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God Put His Gift On a Tree, Not Under It The little girl hopped up onto Santa's lap and reeled off a whole list of expensive toys she wanted for Christmas. Then, without even a word of appreciation, she jumped down and ran off. Her mother whispered, "Dear, didn't you forget to say something?" "Oh, yes," the little girl responded, and turning back to Santa, she shouted, "Charge it!" In this hectic time before Christmas, we will all often struggle to keep the real reason for the season at the very forefront of our minds and hearts. With the commercialism that abounds, the focus becomes the "loot" that can be found under the tree. When I was a kid, back in the 1950's and early 60's, my older sister and I were the proverbial "snoops". Now remember—this was before I was born-again, so I certainly don't recommend this behavior now. When home alone, we would check out the closets and under the bed—I guess we figured that if our parents didn't really want us to snoop, they would find better hiding places. Praise God—I did get saved, and I no longer have to think that Christmas is all about what is under the tree. Praise God—He alone gives the most priceless gift ever given, and He didn't put it under the tree; He placed it on the tree! John 3:16 tells us, "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." And this gift was prophesied throughout the centuries before—Isaiah had said it clearly, "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." (7:14) The New Testament would even clarify it—this name means, "God with us." Isaiah continues—"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. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." (9:6,7) And, indeed, He did! Some might ask, "But wait—didn't Jesus, who was born in a stable and placed in a manger—didn't He die on a Cross and wasn't He buried in a tomb? How can you say He established His Kingdom and He will rule forever?" The answer is actually quite simple—His Kingdom is not worldly—it is the presence of God within His people, ruling and reigning over every thought, word, and deed. You see, Christmas isn't just about what is under the tree; it's about what was put on the tree! Paul told the Galatian church, "Christ had redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." (3:13; cf Deut. 21:23) Jesus was born to die—God had a plan and He was in control! And, believe it or not, this can be seen throughout the entire Christmas story, even from the very beginning. The prophet Malachi had prophesied that God would send someone to prepare the way before the Messiah actually came. That "someone" would be John the Baptist. Four hundred years would pass without a prophetic voice, and then, John, burst onto the scene. Yes, burst! Even his birth was quite a surprise—you couldn't have "snooped" this one out no matter how hard you had tried. Zechariah, an elderly priest, and his wife, Elizabeth, had been wanting children for some time, but now, it was obviously too late. Obviously? Oh, yeah, with man, it was absolutely impossible, but not with God! Suddenly, an angel appeared to Zechariah while he was offering the incense in the temple. His message? A baby! But not just any baby—this one "shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb," and he was going to "make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1: 15b and 17b) And his name would be "John," which means, "Favored of Yahweh," for his entire life and message would proclaim that God will show grace to all who would turn to Him. But since Zechariah didn't believe all of this at first, he was struck dumb. Little did he know, he was the sacrifice on the altar that day—would he be the one consumed in the fire? Later, when all of their friends and family expected that the baby would be named after Zechariah, Elizabeth declared, "Not so; but he shall be called John." (vs. 60) When they continued to object, Zechariah wrote it out for them—"His name IS John." (vs. 63) And that piece of obedience and trust in the Lord loosed his tongue, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Four hundred years of silence from Heaven had ended—even as the new prophet was born. This new message would be of such power that it couldn't even wait for John to grow up—it must be put forth NOW! Zechariah was not only the sacrifice; now he would utterly die to himself—in a very real and profound way! Zechariah proclaimed, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David." (Luke 1: 68-69) The word, "horn", refers to God's power and strength. Only the zeal of the Lord could accomplish what He was about to do. Only He could visit His people, and in the Greek, it means that He looks at something and examines it very closely—and has mercy upon it! This is the same mercy "promised to our fathers…that He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." (vss. 72-75) Zechariah was beginning to see the true meaning of sacrifice—Immanuel, God with him; God in him—no longer him living, but the coming Christ! Zechariah is saying, "Imagine—my son will be the one to go before the face of the Lord and prepare His way, and he will do this by giving 'knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins.' (vs. 77) And this will be so very necessary throughout all time to come, but especially in the last of days, when there will be very little understanding of what 'remission of sin' even is. The day will come when 'forgiveness' will only mean a pat on the back and an assuring glance by God, as if to say, 'Your sin is OK, I understand!' Oh no…no, my son John will have to make that very clear—'remission' is the power of God to stand against and away from sin—death to self! Through this 'horn'—this Messiah—we will be released from the power that Satan had over us to commit sin—released and ransomed! Praise God—it won't just be a ticket to get into Heaven; no, it will give us the power to live in His holiness right now, in this life. Oh, what a Christmas present that is—no more excuses, no more complaining, no more pointing the finger at someone else for our shortcomings. No, if we will allow this Spirit of God to truly dwell within us, our hearts will be changed—and the life will follow. Praise God—my son John will make it crystal clear—salvation won't just be a matter of believing that this Anointed One came, and that all are saved because of that. No—this "newness" must be received and lived!"—A.W. Tozer once put it this way, "Among all the plastic saints of our times, Jesus has to do all the dying and all we want is to hear another sermon about His dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility." Yes, John would point to the "dayspring" (vs. 78), even the rising of a new dawn and a new day—a day of faith and trust in God, and not in ourselves. But before that day could dawn, the darkness of the shadow of death would need to pass. Thirty some years after John was born, he would die under the sword of Herod—simply because he took a stand against sin. John was born to die—and that would be what it would take to point to another who was also born to die—even on a Cross, for you and for me. Now, in these days, it's up to His true, overcoming Church—born-again in order to die to self and sin—to visibly and consistently point the way to Him. Often, we assume Jesus died so that we wouldn't have to—actually, it is just the opposite. True Christianity is really a matter of entering into His death, as well as His life. He died to show us the way to die—"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."(Mt. 16:24-25) Thank God, He didn't just place His gift under a tree; in His love and mercy, He placed His only Son on that tree—for without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. (Heb. 9:22) In these coming weeks, don't let your heart flippantly "charge" Christmas to someone else to take seriously—let the Lord of Christmas "charge" you with the call to truly enter in. Copyright (c)
2005 Christ Our Rock Bible Church. |
