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Each year at this time, we read and hear a lot about “The True Story of Christmas.” The story of the manger,
the Virgin Mary, the wise men, and of course, baby Jesus. And that’s great, people need to hear that story.
But for those who have already heard that same true story of Christmas, year after year, they need a fresh new look at
Christmas, which may hopefully help them see Christmas beyond the story of the manger and what was the real meaning and
reason for the birth of Christ.
For lack of a better title, or maybe a lack of imagination, I don’t know; I call this “The Real Reason for the True
Story of Christmas.”
Who better to tell the true story of Christmas than Linus of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” I’m sure you’ve seen the
annual tradition, when Charlie Brown throws up his hands in frustration and says, “does anybody out there, know the
true meaning of Christmas?”
Linus steps up and says, “Sure Charlie Brown, I can tell you the true meaning of Christmas.” Linus then goes on to
quote Luke 2:8-14, which reads:
8) And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9) And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10) And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12) And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14) Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Praise God! This is great news this angel of the Lord brought these shepherds. But, this is also one of the most
misunderstood verses as well; at least verse 14 is anyway. The part that is misunderstood is
“and on earth peace, good will toward men.“
That’s terrific, but when you look around our world today, and ever since that night, you certainly cannot say that
prophetic statement with much confidence. You sort of scratch your head and say it with a little reservation. Why?
Because where’s the peace?
On the contrary, in Matthew 10:34, Jesus seems to contradict the angel’s prophecy, when He said,
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace
but a sword.” It certainly does appear to be a contradiction. That is if you misunderstand
Luke 2:14. Jesus knew that the ministry that He was about to embark on, was going to cause such division that it would
cause His death by crucifixion.
Ever since the prophecy of the coming Messiah in the ancient Hebraic Scrolls (Old Testament), The Messiah was believed
to be coming in great power to restore Israel and conquer all their enemies. Even with His disciples when Jesus was on
earth, they believed that Jesus was going to lead a rebellion against the Romans and restore Israel. The Jews today,
are still waiting on that Messiah.
One example of a prophecy that was not understood is Isaiah 53:3-5, which reads:
3) He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4) Surely He has borne our grief’s
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5) But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
This prophecy is clear that the Messiah was not going to be coming in great glory and restore Israel; at least not the
first coming of Messiah.
Then, was the angel who spoke to the shepherds in the fields, that evening, wrong? No, not at all. As a matter of fact,
what the angel said , was not contradictory, and did come to pass. Just not the way man thought.
Doesn’t God always work that way? I don’t think I ever prayed for something and received it the way I had anticipated.
God’s plan is always different from our own, As a matter of fact, usually God’s plan is often one we don’t even
consider; or wouldn’t consider.
For example, a local church that I have been attending for about ten months now, has had attendance of about 100
people per week since I started attending. Soon after I started attending, the pastor instituted weekly corporate
prayer; one of the prayers that was regularly prayed was to increase attendance to 300 by the end of 2007.
As the summer months rolled on, the church actually lost some attendance rather then gain. Since the church building
was rather large, it became evident that the finances from such a small congregation would not support such a building.
In October of 2007, a unique opportunity arose out of the blue. The church was able to sell the building to another
congregation who had a membership of 350 members. Not only was this a blessing of being able to sell a building that
the church was not able to sustain financially, but the new church was willing to negotiate a five year option for us
to stay and share the building with the first two years rent free.
God not only came through with the prayer for a 300 minimum attendance at this church by year end, but the congregation
I attend was able to sell a building purchased for $1.8 million dollars in 1997, for $5 million dollars in 2007. When
this corporate prayer was instituted, this was not the way we had anticipated the prayer to be answered.
Let’s face it, no one would have anticipated the Messiah to come in such a way that He did either; being born in a
manger, among the animals. Then His family had to take Him into hiding in Egypt, because even king Herod, who was
trying to kill Him, thought that if He grew up He would lead a rebellion against his authority. Then to top it all off,
being crucified for doing nothing but telling the truth about how to live a godly way of life and condemning those
religious leaders who were leading God’s people in a false doctrine, in order to correct the wrongs of the world man
created for himself.
Well then, what is this peace that the angel said Jesus would bring? That peace was not peace between men, but a peace
between man and God. God no longer has to reprimand man for his sinful ways like He had to do throughout the Old
Testament when the Israelites would stray from Him.
There was no safety net, if you will. Jesus needed to come into the world to cover man’s sins. When God instituted the
Law at creation, He left no provision for mistake on the part of man or angel. When Satan Deceived Eve into eating the
fruit, not only did Eve, then Adam after he ate as well, create eternal separation between man and God, but Satan also
created that same eternal separation between Himself and God.
Because God didn’t want to break His own Law, God couldn’t just supernaturally correct things. He needed man through
freedom of choice, to correct things themselves. The only way things can be corrected was for a man to be born into
the world and live a sinless life.
Then that man would have to take upon His own body all the evils that came into man’s body when sin entered them. You
see, when God created Adam and Eve, He created them perfect. Even though they were made of flesh, there bodies
functioned perfectly with no sickness, no disease, no genetic disorders, just two perfect beings.
And they would have stayed in that condition if it were not for sin. But when sin entered the picture, through their
disobedience to God’s command, everything changed. Their bodies changed, the world around them changed. They were no
longer perfect,; suddenly they were receptive to sickness and disease, the world around them now was filled with
viruses, germs and bacteria, that weren’t there before.
What happened? The moment sin entered, separation from God occurred. Those things that are bad, that weren’t there
before are there now because God’s presence is no longer there. These things that cause pain and suffering are a
product of the evil that has entered the world due to our sin making God turn away. Scripture tells us that God cannot
be were sin is, as a matter of fact He can’t even look at sin. That is why Jesus cried out on the Cross in Mark 15:34,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”
Jesus became a sinful being, not because He sinned, but because you and I have sinned and He paid that penalty of that
sin for us. At that moment on the Cross when He became sinful, God had to turn His back , because Jesus became totally
mortal at that moment. There was nothing about Him that resembled God. Jesus had become one of us; in our worst and most
evil moments.
For the first time Jesus experienced life without His Father; He experienced what we’ve experienced in our darkest
moments, only multiplied by every single person whoever sinned. All that so we can walk away, scot-free, from the
crimes that we committed.
When we look back at Luke 2:14, I like the way the New Living Translation translates this verse. It reads,
“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
You might ask, “How can God be pleased with any human being?”
Another translation, called The Message, translates it, “Glory to God in the heavenly
heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.” How do you please God? By
accepting Him who stood in your place, took your punishment, and set you free.
If you believe that, and accept this pardon of the crimes you have committed, than God will be pleased with you. You
now have removed that separation between you and God. You may come before God anytime you want, His door is always open
to you. Because you have been purified by the righteous blood of Jesus Christ.
God now sees you the same way He saw Jesus before and after the Cross. God no longer remembers your sin, so neither
should you.
That, Charlie Brown, is the real reason for the true meaning of Christmas!
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