Today, we celebrate the incarnation of Christ coming into the world to die for the sins of those who would believe (or I should say some of us do). It is a glorious and existential truth. As the Son of Man or the God-Man, He is the perfect, flawless representation of man to God. He stands in the gap revealing to us what it means to be humans as God originally intended and what pleases God for man to be.
By and large, we ignore this part of Christmas even though it’s in the name itself — Christ-mas. What most will do today is shun Him altogether. It’s a much more comfortable endeavor to commemorate the day with superstitious emblems like living snowmen and flying reindeer. Acknowledging Christ means we have to acknowledge the reality and truth of His coming to begin with. That we are not good enough in the eyes of God.
Many people today are pleased with themselves but unpleasing to God. In a self-aggrandizing, narcissistic society, we pride ourselves on ourselves. We delusionally attempt to eliminate the idea that we are deeply flawed and evil in nature. When and if we do admit it, we dismiss it as being an acceptable defect. We trivialize it as no big deal. Guilt is seen as evil and to make someone feel guilty is a high offense.
A verse from the pages of Scripture you will hear spread across the globe today comes to us from Isaiah 9:6:
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. (Isaiah 9:6)
This peace is an everlasting peace for those who believe. It is a peace that surpasses all understanding. It is a peace that is not just a state but a reality.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)
Being a fiction storyteller who writes in the genres of science-fiction, the supernatural, and fantasy, I read deeply in the genre. I find I’m interested in the lives of the authors and their philosophy because that drives the stories they write. It’s as I’ve said before — every writer is a preacher.
H.G. Wells, the famous science-fiction writer responsible for such classics as War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man, said this at age 65:
Here I am at sixty-five, still seeking for peace.
His philosophy was that science would give him this peace he was searching for. It didn’t. He did not have peace because he did not have Christ. It is as the old saying says:
Know Jesus, know Peace. However, no Jesus, no Peace.
I can tell you from the 24 years H.G. Wells had left on earth after that, he didn’t find that peace he was looking for. He wouldn’t receive it.
A.T. Pierson described true peace — the peace of God — as:
The peace of God is that eternal calm which lies far too deep in the praying, trusting soul to be reached by any external disturbances.
All true peace — an unshakeable peace — rests in Christ. That He came and was born as the God-Man and preached a gospel of the everlasting kingdom. And in that truth, it changes everything.
That Christ had to come because of the persistent and perpetual sin in mankind is a testament to how flawed we are. That He came in the flesh, born on the plains of Bethlehem with the fanfare of angels, shepherds, and wise men is the hope of every human being on the planet. This is Christmas. This is the Christ-Mass. This is the Incarnation Celebration.
So today, I implore you to recognize and receive the true gift of Christmas. Christ Himself.
Merry Christmas to you, beloved of God. To the rest, again — receive the gift of Christ. It’s the greatest gift you will ever receive in your existence.
God bless.
