God’s plan for Christmas
By Jim Boesch
Am I the only one, or each year is it more difficult to battle with secularists to maintain a belief that Jesus Christ is the reason for the Christmas season?
As I look backward with my ever-waning memory, it seems that in the past 15 to 20 years this battle has demonstrably gotten out of hand.
I compare contemporary efforts to remove Jesus from Christmas with the centuries-old plan of God for the redemption of humankind as traced through the pages of the Old Testament.
Written hundreds of years before Christ was born in Bethlehem, the authors of the 39 books of the Old Testament told of the coming savior.
- In Genesis, He is the seed of the woman (3:15).
- In Exodus, He is the Lamb of God for sinners slain (see chapter 12).
- In Leviticus, He is our high priest (the whole book).
- In Numbers, He is the star out of Jacob (24:17).
- In Deuteronomy, He is the prophet like Moses (18:15).
- In Joshua, He is the captain of the Lord’s armies (5:13-15).
- In Judges, He is the angel of the Lord or the messenger of Jehovah (chapter 13).
- In Ruth, He is our kinsman-redeemer (Chapter 3).
- In Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Samuel 8:1-9).
- In Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, He is the sovereign Lord over all the kingdoms of the earth (entire books).
- In Job, He is our risen and returning redeemer (Job 19:25).
- In Psalms, He is the blessed man (Psalm 1), the son of man (Psalm 2), the crucified one (Psalm 22), the coming one (Psalm 24), the reigning one (Psalm 72).
- In Proverbs, He is wisdom (Chapter 14).
- In Ecclesiastes, He is the forgotten wise man (9:14-15).
- In Song of Solomon, He is my beloved (2:16).
- In Isaiah, He is our suffering substitute (Chapter 7).
- In Jeremiah, He is the Lord, our righteousness (23:6).
- In Lamentations, He is the man of sorrows who weeps for His people (l:12-18).
- In Ezekiel, He is the glory of God (1:28).
- In Daniel, He is the smiting stone (2:34) and the companion in the furnace of fire and the den of lions (3:24-25; 6:22).
- In Hosea, He is David’s greater king (3:5).
- In Joel, He is the Hope of His people (3:16).
- In Amos, He is the rescuer of Israel (3:12).
- In Obadiah, He is the deliverer upon Mount Zion (verse 17).
- In Jonah, He is the buried and risen savior (compare Matthew 12:40).
- In Micah, He is the everlasting God born in Bethlehem (5:2).
- In Nahum, He is our stronghold in the day of wrath (1:7).
- In Habakkuk, He is the anchor of our faith (2:4).
- In Zephaniah, He is in the midst for judgment and cleansing (3:5,15).
- In Haggai, He is Lord of presence and power (1:13).
- In Zechariah, He is the smitten shepherd (13:7).
- In Malachi He is the Sun of righteousness (4:2).
While it took more than 4,000 years to unfold, God’s plan came alive at the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I know it is through the fruition of His plan that I have been given my redemption and salvation.
We will all be redeemed and saved again tomorrow morning and every morning when we choose to believe and accept Him.
So, this Christmas, consider the lessons from His Word and say with resolve: “Merry Christmas” to all believers and thanks be to God for His plan!
*Note: Parts of this writing come from a Max Lucado devotion.
Jim Boesch, deployed staff
General Commission on UM Men