Is Christ the Reason for the Season?
Meditation for the week of December 27, 2009
Romans10:9 -10 If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
We often hear people say that Jesus is the reason for the season at Christmas time. I doubt very much that the Lord wants to be assigned to “a season”. I think He would rather be worshiped from the heart every day. He has asked us to believe in Him with our hearts, to be baptized to show that we believe in Him and to remember Him “often” by sharing in a symbolic meal that proclaims His death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26). He wants us to give Him our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). He wants the fruit of our lips which is praise (Hebrews 13:15) . Many people who have worshiped Christ during this “season” have worshiped Him as He has asked, but many have not. How many of us were honestly occupied with the Christ of the Bible that loved us and died for us this holiday season?
In the above verses, the Lord wants our hearts. I believe that means He wants our affection and love, our loyalty, our friendship and our obedience. He doesn’t want us to believe about Him, He wants us to believe in Him. He is the author of our eternal salvation, He is the first and the last, He is the beginning and the end, He is the One who is and who was and who is to come, He is the Messiah, He is the Man of Sorrows, He is also the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the friend of sinners, He is the Prince of Peace, and He is my Savior, my Lord and my God.
Most of the world didn’t believe that He came the first time even though He came just as it was predicted in the old testament. Gentiles coming from Iraq who likely believed the prophecies of Daniel believed in Him and came from the East to worship Him, but the Hebrews by and large had their hopes set on a political deliverer rather than a spiritual deliverer, and they rejected His claims. Religion missed Him but a few students of the old testament prophecies who had their hearts touched believed in their hearts and worshiped Him.
The Lord who was crucified has made a bold claim. He said He is coming again. He is coming to judge the world for rejecting Him and is going to set up the righteous kingdom that was prefigured by Solomon’s reign and that is foretold over and over again in the prophecies of the Bible. Before He does that He is going to come and deliver those who have believed in their hearts from the day of His wrath. They are going to be caught up to be with Him forever. If we have believed in our hearts that God has raised Christ from the dead, surely we should be looking for His second coming. The promise of His coming assures us that our future is secure. We know that this world is not going to become “Christian” and the most of the people in this world are never going to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). The world may have its Christmas, but most people have never believed in Christ with their hearts.
The Lord wants us to believe in our hearts that the baby that was born in Bethlehem went to the cross to die for our sins and that He has been raised from the dead. He is living and He is coming again. We need to be occupied with Him all the time and not just at a particular season. He wants to be our all-in-all all of the time.
Bruce Collins