Purpose of Christmas

Matthew 18:11-14, "¹¹ For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. ¹² “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? ¹³ And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. ¹⁴ Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." (NKJV)

 

The celebration of Christmas is packed full of various traditions that have been established by families and friends over a period of time. Traditions such as the trimming of the tree, the type of meal that is prepared, the time of the meal, and even the menu of the meal. We also have established the traditions of the giving and sharing of gifts with one another. There are some people who even choose to establish a price range on the amount of money that can be spent on any gift. Even small children establish their own set of traditions such as do I leave cookies and milk for Santa Claus and carrots for the reindeer and what should I leave the elves that assist Santa? Some people have even established the tradition of not choosing to celebrate any "cultural" celebration of Christmas.  Each of us have probably our own way of "doing" Christmas and this post is not about taking sides on which tradition is right and which tradition is wrong. This post is being written to remind us of the purpose of Christmas.

 

We must remember that there is a great difference between tradition and purpose. Traditions are established in the minds of people and those traditions can and very do change from generation to generation. The celebration of Christmas must be more than just the celebration of our traditions or the traditions that have been established by others. The celebration of Christmas is the beginning point of understanding the purpose and plan of God for fallen and sinful humanity. I sincerely doubt that any of the previous traditions that I wrote about earlier were celebrated on the day of the "first Christmas." The celebration of the first Christmas was about the birth of the Jesus, the Savior who would free mankind from their sins. Verse 11 of our scripture passage establishes the purpose of the entry of Christ into this world on that day in Bethlehem. Let us be reminded of that purpose, "For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost." We can not afford to allow the purpose of Christ to be crowded out by any traditions or celebrations that have been developed in the minds of mankind. We must remain committed to the message of the Gospel that declares that Christ "came to save that which was lost." That statement is a reminder that we have a message to declare and a message to celebrate. Rejoice in the fact that the purpose of Christ continues to be revealed in our lifetime!!