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As you read through the pages of the New Testament it becomes very clear very quickly that Jesus was indeed born to die. The cross was not an oops. He didn't just get sold out by the priests of His day. He was not ambushed by the Romans. His entire time on earth was about living a perfect life, a sinless life, so that when the day came, as painful as it was, He could provide for us the greatest gift we'd ever be offered, and that is eternal life through Him.
He didn't want it, by the way. When you look at Jesus in Gethsemane the night He was betrayed, He prays and He says, God, if there is any other way, I am totally down for that. If there's any other way, let me know. But, not my will but yours be done (Mark 14:35-36).
And so the plan of redemption from the very beginning was faith in Jesus Christ. The gospel is actually not very complicated, but it's incredibly powerful. It forces us to recognize we are sinners and we cannot do what we need to do to please God. There's nothing good in us. Even our good deeds are like filthy rags to God. And it takes humility to recognize the depth of our own depravity. It takes a certain honesty to recognize we are dirtbags, and without Jesus, we are a mess.
Without Jesus, we have no hope in and of ourselves. By ourselves, we are doomed to go to hell. There are no good works in us, not even one. There's nothing we can contribute. And when we finally come to the realization that we’re idiots and can do nothing to please God, and confess that we need Him in our life, then. Then Christ is appropriated in our life. That’s the beauty of the gift of Christ.
I remember sitting at a banquet where I came to faith in Christ. I went for free food and left with eternal life. It was the consummate Christian bait and switch. They didn’t tell me there was going to be a speaker there who was going to talk about the Bible a little bit, but the food was pretty good so I put up with it. And a guy talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and what it meant to follow Him, and I remember coming to faith in Christ that night. But I was looking around going, if these people knew about me what God must know about me, they’d throw me out of this place.
And I’d say, friend, it's in those moments that you understand the gospel. Because when Jesus says He came to seek and save the lost, He’s talking about us, the least of these, the most messed up, jacked up people in all the world.
But thanks be to God that who we were is not who we are in Christ. Anything good in us is Christ. Anything of redeeming value, of beauty, of noble purpose is Christ. Anything honoring is Christ. Anything we have that is endearing at all is Christ – because we've accepted the free gift He offers. Born in a manger. Born to die. That's what Christmas is about.
I'm thankful that in Christ there's newness. In Christ there's refreshment, hope, peace, purpose, beauty and honor. As you consider the gift of Jesus, may you just sink deeply into Him who humbly became one of us, lived among us, died and rose from the dead for us. And as we celebrate Christmas, may we celebrate Him.