The True Meaning of Christmas

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Well, I promised you a Christmas edition of Further Up & Further In, and now I’m here to deliver! After a long day filled with gifts, carols, feasting, and relaxing busyness, I want to use the final hours of Christmas to share with you the true meaning of this sacred holiday. It’s easy to get caught up in all the presents, the decorations, the holiday movies, and even the myths and legends surrounding Santa Claus himself, but this isn’t what Christmas is about.

The word Christmas originally comes from “Christ’s Mass,” a specific time of year when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. Although it’s heavily debated when exactly Jesus was born, early traditions believed that he was born on December 25th. Admittedly, that’s probably not the case, but that doesn’t deter our celebration!

No doubt, many of you already know the story of Jesus’ birth (if not, you can read the detailed accounts found in Matthew 1:18-2:23 and Luke 1:26-2:40), but familiarity with the age-old tale doesn’t necessarily mean we truly understand how incredible what took place is.

God is in the miracle business, and human beings are desperately in need of a miracle. The truth is that people, though many of us try, aren’t perfect. We fall short often, but more than that, deep in our souls we long for something more, something greater than ourselves. Yet, we put ourselves on the throne of our lives, selfishly wandering along in pursuit of our own happiness and dreams.

Make no mistake, there’s nothing wrong with happiness or dreams, what’s wrong is the selfishness that can attach itself to them. What’s wrong is our sin. Sin isn’t a word we like to use very much in our modern — well, more like post-modern — world. It feels accusatory, condemning, and immovable. We don’t like being called out on our own sin, and so to call it that makes it feel even dirtier than we’d care to admit. Instead, we hide behind phrases, like “that’s just who/how I am,” “so-and-so is worse,” or some other sob story about how the world is out to get us.

Yet, the only person whose choices we are responsible for is ourselves.

But what does sin have to do with Christmas? How do our shortcomings and evil acts have any impact on this sacred holiday? Well, I’ll tell you, and spoiler alert: it’s not because Santa will put you on the naughty list if you’re bad.

You see, our sin is the entire reason Jesus was born in that manger just over 2,000 years ago! It made such an impact on history that we changed the calendar to center around it.

But, from the moment humanity fell, we rejected God (see Genesis 3 for more). Although we were separated from Him, He had a plan to conquer our own sinful impulses and desires and win our hearts back to Himself. In fact, the entire Old Testament foreshadows and prophecies this plan as God reveals himself to His people, Israel, always promising them a Deliverer to rescue them from their worldly bondage. A Messiah.

Enter Jesus.

John 1 and Philippians 2 explain to us that God made Himself flesh in order to come into the world, live as one of us (including experiencing the same temptations and struggles we do), and live the perfect life. All of this He did so that He might die and take the punishment for our sin, humanity’s rebellion, that we actually deserved. You see, regardless of whether you’ve told a little white lie and stole a paper clip, or if you’re a mass murderer (I know, it got intense quick), you have broken God’s eternal Law.

And since God is a just God — more just than any of us could ever hope to be — our breaking of that Law demands a consequence.

In the Old Testament, while other pagan deities supposedly demanded human sacrifice, God only ever required the blood of lambs and goats. Contrary to what some may believe, this isn’t because God delights in sacrificial offerings. Actually, the Bible is clear that He hates them. But justice means that wrongdoing demands punishment, or else it wouldn’t be justice.

So, Jesus came into this world, setting aside His divine power temporarily, so that He might live the perfect life and die once for all (Romans 6:10, Hebrews 7:26-27). The punishment for our sins would be laid upon Him instead, which was sufficient for everybody, everywhere, all at once because Jesus Himself was a genuine innocent — not to mention God Himself in the flesh (hence the terms incarnation and Son of God). This would be the only way to reconcile us all to God as the words of the classic Christmas carol “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” remind us.

But the Christmas story isn’t this beautiful frozen-in-time Nativity that looks picturesque or Instagram-worthy. It was gritty, brutal, and even bloody. King Herod ordered all the children under 2 years old in Bethlehem to be slaughtered, because he was worried that Christ would one day overthrow him. Mary, a virgin, gave birth to Jesus in a stable with a bunch of barn animals. It was smelly, dirty, and probably more unsanitary than a back alley in Hollywood. Yet, God was with her.

Likewise, the good news of Jesus — called the Gospel — isn’t as picturesque as the crucifix you see hung on grandma’s wall. It was a bloody, violent, and all-around horrible ordeal. But, despite the pain and the injustice done to Him, Jesus still went to that cross willingly. For us.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” - John 3:16

It may be the most famous, traditional, and even cliche verse out there, but John 3:16 really tells it like it is. God didn’t want us to spend eternity separated from Him. He doesn’t want us to spend forever atoning for our sins. In fact, He desires that everyone would believe in Jesus Christ, be saved from their sinful life, and be “born again” (1 Timothy 2:3-4). If you’re still a little confused, Jesus lays out what it means to be “born again” perfectly in John 3.

When we place our faith in Jesus, we trust that He has not only paid the penalty for our sins but that He gives us the power to overcome them. Not that Christians are perfect, sinless people. Far from it. But, we have been redeemed, made righteous because of Christ’s work and not our own (Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:8-9). And, He’s working on us, sanctifying us, slowly but surely. Some of us just take a bit longer than others.

This is what Christmas is about. It’s a celebrated holiday that’s been around for centuries because Jesus was born. Because the Son of God gave His life for our own. Because God Himself became a man, He could relate completely to our own struggles and temptations and thus help us to overcome them. Jesus came to destroy the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8). He came to save us from Hell (Matthew 25:46). He came to show us a better way.

If that’s not worth celebrating, then I don’t know what is.

Some folks take joy in decorating, putting up lights, and watching Christmas movies about Santa Claus, and while there’s nothing wrong with that (we do it too!), it can often miss the entire point. I’m not the only one who sees that though, Linus points it out in A Charlie Brown Christmas when he explains to Charlie Brown the meaning of the holiday…

If you haven’t received Jesus as your Savior, there’s no better time than Christmas. No, you don’t have to be a Christian or commit yourself to Christ to celebrate Christmas, but if you want to be forgiven of your sins, if you want your life to be used by God for something greater, or if you want to spend eternity with Him, then as it is written, “today is the day for salvation.”

The Petty family wishes you all a Merry Christmas this holiday season. Go forth and continue to climb further up and further in as we head into the new year!

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This Week’s Petty Picks

Since it’s Christmas, I’ve decided to give you two Petty Picks again this week! Yippee!

It’s A Wonderful Life is a classic and by no means an “underrated Christmas movie,” but it is one of the best so I couldn’t not pick it this week. It’s become a tradition in our household to watch it (in black and white) every year on Christmas Eve, and every year we end the night in tears.

A touching story on the difference one man can make, It’s A Wonderful Life reminds us that we can all impact the lives of others and that without us the world might look different. It also reminds us that Christmas miracles can happen. Just don’t think Clarence is an accurate depiction of an angel…

Don’t worry, not all of my Petty Picks will be movies. Jacob T. Marley by R. William Bennett is one of the best Christmas-themed books I’ve ever read. Tackling a different perspective on the iconic Charles Dickins’ classic A Christmas Carol, this novel dives deep into Marley’s life instead of Scrooge’s.

Not only does this serve as a non-traditional take on the story, but the themes of hope, redemption, and reconciliation are powerful throughout. If you’re not a reader, don’t worry, there’s an audiobook out there too! Don’t miss this one, and if you feel it’s too late in the season, grab it for next year.