And He shall be Great

The older I get and the deeper I go in my walk with Christ, the more I appreciate Christmas. It’s not the lights, the presents, the food or any of that other stuff that goes along with this holiday in America. In fact, I care less and less for this stuff every year. But, with each year, I am learning the weight of this day we keep as a remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ. If you take the time to think about what this day truly means, it is very powerful.

Each Christmas season, the Lord focuses my attention on a certain aspect of Christ’s birth. This year I have been reflecting on two things: His appearing and His greatness. There are two passages that coincide with these themes. The first is Titus 2:11-14:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself up for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14

First, and most obviously, Jesus appeared. This is the whole reason why we celebrate Christmas – Jesus came. God came to earth. He left His glorious throne in heaven to become one of us so that He might save us. He became nothing so that we might gain everything through Him (Philippians 2:5-11). His appearing means our salvation, our life, our hope and our escape from the wrath of God. Jesus came not to judge but to save and serve, but when He appears for the second time, it will be for judgment. The first appearing was to display His great mercy and grace by accomplishing our salvation and His second appearing will be to display His wrath and justice. Only those who love His appearing will be saved from the wrath to come (2 Timothy 4:8).

The second passage is from the book of Luke:

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Luke 1:30-33

This proclamation from the angel tells us a lot about the Lord Jesus. His name will be Jesus, which means God saves (Matthew 1:23). He will be the Son of God. He will also be the Son of David. He will be the fulfillment of every Old Testament promise (2 Corinthians 1:20). He will be an eternal King – unlike all the other kings that have gone before. His Kingdom will last forever. These are some of the reasons why He will be great, but there are more. He is great because He alone can and did accomplish our salvation (Isaiah 63:5). He is great because He is the beginning and end, the first and the last (Revelation 22:13). He is great because in Him all the fullness of the deity dwells (Colossians 2:9). He is great because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:6). He is great because He is the very God of the universe (Hebrews 1:3 & 11:3). He is Immanuel – God with us - and He has come. So this is why we (should) celebrate Christmas: this great God has appeared so that we may be saved from our sins and so that we might know Him. I pray that you will truly know and believe this truth this year.