Luke 2:11 – "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
Once again, friend, we know that the exact date of Christ’s birth is not known – or even the time of year for that matter. And some would tell you that it is wrong to worship the birth of our Lord or to celebrate Christmas at all or to celebrate it at the time that we do. But one thing is clear – Christ was born into this earth, in human form, leaving the glory of heaven for the sole purpose of dying on Calvary’s cross, thus providing salvation for man’s fallen race.
“For unto you is born . . . a Saviour” – just as the prophets foretold:
Isaiah 7:14 – “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 9:6 – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Micah 5:2 – “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
We celebrate Christmas – not to celebrate a specific date – not to celebrate a specific night – not to celebrate a specific place or time – we celebrate Christmas to praise God for His incarnation in human flesh and “save his people from their sins (Matt 1:21).” The time of the year is not important – the day of the month is not important – the season of the sun is not important – what is important is that we celebrate the Son for the salvation He has provided for all mankind.
Christ’s advent is a fact of Scripture and a fact of history. His coming so affected the history of mankind that He split time fore and aft. His coming was so important that wars have been fought in His Name. His coming was so crucial that martyrs have died with His Name on their lips. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).”
So the date may be all wrong, but Happy Birthday, Jesus!
Happy Birthday, Jesus
Happy birthday, Jesus – I know we say it all wrong –
With Christmas trees and ringing bells and now and then a song,
And it’s quite plain that we don’t say it nearly enough,
But with all the worldly distractions, it makes it a little tough.
But happy birthday, Jesus – I’m glad your so forgiving,
Cause if we had to trust ourselves, life wouldn’t be worth living.
We’d surely make a mess of things – just look at how things are.
Even with you in our lives, we botch things up by far.
But happy birthday, Jesus – It’s a time of giving gifts,
A time of peace with fellow men – of healing up old rifts,
A time when hearts are full of joy, fond memories recall,
For ‘tis the time when God gave us the greatest gift of all.
So happy birthday, Jesus – Help us trust in you
To make us love each other more and to your Word be true.
Help us make a difference on this old sin-cursed earth
And help us start this very day as we celebrate your birth.
© 2006 Paul Stultz
