is just about a baby born in a humble stable. With this truth in place it becomes clear why Jesus needed to be born of a virgin in a miraculous way to become our Savior.
