Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. It is the celebration of God coming to us in flesh. At Christmas we celebrate, because God who is highly exalted far beyond us, who does not need us or our love whatsoever, desires to restore the relationship with His people. This desire is so strong that He sent His Son from the glories of Heaven to live on earth and eventually die for the sins of His people. God did not need us in any way shape or form, yet He desired to bring us into right relationship with Him. That is what we celebrate when we celebrate the message of Christmas. What a glorious, yet divisive story.
What we find is that the Christmas Story did not bring the immediate peace on earth that we sing about at Christmas, it actually has brought division to the earth.
In John 1:9-13 we read that Jesus's coming to earth brought a split between people. The One who created the earth came to dwell on earth, yet His people did not receive Him. Here we have disunity and disharmony associated with Christ's coming to earth. Some rejected Him, but others received Him and to those "He gave the right to become children of God". Christ's coming was not a joy for everyone. In fact Christ's coming has had quite the opposite effect.
As Paul and others were preaching the Good News he stated that they were "a fragrance of Christ to God" to both those who were becoming believers and to those who were rejecting the message (2 Corinthians 2:15). He goes on to say that to the unbeliever it is the aroma of death, but for the believer it is the aroma of life. The message of Christ is not an incredibly uniting message for all human beings. The preaching of Christ is to some the realization that they are sinners in rebellion against God, and to some that they are sinners in rebellion against God who have now been rescued. So, the message that Christ has brought into the world is to some life and to others death. This is a divisive message if there ever has been one, and throughout history it has been met with the type of opposition that one would expect a message as this to bring.
As Paul and others were preaching the Good News he stated that they were "a fragrance of Christ to God" to both those who were becoming believers and to those who were rejecting the message (2 Corinthians 2:15). He goes on to say that to the unbeliever it is the aroma of death, but for the believer it is the aroma of life. The message of Christ is not an incredibly uniting message for all human beings. The preaching of Christ is to some the realization that they are sinners in rebellion against God, and to some that they are sinners in rebellion against God who have now been rescued. So, the message that Christ has brought into the world is to some life and to others death. This is a divisive message if there ever has been one, and throughout history it has been met with the type of opposition that one would expect a message as this to bring.
We find that the Pharisees and many others had a strong dislike for Jesus, and by the time He died He only had a few followers. Jesus was also arrested, beaten, and crucified because of the nature of His coming and message. Later we find that Jesus's followers were persecuted, some even to death (Acts 8:1-3). This is scattered throughout the pages of the New Testament. Specifically we see that Paul was beaten many times for his sharing the message of Christ. It is believed that all of the apostles, with the exception of John, were martyred for their faith. And even today we find people all over the world beaten, tortured, and killed for this message that Christ has brought. In fact, there are more people killed for the cause of Christ today than any other time in history. (If you didn't know this you should examine the Voice of the Martyrs website.) This should not surprise us. The message of Christ has brought division to the world. And this is exactly what Jesus said He would do.
Jesus Himself stated that peace on earth was not what He was bringing, "but a sword" (Matthew 10:34-39). Christ stated here that He would be bringing division and disunity to even household relationships. So, why do we sing about peace on earth at Christmas time?
The work Christ did when He came to earth is completed. Christ came to earth and lived a completely sinless life and fulfilled all righteousness on behalf of the believer, while He was here. The righteous life He lived is credited to the believer. Christ also died on the cross paying the complete punishment for the sin of the believer. This work that Christ did for our salvation: earning our righteousness and paying for our sin is finished, so that everyone who turns to Christ in faith can be completely forgiven. But there is an aspect of redemption that is not yet completed.
We are people living in the time between Christ's two comings. Christ has already come to earth the first time, and He is coming again. When He comes again it is promised that all things will be made right. It is promised that at this time there will truly be peace on earth. This is encapsulated in many of the great hymns we sing around Christmas time.
One example of this is It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. It begins with Christ's birth and then looks forward to Christ's coming, when there will be peace over all the earth.
The peace of Christmas is already achieved in the sense that Christ has accomplished completely the work of redemption. He has paid the full punishment for sin and has accomplished all righteousness on behalf of the believer. At the same time the peace of Christmas is not yet realized. It is not yet here. We are awaiting the day when Christ will return and there truly is peace on earth. In other words, we can look forward to the peace we sing about at Christmas time because of what Christ achieved after the first Christmas Day during His time on earth.
This is the world and mindset we live in. We look forward to what will happen while trusting in what Christ has already done. Here are some words from Charles Spurgeon on living between Christ's two comings.
The work Christ did when He came to earth is completed. Christ came to earth and lived a completely sinless life and fulfilled all righteousness on behalf of the believer, while He was here. The righteous life He lived is credited to the believer. Christ also died on the cross paying the complete punishment for the sin of the believer. This work that Christ did for our salvation: earning our righteousness and paying for our sin is finished, so that everyone who turns to Christ in faith can be completely forgiven. But there is an aspect of redemption that is not yet completed.
We are people living in the time between Christ's two comings. Christ has already come to earth the first time, and He is coming again. When He comes again it is promised that all things will be made right. It is promised that at this time there will truly be peace on earth. This is encapsulated in many of the great hymns we sing around Christmas time.
One example of this is It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. It begins with Christ's birth and then looks forward to Christ's coming, when there will be peace over all the earth.
"For lo! The days are hastening on, by prophet bards foretold, when with the ever circling years comes round the age of gold; when peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling, and the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing."It is Christ's coming again that will bring with it peace on earth and good will to men, but it has already been achieved. The peace we sing about and talk about at Christmas time is revealed to us at Christ's second coming. So, we could say that the peace of Christmas is already achieved, but not yet realized.
The peace of Christmas is already achieved in the sense that Christ has accomplished completely the work of redemption. He has paid the full punishment for sin and has accomplished all righteousness on behalf of the believer. At the same time the peace of Christmas is not yet realized. It is not yet here. We are awaiting the day when Christ will return and there truly is peace on earth. In other words, we can look forward to the peace we sing about at Christmas time because of what Christ achieved after the first Christmas Day during His time on earth.
This is the world and mindset we live in. We look forward to what will happen while trusting in what Christ has already done. Here are some words from Charles Spurgeon on living between Christ's two comings.
"We are living in the age which lies between the two blazing beacons of the Divine appearings and we are called to hasten from one to another. The sacramental host of God's elect is marching on from the one appearing to the other with hasty feet. We have everything to hope for in the last appearing, as we have everything to trust to in the first appearing-and we have now to wait with patient hope throughout that weary interval which intervenes! Paul calls it, "this present world." This marks its fleeting nature. It is present, but it is scarcely future, for the Lord may come so soon and thus end it all. It is present, now, but it will not be present long. It is but a little time and He who will come shall come and will not tarry. Now it is this "present world." Oh, how present it is! How sadly it surrounds us!
Yet, by faith, we count these present things to be unsubstantial as a dream and we look to the things which are not seen and not present, as being real and eternal! We pass through this world as men on pilgrimage. We traverse an enemy's country. Going from one manifestation to another, we are birds migrating on the wing from one region to another-there is no rest for us by the way. We are to keep ourselves as loose as we can from this country through which we make our pilgrimage, for we are strangers and foreigners and here we have no continuing city. We hurry through this Vanity Fair-before us lies the Celestial City and the coming of the Lord who is the King thereof! As voyagers cross the Atlantic and so pass from shore to shore, so do we speed over the waves of this ever-changing world to the Glory Land of the bright appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!" - C.H. Spurgeon The Two Appearings And The Discipline of Grace, 1886R. Dwain Minor
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