The Reformed Life

It has been over two hundred years since the Israelites have heard from God. You may refer to these as “The silent years.” Years and months of wandering and longing for the coming of the Redeemer; the One promised to come while Adam and Eve were in the garden (Gen. 3:15); the One who was going to save His people from evil and sin. One day He would come, but the question was when? 

The beauty of Christmas is that it did not happen by accident. Christmas is not the invention of humanity, seeking to satisfy his longings. We have turned Christmas into a self-centered experience, which was not its purpose. God perfectly orchestrated the design of Christmas. His plan to redeem His people by coming down as a baby was not an afterthought. It was perfect and needed. People tried to stop God and His plan. As we read in Psalm 2, 

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’” (Ps. 2:1-3).  

Although they plotted, their plans were in vain. As quickly as they conceived of this wickedness, they learned that they could not contain their Creator from doing His will. God is sovereign, and His plans are good. 

To fully grasp and understand Christmas’s meaning, I think we must address the question, why did we need Jesus to come? To answer this question, we need to begin at the beginning, Genesis 1.  In the beginning was God, the Creator. He created all things “good.” The apex of His creation was man and female, made in His image. Creation’s purpose was to glorify Him; our purpose in life was and is to promote Him. But something happened in the garden that affected humanity. Humanity thought they could be like God. They wanted His knowledge and, in return, sinned against their Creator. Rather than glorifying God, they chose to celebrate themselves.

Consequently, sin consumed the earth; death became a reality, and separation from God occurred. Because of sin, we needed a Savior because we could not save ourselves. Here is the good news: even amid the destruction of man’s wickedness, God promised Adam a coming Savior who would redeem His people. Redemption will come. But how? 

Fast forward to Genesis 12, where we meet Abraham. Abraham was a foreigner that God chose to use as the family line where Christ would enter. He was a man who was old and married to a barren wife. Yet, God promised offspring as numerous as the stars (Gen. 22:17), which would be the Israelites. Included in the lineage would eventually be Jesus Christ. Moving forward, we come to the great King David. David received the blessing of a perpetual kingship. This kingly rule would be far better than he could have ever imagined. Again, though humanity was faithless, God remained faithful. Through the line of David would eventually come the Christ. Promise after promise, covenant after covenant, we see that all in the Old Testament points to the coming Redeemer; it all leads us to the baby who is to come (Luke 24:27).  

Can you imagine being an Israelite living in Egypt as a slave and being told of the One who is coming to redeem you? Or being born into the wilderness and your grandmother tells you about the period of enslavement in Egypt, but was set free by God, and ended up here. Yet, you learned of the Promised Land God had for you and your family and the promised Redeemer coming to save you and your people. How often do you think they forgot about the promised One, simply because of the trouble they faced? How often do you think they lost hope or forgot the faithfulness of their God? The better question is, how often do you forget about the One who came to redeem His people? The One who was faithful to you even though you were a sinner, the One who saved you from your sins? 

Here is the truth. Jesus did come. He came as a perfect baby, truly man, and truly God. Jesus came and grew up yet remained sinless. He performed miracles, and He claimed himself as the Christ. As promised in Genesis 1, He was bruised but not crushed. He overcame. He rose from the dead and freed us from the sin that separated us from our Creator. 

Unto us grace has come
Here to seek and bring the sinner home
Lived to die, rose to reign
Son of Man the Lamb for sinners slainWhat a myst’ry, oh what love
Oh how can it be that heaven has come
What a myst’ry, oh what love
Oh how can it be that heaven has come to us
Heaven has come to us
Heaven has come to us

–Heaven Has Come to Us, Sovereign Grace Music.

Christmas is about redemption. It is a reminder of the first coming of Christ. It should fill us with hope and have us look back to Him with joy for His continued faithfulness to His people all these years. Christmas is not about the perfect toys, the ideal meal, baking, and family. While those are fun seasonal things to include in Christmas, it is not the purpose. I pray this year we keep our eyes on Christ. Let’s not make Jesus an addition to our Christmas holiday. It is all about Jesus. Praise the Lord Heaven has come to us. Merry Christmas friends, the Redeemer has come and has poured out His mercy and grace. He is good! 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Courtney Chambers

If you would like to stay updated on new content, please click the “follow” button at the bottom of the page. Also, be sure to check out our Instagram and Facebook pages. Thanks for reading and have a merry Christmas!