Wisdom Matters

Radiance is a good word to describe the Christmas season. Jesus is the light of the world, and we have lit the world for Christmas to remember that truth. The questions in the Christmas song “Mary, Did You Know?” are profound.

Did Mary know she was kissing the face of God? Did Mary know that her sleeping child was the Great I Am?

The author of Hebrews fully understood what Mary probably could not. He said Jesus was “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” We look back to Christmas with knowledge Mary could only have “pondered in her heart.” The best way to know God is to know his Son.

When you study the life of Christ, you study the character of God. Jesus chose a cave, a stable, as his birthplace. Jesus chose to wash the feet of his disciples. Jesus chose to allow soldiers to mock and beat him. There is no sin that Jesus won’t forgive. 

Jesus showed compassion to the young, old, sick, and well. Even the lepers could come to him and be made whole again. When you see the compassion of Christ, you can know how you are loved by God. When Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem, you can understand what grieves the heart of God today.

Everything about the Christmas story points us to God the Father. “He upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Yet, God chose to send his Son to a world that would ignore and mistreat him. When we see the way Jesus was treated, we understand the depth of God’s grace.

Now, God the Father and God the Son are side by side in heaven. One day God will tell his Son, “This is the day.” When we see Jesus, the radiance and glory of God, we will see God, “the Majesty on high.” What if that happens this Christmas?

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. And wisdom is understanding that our treasure was and is the exact imprint of God.

Long ago, churches used the Christmas season to fill wooden barrels or crates with gifts and provisions they shipped overseas to their missionaries in foreign fields. For many, placing things in the barrel meant those here had sacrificed their own wants and needs for the sake of others.

We can only imagine what those barrels meant to the missionaries so far from home. Christmas was probably a time when they keenly felt their separation from friends and family. Their families celebrated the holiday with a few empty places at their tables. 

What did the Creator God feel when his Son was being held in the arms of Mary? What did God give up in order to give us his Son? We often think of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, but his Father also made a sacrifice. Both felt the pain of that day.

Under the old covenant, God allowed sin to be covered by a number of different sacrifices. A lamb was the required sacrifice for Passover. It was given to remember and honor the time when God’s people had covered their doorposts with lamb’s blood so the angel of death would pass over their household. The Passover lamb was asking God to offer that same forgiveness again. Jesus became a sacrificial lamb so that anyone “covered” by his blood would never be harmed by the angel of death.

Paul wrote, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Why did God sacrifice his Son for us, and why should we think about that at Christmas?

God wanted us to become the righteousness of God so he gave us Jesus. Later, God would allow his Son to take the blame for our sins. How, then, should we live this day?

We can live a righteous life, a life right with God. What is God’s will for your day? What is God’s will for tomorrow? If you live a righteous life, others will know the reality of Christ as they witness him in you. That is what God wants for our life eternal as well as for our life on earth.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. What sacrifice will you make for the sake of living a righteous life with God? How will you express your gratitude for the treasure God gave you? 

What is your favorite thing this time of year? There are so many things to choose from. Most love the music of the season. The food is wonderful. The lights chase the darkness away. The kids are happy and excited. We spend time with family and friends. We remember why we are grateful for the baby born in Bethlehem.

The Christmas season is a joy-filled time, but what are you most grateful for today? Chances are, it is something you are most grateful for almost every day. If Christmas fell off our calendars and there were no special moments, no special parties, and no special decorations, we would still have so much to rejoice and be glad about.

Sometimes we put too much expectation into a holiday that, truthfully, is just another season of another year. The best things about today will probably be the best things about your life one or two months from now.

“This is the day that the Lᴏʀᴅ has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” This is a day to be joyful—and so is the tenth of every month. Why is that? Every day is a day the Lord has ordained. God literally created each day for a reason, including these special days of the Christmas season.

We should make these days special in our hearts and be glad for the chance to celebrate all we love and enjoy. But, for what joys did God create and give you “this day”? Only God has the answer, uniquely designed for each of us.

Why did God make this day for you? How will you rejoice over it when it is done?

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Every day with Jesus is a gift of the Christmas season. Rejoice and be glad. 

Some people have wrapped up their gifts and wrapped up their plans. They are ready for Christmas. Others are still thinking about what needs to be done. Most are probably somewhere in the middle. It’s about two weeks until the big day. What is on your mind as you consider those words?

Our Christmas season is significantly different from that night when the skies lit up with a host of angels. Shepherds today are scheduled to clock in, clock out, and finish their personal Christmas plans on their personal time. Today’s shepherds may be off on Christmas Day, or they may be scheduled to work a shift on the twenty-fifth.

Even today, shepherds work in the fields while others are home sleeping. God chose the shepherds of the day to be the first to hear the “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). The shepherds were the first to see the newborn king wrapped in swaddling clothes. The shepherds were also the first to announce the birth of Christ to others. 

Shepherds were considered to be the “least” important in first-century culture. Who are the shepherds today? Jesus chose them to be first that night as they were watching their flocks just outside of Bethlehem. From the very beginning, Jesus taught us to think differently about people than the world thinks of them.

If Jesus were born today, a group of cab drivers, night shift workers, or truck drivers parked in a rest stop might have experienced the angelic host. Jesus chose the shepherds for a specific reason. He blessed the humble, who wouldn’t easily assume they deserved a Savior. All of us should be able to list reasons why we are grateful for God’s miraculous gift.

Jesus was born to lay his life down “for his friends.” Everyone can be a friend in return. Jesus told Peter, “Do you love me? . . . Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). Peter betrayed Jesus three times yet Jesus laid down his life for his friend. All Jesus asked in return was that we follow the examples of those early disciples and feed his sheep.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. We are God’s shepherds called to shepherd others. They deserve to know Jesus is their treasure too. 

Isaiah had prophesied that a virgin would conceive and bear a son. Immanuel means, “God with us,” which is why Jesus was born. Jesus was born to Mary, a virgin, because he was born of the Father in heaven. He could not have been born of “the seed of man” and be completely holy, completely God.

The Lord, through Isaiah, told his people what to look for in their Messiah. He said they would be given a “sign” that would indicate God had come to be “with them.” That sign would be a miraculous conception. 

Every Christmas we read the verses from Luke that describe the circumstances between the Lord, Mary, and Joseph relating to the conception of Christ. The birth of Christ cannot be understood apart from his miraculous conception. 

People have always struggled to believe what cannot be explained. Christianity requires faith for those who follow. Joseph didn’t believe it either. He received a vision from God so that he would be able to take Mary as his wife, protecting her from unbelief. Elizabeth felt her baby jump in her womb, and her words of encouragement to Mary produced the praise we call her Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55).

Isaiah prophesied that the virgin birth would be a sign from the Lord himself for the coming Messiah, but that truth would be slowly and carefully revealed to the world by the people involved. It would take faith to fully understand and accept the divinity of Christ Jesus. It still does.

Those who need a scientific explanation for the events in Scripture will be disappointed. Those who will only accept the parts of Scripture they can understand will find it difficult  to trust the Christmas story. Those who understand that it is “by grace you have been saved through faith” will be able to accept Jesus as God’s Word in the flesh. Believing the biblical Christmas story requires faith, and the ability to trust God’s ways are higher than our human understanding.

Trusting the virgin birth is simply trusting that God’s ways are higher than our own. Why would we ever think that the holy Son of God would be born in a normal, human way? Jesus was fully God, yet fully man. Nothing about Jesus should be limited to human understanding. Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Immanuel was, is, and always will be the “miraculous, eternal” gift of Christmas. 

Each year there seems to be a bit more strain between those who want Christmas to be a holiday and those who know Christmas was a holy day. How do we live and work alongside people who want to believe differently than we do? With those who want to insist we believe as they do?

Many think that Christians shouldn’t believe we have the only answer. That way of thinking indicates a lack of tolerance. They almost always insist that we believe their tolerance is the only answer, not realizing that they have been intolerant of our beliefs.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told those listening, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Jesus didn’t just teach God’s children to live peacefully. He told them to “make peace” wherever they went. Paul reminded Timothy of the power behind those who “make peace.” Paul wrote, “There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”

Every Christmas the world extols the “peace” of the season, but, in truth, it is one of the least peaceful times of the year. People are rushed, overbooked, and often unable to afford the month of December. Christmas began as a holy day and became a holiday. 

Christians have a unique opportunity to be “peacemakers” in this busy time of the year. We can simplify our season to all that makes it holy. We can walk these busy days with Jesus, the mediator between God and men. We aren’t just called to put on a peaceful face; we are called to “make peace” anywhere we go. 

Jesus is the peace people are looking for and the reason someone’s holiday can become a holy day instead. If a tense situation arises, ask the Mediator to speak through you, and bring the Lord’s peace into the room.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Jesus told his disciples to be “peacemakers.” He then gave his Spirit, the Spirit of the Mediator, so that we could speak his peace with wisdom to a world that needs to understand that Christmas is much more than a holiday. It is a holy day.

Every year the Christmas season ramps up just a little earlier. It seems people hunger to think about joyful things, and the Christmas season does that for most. Maybe it isn’t just the retail industry driving our holidays. Maybe people are truly seeking peace and joy while hoping for more kindness in our world. People want what Jesus provides even when they don’t realize it is Jesus they need.

There is a Christmas song titled Christmas All Year Long, written by M. McAnally. One lyric talks about giving being an important part of living. McAnally wished the spirit of giving would continue, making Christmas last all year long. The world would likely vote for the Christmas spirit to remain in our hearts, but human hearts don’t produce the character of Christmas consistently. There is “no one else” with the character of Christmas except Christ.

Peter and John had been arrested for preaching the gospel and were standing in front of the same men who, only months earlier, had called for the crucifixion of Christ. Yet these men, filled with the Holy Spirit of God at Pentecost, looked at the Jewish leaders and told them about Jesus saying, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There will never be another Christmas story apart from the story of Bethlehem. There is only one Christmas in our Bibles because there is only one Savior. Jesus is the only “name” given among men by which we must be saved. 

I wonder if that is why the world insists on so many other ways to celebrate this holy season. Satan must cringe each Christmas season and work overtime to quench the “only name” behind Christmas. Christmas is about Christ, and “there is salvation in no one else.”

There is only one way for the Christmas spirit to live all year long. The Holy Spirit is the power of Christ, the Spirit of Christmas. We can share the truth of the Christmas season when we share the truth of the gospel. There is only one Christmas story because there is only one Christ. There is only one Christmas because this world only needs one Savior.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. When we have received our treasure, we can live with the character of Christmas all year long.

John began his gospel by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). He then spoke about the coming of Christ saying, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (v. 14).

Countless pages of commentary and theological study have been written on the subject of the Holy Trinity. The subject is best understood in the light of 1 Corinthians 13:12 which says, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. For now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” There are just some subjects of theology that will never be fully understood until we can stand in heaven and fully know them.

God stepped into the world as the baby of Bethlehem. Jesus was and is God Incarnate. God became “flesh and dwelt among us.” The men and women who met Jesus, those who gathered to hear him preach, teach, and perform miracles, and those who gathered to watch his crucifixion saw God’s glory. They saw “the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus appeared to his disciples after his death and told Thomas, who had doubted the others, to witness his hands and touch his side. In that moment, Thomas knew he was seeing his risen Lord. “Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29).

Jesus said believers today are blessed. We are blessed because we have faith in the truth of Christmas. We are blessed because we have received the grace and forgiveness of Easter. We are blessed because we have been filled with the continued earthly presence of Jesus through his Holy Spirit.

Whatever the circumstances of your life might be, if by faith you have received the great gift of Jesus into your life, you are blessed. Christmas joy is the joy of Jesus, our blessing.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Celebrate your Christmas season knowing you are the blessed child of God.

The apostle Paul often told the early Christians to “stand firm” in their faith. Paul taught them theology and helped those early believers understand God’s new covenant through Christ. Paul also stood strongly against those who came into the first-century Christian churches trying to teach a message that was different from the apostolic truth. Wrong teaching has always been the greatest threat to the church because it keeps people from truly accepting Jesus.

To believe there are many gods in this world is to deny there is a God. If we want to care about others as we should, we need to believe what Jesus said about himself. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” In the original language, those words do not give hope to people who believe in a god who is not Jesus. 

Our democratic culture rightfully allows personal freedom to believe in different gods. Our Christian culture must “stand firm” in our faith and believe the words of Christ. We should embrace the laws that provide us the freedom to choose because no one comes to the Father unless they freely choose his Son. 

Most people love the Christmas story. Only some realize it is much more than a story. Christmas is about Christ; his birth is always about his death as well. Christmas and Easter are part of the same story.

The beginning of the Christmas season is a good time to revisit the foundation of our faith. As we walk through the crowds at the mall, go to parties, and even attend worship services at church, we can know and trust that the first commandment is still our first commandment. There is no other god except our Creator God. There is no other way for people to be saved except Jesus.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom requires us to stand firm in the knowledge that Jesus is the treasure. Only Jesus is the way to heaven, the truth of God, and our gift for eternal life.

These words from the book of Isaiah were written more than seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. Every Christmas these verses are preached, taught, sung, and honored. They are considered messianic prophecy because they taught God’s people what to look for and hope for in their Messiah.

Isaiah’s words are celebrated each Christmas, but this verse also describes why so many in Israel saw Jesus, even witnessed his miracles, yet did not believe him to be their Messiah. Isaiah said, “The government shall be upon his shoulder.” The Jewish people were looking for a man from the lineage of King David, but they were also looking for a leader like King David. They wanted and expected that their Messiah would be an earthly king, a great soldier who would overthrow the Roman oppressors. They believed the Messiah would lead Israel to once again become the most powerful nation in the world.

They wanted a military leader more than they wanted a “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Jesus was born to be the Savior of everyone in this world, not to save Israel alone. Jesus was welcomed by very few who were expecting the Messiah. He wasn’t the Messiah those people wanted. 

We live in a culture that enjoys celebrating Christmas with a Savior and a Santa. Human nature is unchanging. The first-century Jewish culture would have chosen to follow Jesus if he had come the first time like we know he will return one day. They wanted a powerful king that day. Most still do. But Jesus didn’t come to be a Santa, bringing people whatever they asked for. Jesus came to be our Savior.

Christmas is about a child, born to peasants, who was also God’s Son, born to die for the sins of the world. Jesus offers the world what they need the most, but many don’t want to accept what Jesus offers them today. People tend to admire powerful earthly kings, but Jesus still wants to be our Wonderful Counselor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace. He is the mighty King, but his kingdom isn’t here on earth.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Our hope is the same as Isaiah’s. A child was born as our King, now and forever.