Christmas may not be what you think

 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."  Matthew 1:21 (NASB)

I think that sometimes Christmas is this time of year when we get so bothered by all of the busyness that when we see a peaceful manger scene we stop.  And we think.  But we usually think about the wrong things.  We think about how serene it was (it wasn't).  We think about how life changing that moment was (for most people on earth at that time it wasn't).  And for all of our thinking we miss the main point - Jesus had to come because of our sins.  

It is hard to think about ourselves during Christmas time.  At least it is hard in the context of our own sins.  We often think about ourselves when it comes to what our bonus should be, or what presents we are going to get.  But when God thought of us, He thought enough to send His Son to die for us to save us from our sins.  Christ came to save us.  Which means we need saving.  Which means that it His death that we celebrate and his resurrection.  His advent is simply the avenue He chose in order to accomplish His purpose of salvation - the cross.  And so we should celebrate His coming.  But not because of how pretty it was, but instead because of how grotesque our sins are that God had to send His one and only Son to live as one of us in order to die for us.  

Christmas is coming.  But it may not be what you think it is.  It is a reminder that we should have died.  It is a reminder of how dark our hearts are.  And we need the Light of Life in order to conquer our own dark deadness.  Praise God for Christmas.