The Christ of Christmas

We can not expect the world to worship Jesus Christ, but the world should expect us to worship Him. It is time to stop the whining and complaining and start worshiping Him in word and deed. If Christ be preached and Salvation brought before the masses, so be it.

Let us celebrate Christmas as it meant to be.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. — Colossians 2:16–17

As we journey to the heart of Christmas, many christian's whine and complain about celebrating Christ’s birth mostly, that when Christmas was originally instituted, December 25 was a pagan festival commemorating the birthday of a false god.

Yes this is a true fact ." Dr. Paul Maier, eminent professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University, “The Romans of the time not only celebrated their Saturnalia festival at the close of December, but they also thought that December 25 marked the date of the winter solstice (instead of December 21), when they observed the pagan feast of Sol Invictus, the Unconquerable Sun, which was just in the act of turning about to aim northward once again.”

And yes while this is indeed historical, what is often overlooked is the reason the early Christian church chose December 25.

The purpose was not to Christianize a time of pagan celebration, but to establish a rival celebration to point one to Christ.

Christmas (from Old English Crīstes +mœ ̄sse “Christ’s festival”) was designated as a spiritual holiday (holy day) on which to proclaim the majesty, the Lordship, God's only begotten Son Jesus Christ in the flesh over the superstitions of false gods made of silver, gold and stone such as saturn, the god of agriculture, and sol invictus, the unconquerable sun god.

The world has all but forgotten the Greco-Roman gods of antiquity, annually we celebrate that two thousand years ago the Christ child the only hope of humanity left heaven's splendor to live among us as we live.

As Christians we should celebrate the First Advent of Christ, while simultaneously rejoicing and anticipating the Second Advent in which the He will establish His Kingdom the old ways will pass away and all things will be made new.

'Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.' — Zechariah 2:10–11

Act 17:16-31 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was troubled within him when he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Then also, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him. Some said, "What is this pseudo-intellectual trying to say? " Others replied, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities" -- because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the Resurrection. 19 They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, "May we learn about this new teaching you're speaking of? 20 For what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these ideas mean." 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new. 22 Then Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect. 23 For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it -- He is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in shrines made by hands. 25 Neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives everyone life and breath and all things. 26 From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. 27 He did this so they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 28 For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Being God's offspring then, we shouldn't think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination. "Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because He has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead."