Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season

While it is clear in my mind that Dec. 25 is not the date of Christ’s birth, what is clearer still, regardless of when he was born, is that Jesus is the reason for this day. I say this as one who has struggled with the issue because, with the exception of Matthew 1 and Luke 2, the New Testament focal point is on his death, burial and resurrection.

Not that his birth was unimportant, but even here it is that he was virgin born, not when he was born. Thus, by silence of the scripture canon, I hope you can get a glimpse of the struggles of an honest man, especially as he sees the commercialism and materialism that has come to be associated with the season, both inside and outside the church.

But as I have pondered history, my struggles have been replaced with a growing conviction that were it not for Christ, this day would be like all others; there would be no “holiday” season. Christmas itself is a contraction of two words, “Christ” and “mass,” and comes to us by way of the Roman Catholic mass. While the mass was instituted around 394 AD, the special Christ mass did not come into being until some years later as a replacement for the various pagan mid-winter feasts and festivals that had long been celebrated on and around that day. While I am not a fan of replacement theology, one has only to read the Old Testament to understand the grip that idolatry can have not only on an individual, but on entire cultures. And truthfully, apart from the transformation spoken of by Paul in Romans 12, the only way a multi-cultural empire, steeped in idolatry, can change its population is through replacement.

This Roman Catholicism has done, and one can even say quite successfully as well. So successfully, in fact, that in order to remove Jesus from the season now, modern anti-Christian sentiments cannot do so with an all out frontal assault, but are employing replacement tactics themselves: Christmas vacation is now a winter break, Christmas parties have been replaced by holiday parties, and in many stores holiday shoppers cannot be wished a “merry Christmas.” Quite obviously, Jesus is the reason for the season, and his name is held in scorn.

Going back further we can even see Jesus being the reason for the mid-winter pagan festivals themselves. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I am not suggesting that paganism has been worshiping Christ all along, whether in some other form or under some other name. Idolatry, itself, is replacement theology at its finest, replacing the Creator with an idol. And let’s give the devil his due, for he is the greatest replacement theologian of all time.

The truth is that these mid-winter pagan festivals were steeped in the worship of the sun. Situated just after solstice, it is easy to see how this could symbolize both a birth and a resurrection as the days would begin to lengthen and the sun would appear to spring to new life.

The psalmist David said in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” and though much of that message has been marred due to astrology and the zodiac, the devil could clearly read of God’s intention to redeem lost mankind. Indeed, God had already told him much of this in Genesis 3. To thwart God’s plan, the devil needed a replacement, a decoy, to steal man’s attention from the true to that which is false. And as Psalm 19 would mention the sun “which is as a bridegroom,” an obvious reference to Christ, the devil would use the literal sun to obscure the “Sun of righteousness” spoken of in Malachi, Jesus Christ, who would one day “arise with healing in his wings.”

But why would the devil do this? The answer is easy: hatred. When the devil lost his bid to be “as God,” he turned his attention and hatred against the glory of God’s creation: mankind. Folks, you need to understand that because you and I have been created in the image of God that the devil holds out special hatred for us and would like nothing better then to see the bearers of that image tormented for the rest of eternity in what the book of Revelation calls the lake of fire. To accomplish this, all he needs to do is keep you from the Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Friends, this day truly is all about Jesus Christ, regardless of when he was born. Why don’t you just disappoint the devil this year and make Jesus your redeemer before it is too late?

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or rghamman@mtaonline.net.