I will put
enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15
Why did Jesus have to come?
You ever think about that at this time of year? Why did he have to take on flesh and be born
in a barn in Bethlehem? Genesis 3 tells
us the reason. The reason He had to come
is because of the fall.
I heard a pastor once say “The sin of mankind is the black
backdrop of the Christmas message.” We
often say at this time of year that Jesus is the reason for the season and he
is, but why? Why did he have to
come? Because of sin. So sin is also the reason for this season, that
just doesn't look as good on a Christmas card.
But sin is an important part of the Christmas message.
When an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream in
Matthew 1, he says in v.21, “She (Mary) will bear a son, and you shall call his
name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus’ very name means salvation. That’s the reason he has come.
Though we don’t like to think about sin and the fall and
about the fact that our world is ruined and wrecked because of sin this time of
year—we like to think about Christmas trees and stockings hung on the mantle
and Bing Crosby—to truly understand this wonderful message of Christmas, we
need to understand our sinfulness and our desperate need of a savior.
We live in a world where messages about man’s sin and God’s
wrath and judgment are not popular, even in Christian circles. But if we don’t focus on this, on man’s sin
and God’s great wrath and judgment, we will never truly come to understand His
amazing grace. It is knowing what we
have been saved from that makes this message so great. What makes God’s grace so amazing, what makes
the gift of His Son so glorious, what makes the Christmas story so special is
when we truly understand that without Him—without Christ, we are dead, helpless
and hopeless.
I want to encourage you this Christmas season to spend time
thinking about that. Meditate on the
reason why Christ came—spend time thinking on your sinfulness and God’s great
mercy and grace this time of year. I
pray those truths would lead you to be more thankful and worshipful this year than
ever before.
To listen to THE CHRISTMAS STORY IN GENESIS, click HERE
