meaning of Christmas – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

Drawn near

At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ…

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household. (Ephesians 2:12-13, 18-19)

This is perhaps my favorite passage in Ephesians. And it perfectly encapsulates Christmas and why Jesus came.

We were outsiders to God’s family, foreigners to all of God’s promises of blessing to Abraham and his descendants. But now in Jesus, we who were once far away have been brought near.

We see this in Jesus’ own family tree.

Tamar was a Canaanite, a people that God would ultimately order the Israelites to destroy because of their sin. (Matthew 1:3; Genesis 10:15-18, 15:16; Leviticus 18:24-28; Deuteronomy 7:1-4)

Rahab also was a Canaanite and a prostitute as well. (Matthew 1:5)

Ruth was a Moabite, another group that was supposed to have been excluded. (Matthew 1:5 Deuteronomy 23:3-4)

All of them perfectly fit what Paul talked about: excluded from the citizenship of Israel, foreigners to the covenant of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

But they were brought near, fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.

And so are we.

Meditate on those words this Christmas. Chew on them.

And rejoice.

I know I am.

Why Jesus came

Here in Japan, it is Christmas Eve, and though Psalm 40 is not often (if ever) thought of as a “Christmas psalm,” it does give us the reason for Christmas.

We find it in verses 6-8.

You do not delight in sacrifice and offering;
you open my ears to listen.

You do not ask for a whole burnt offering or a sin offering.

Then I said, “See, I have come;
in the scroll it is written about me.

I delight to do your will, my God,
and your instruction is deep within me.” (Psalm 40:6-8)

Though David speaks these words, the author of Hebrews sees its ultimate fulfillment in Christ (Hebrews 10:5-9).

David was merely saying, “You don’t just want sacrifices and offerings from me, you want my whole life.”

But when Jesus said them, he was saying, “The reason this world needs a Savior is that all the sacrifices and offerings people can offer cannot wash away their sins.”

Then Jesus tells the Father, “I have come to do your will.”

And so Jesus came to this earth as a little baby. Throughout his life, he did his Father’s will, never falling into sin.

Then on the cross, he followed his Father’s will by dying to take the punishment for our sin.

That’s the meaning of Christmas.

So with David, let us proclaim God’s faithfulness and salvation to this world, declaring to them his grace and his truth found in Jesus. (9-10)

And with David, let us cry out in praise,

The LORD is great! (16)