Luke 1:30-35 ESV
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for
you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and
bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne
of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of
his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am
a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the
child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”
Matthew 1:18-23 ESV
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.
When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together
she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph,
being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her
quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take
Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his
people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had
spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they
shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
I think a lot of times that when Christians celebrate the
holiday Christmas that Jesus Christ actually gets lost in the shuffle. For the
celebration of Christmas is not just a celebration of Jesus’ birth, but it
involves gift buying and gift giving, and baking cookies and pies, and cooking
food, and having parties and presents and Christmas trees and decorations, et
al. And it involves game playing and watching holiday movies and running here
and there and everywhere to try to get it all done.
And then people have figurines (plastic or wooden) of Jesus
as a baby lying in a manger with Mary and Joseph and the shepherds standing
nearby and sometimes including sheep. And they place these on their tables or
underneath their Christmas trees. And many Christians also celebrate Santa
Claus, who is a false god created in the image of Satan but given the
attributes of Almighty God. For he sees you when you are sleeping or awake and
he brings presents to children around the world in a single night.
And the Scriptures teach against these celebrations of God and
false gods and idols of men blended together. And they teach against the
worship of God/Christ and the worship of other gods, which Santa Claus
definitely symbolizes. Look at all the symbology of Santa compared to the
teachings about Jesus. Santa is the giver of gifts. God gives us the gift of
God’s son. Children write letters to Santa with their requests. We are to pray
to God with our requests. Children are looking for Santa’s coming. Do you see
it?
But it isn’t just that Santa is celebrated alongside the
celebration of Jesus, but that Jesus is a figurine in a manger scene while
Santa is alive and flying through the air and bringing children presents, so he
supersedes Jesus. And so do the shopping, presents, trees, decorations,
parties, games, movies, and drinking and eating and having fun and games, etc.
And so he gets lost, but also the reason for his coming gets totally lost. For
he came to die for us to deliver us from our slavery to sin so we would walk in
obedience to him.
[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:19-20; 1 Co 10:21; 2 Co
5:15; 2 Co 6:14-18; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 4:17-24; Col 3:5-10; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Pet
4:1-5; 1 Jn 5:21; Isaiah 14:12-14; Lu. 10:18; Rev. 9:1; Heb. 12:22; Rev. 12:3-9]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8llISpy6Nb0
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Mary, Did You Know?
Songwriters: Greene Lee Rufus / Lowry Mark Alan
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy
Is heaven's perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you're
Holding is the great, I Am
Mary, did you know?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPsgIhlYQmM
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