Christmas: Love, Gift, Memory, Fulfillment

 Yesterday I decorated my Christmas trees. We put up two trees, one “pretty” one and one with all the memories of the last 50 years. I enjoy them being up but decorating them is difficult. Is there a gap in the lights? Are the ornaments spaced evenly? Is the tree lopsided? The answer to that last question is, “yes.” Both the trees are over 20 years old. They aren’t in fantastic shape. The ornaments are old, and almost every one of them holds a memory for me. Even the “pretty” ones bring back memories.

My husband loved the Christmas season. He always put the trees up and decorated them. As I was decorating the trees, I was thinking about that. Then the thought occurred to me that maybe he did all the Christmas decorating because he loved me and knew I enjoyed the festive atmosphere the decorations create. Maybe it wasn’t so much that he loved Christmas, but that he loved me. I know he loved the Christmas season, but maybe he did all the hard work for me.

Last week I asked my daughters-in-law and my daughter about what I should buy for the grandkids. My daughter-in-law told me what one of them wanted and was trying to give me a cheaper alternative. I appreciate that, but I told her I wanted to buy something that my granddaughter would enjoy. We don’t want to give the ones we love useless gifts.

Christmas is about love. But sometimes we change the focus to human love and forget the love that is the reason we celebrate Christmas. 

John 3:16-18 16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

Romans 5:7-9 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! 9 Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.

God loved us, people who were living in a state of condemnation. We deserved His wrath, but He loved us. He came into this world in human form that we could be forgiven, freed from our condemnation, and have eternal life with Him. That is the LOVE of Christmas.

Romans 6:23 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We do not deserve eternal life. We deserve to be separated from Holy God because of our unworthiness, but His gift to us is eternal life with Him. That is the GIFT of Christmas.

Ephesians 2:4-10 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us,5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, 7 so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

We want to give gifts that are appreciated. We give because we love our friends and family.  The gift that God gave is a demonstration of His great love, rich mercy and immeasurable riches of grace. When people compliment the necklace I bought my granddaughter, she will say, “Thanks, my nanna gave it to me for Christmas.” She didn’t buy it for herself. It was a gift. Our gift of True Life is from God. We didn’t buy it for ourselves. It was his gift. Our gifts may be pretty or useful, but God’s gift is GREAT LOVE, RICH MERCY, IMMEASURABLE GRACE. 

Hebrews 10:12-18 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. 13 He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after He says:

16 This is the covenant I will make with them

after those days, says the Lord:

I will put My laws on their hearts

and write them on their minds,

17 He adds:

I will never again remember

their sins and their lawless acts.

18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

As we put the ornaments on the tree, we remember people and events. Sweet memories. Bitter memories. Whatever those memories are, the important thing to remember is that if we have accepted the GIFT of God, He no longer remembers our sin. That is the MEMORY of Christmas.

As we contemplate Christmas, let’s remember that Christmas was only part of God’s love, grace, mercy. Christmas was fulfilled through His sacrificial death and powerful resurrection. 

Matthew 16:21 21 From then on Jesus began to point out to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.

Matthew 26:52-54 52 Then Jesus told him, “Put your sword back in its place because all who take up a sword will perish by a sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot call on My Father, and He will provide Me at once with more than 12 legions of angels? 54 How, then, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?”

Matthew 26: 55-56 At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal, to capture Me? Every day I used to sit, teaching in the temple complex, and you didn’t arrest Me. 56 But all this has happened so that the prophetic Scriptures would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted Him and ran away.

Matthew 28:5-7 5 But the angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here! For He has been resurrected, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead. In fact, He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there.’ Listen, I have told you.”

1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

We want to fulfill the wishes of our children and grandchildren at Christmas. We want the presents under the tree to fill their hearts with happiness. Jesus' death, burial and resurrection fulfilled the gift that is all we need. Without the resurrection, there would be no reason to celebrate Christmas. This is the FULFILLMENT of Christmas.