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SCRIPTURE – Mat 1:21                                                                                                                                                           DECEMBER, 2021
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:
for he shall save his people from their sins.

SUBJECT – JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!!!
Every year, about this time, this nation, and even most of the world partake in what is known as the Christmas holiday season.
During this special time, a spirit of love, peace and good cheer, floods the hearts and souls of most of us.

It is also during this time that people come together and exchange gifts, renew friendships and a myriad of other things that during the other months of the year, may not be as recognizable or even evident to the average individual.

What is it about this special time of the year that seems to magically, or should I say radically change the hearts of men and women everywhere, where past problems with others seem to disappear??

In order to understand that, we need to look at what the Christmas season is all about.

It started on a day over 2000 years ago when a man by the name of Joseph, was preparing to break off a planned marriage to a woman by the name of Mary, who was known to be a virgin.

It had been revealed to him that she was with child, which in his mind indicated that some other man had been with her. Under these circumstances, he decided not to go through with the wedding, so that he would not have to be raising someone else's child among other things.

Because he loved her, he did not want to go before the priests and make a public spectacle of the fact that she was essentially damaged goods, a whore, or something along those lines.

It was during this time, that an Angel appeared to him and told him that she was not having another man's child, but that she was having a child, that was divinely ordained by God, for a specific purpose, which is where our subject verse takes off.

All of this, was the beginning of the final phase of what God had planned from before the foundation of the world.

When God created man, He had plans for him to reign over the earth, and all that was in it. However, He knew that IF something went wrong, and man somehow failed to live up to the standards that He had set for him, there would be a BACKUP PLAN, to, in effect bring man back in to compliance with Him.

That plan was Jesus Christ!!

Without going in to a whole lot of detail, we know what happened in the Garden of Eden, and how mankind fell in to disfavor with God.

As a result of this, God cursed the man, and then the woman, as well as the entire world.

He then cursed the serpent, who was responsible for this mess, during which time He told the serpent something that was a prophecy of things to come.

He told the serpent that the seed of the woman, would bruise his head, and that he[the serpent] would bruise His Heel. [Gen. 3:15].

In case you don't know anything about how things work between men and women, when it comes to reproduction, the man is the one who carries the seed, which is then planted in to the woman, to bring forth a child.

The fact that God specifically said that the woman's seed, would be brought forth to carry out His plan meant that the Child would not have the origins from a sinful man, but rather from another source, namely God[Divine].

Now, the reason for Him doing this is that part of His cursing, included the fact that unless something happened to bring man back to a state of Righteousness, everyone who was born of a woman, would be destined to eternal punishment in hell-fire, and the lake of fire and brimstone.

Jesus, was the SomeOne, that came here to fulfill that part of God's Plan, to bring him back to that point of Righteousness.

The Bible tells us that Jesus, was the Only Begotten Son of the Father [John 3:16].

So, the question might be asked, why celebrate Him, when it was God, that sent Him here to redeem us??

The answer is, even though God sent Him here, He had a choice to go through all that He went through, or say, NO!!

Jesus made the willing choice to suffer all of what He went through, including being crucified on the cross, which is what the Father required of Him, to pay the price for our redemption from the curse of sin. Without that, we would be eternally lost!!

Are you beginning to see the picture of why we celebrate, what is assumed to be His day of birth??

It is not necessarily because of His birth, but rather, what He did for us, that we celebrate it.

The other time of the year we celebrate Him for what He did for us is, Easter, and of course Good Friday!!

If we look at Christmas, it has a Special meaning to it in that God, in all His Love for us, gave us the Greatest Gift of all, and that was the chance to get back to the Righteous position we had with Him, before the fall.

It was the act of giving a Gift, that we replicate every year at this time especially, that is at the root of our gift giving.

But it goes further than this!!

Under normal circumstances, we would tend to give gifts to those that we deemed worthy of our spending money on them. Very seldom do we even consider giving something to someone who is in disfavor with us.

However, during this special time, there is a spirit of good cheer, joy, forgiveness and reconciliation, that tends to get us to overlook the past, and possibly look forward to the future as friends.

This is no different than what God did for us by sending Christ to take our place on the cross.

When one considers all of what Jesus' death burial and resurrection saved us from, I can't see anyone not being full of Joy and Peace!!

When a person is full of these things, it becomes easier to forgive and forget the past hurts and feelings associated with others who have wronged you.

Now, this is what Christ's Birth is being celebrated for.

However, there are those that don't want to accept Christmas as what it is, but, they want to partake in all the benefits of giving and getting gifts, so they come with their own meaning for Christmas.

What they do is remove the name of Christ from the name, and replace it with an 'X!' So it is no longer Christmas, but Xmas!!

This is their public declaration of rejecting all of the deep spiritual meaning of this time of year, for the pleasure of reaping the worldly benefits.

Instead of Jesus being the reason for the season, they replace Him with another figure that all the children, and some adults look forward to seeing, and that is Santa Clause!

In 1966, a professor of African-American studies, here in the U.S., created Kwanzaa, to provide 'blacks', an alternative to Christmas, seeing that everything relating to it, was related to whites. Especially Santa Clause.

Seeing that Christmas was a national holiday, he decided to have it run concurrently with Christmas, but starting the day after, on the 26^th through the entirety of the rest of the year. That way, there didn't have to be any special legislation passed in congress, to make it a national holiday that would have schools and businesses closed to celebrate it.

Other cultures around the world may celebrate this same time of the year differently, for whatever reason, but, the main reason for it is still rooted in the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!!

As I mentioned earlier, He was born to save us from our sins.

However, this is not an automatic process, meaning that you are automatically delivered from the curse, simply because Jesus died for you.

This is where most people are missing what salvation [the finished Work of Christ], is about.

The fact that He was born, lived among us for 33 years, suffered and died, then rose from the dead, does not mean you are delivered.

That comes about when you accept Him as your Lord and Saviour, and abandon your sinful ways in obedience to Him!!!

There is no half-stepping, playing fast and loose with what He says is right and wrong[sin].

Yet, this is exactly what most of the world is engaged in today.

If Jesus is your Lord, then that means, He is your Master. Which essentially means, you are His servant. And as a result, you are to do what He says, without question.

Jesus put it this way, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:45–46.)

This represents a Truth, that many refuse to adhere to, because they are all caught up with other things that compete with, and tear down their relationship with Christ.

Christmas is a case in point.

It has become a holiday where people will go out and literally put themselves in debt, to satisfy the wishes and whims of others, for the sole purpose of proving how good they are. The more they sacrifice, and spend, the nicer they appear to be.

While, at the same time, their recognition of what this season is really about, is put on the back burner. As I said, it's not Christ, it's Santa Clause. It is not about the gift that God has given us, but rather the amount of gifts we get from others that counts.

The idea that we have essentially lost sight of what this time of the year really means, shows just how far detached we are from Him.

Oh, we will put on the false appearance of showing love and compassion, but, that will soon evaporate, as the season winds down.

It all boils down to what makes us comfortable. As long as we can feel comfortable with our own lives, we have no actual connection with Christ. It is, as one movie title puts it. 'All About the Benjamins!!'

We need to stop, look, and listen to what God is telling us, and what Jesus told us about needing to be transformed. [Rom 12:2]

As that scripture goes on to say, we have to get our minds right!! Being caught up in the pleasures of this world, will destroy you, both in this life, and for eternity.

My Christmas gift to you is a prayer for those of you that may, or may not find this message convicting you of your position on what the Christmas season is all about.

If you will repeat it, meaning every word, you will have begun the first step toward that transformation.

Father, I come to you, in the name of Jesus, asking you to forgive me of my sinful, carnally-minded ways, in putting my wants and desires above the design that you have for my life.

Help me to transform my mind to come in line with what you want for me to be. I reject, this day, the trappings of this world, for the righteousness that you have set before me, and all mankind.

I accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, this day, and will, with your help, be what you want me to be, and do what you want me to do.

I ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ, giving you all the Praise and Glory, AMEN!!

Now that you have prayed this prayer, your carnal mind will jump in and try to convince you that nothing has changed. Those were just words. Besides, you are doing good, and so what if you mess up now and then, nobody's perfect!!!

This is your first trial as to the sincerity of your prayer. What you will need to do is, not ignore, but rather rebuke that thought, because it is coming from the Devil!!

The next trial, will probably come from your family, or friends. Yes, that's right, the Devil will use whomever, and whatever he can to get you to abandon your transformation, and get back to your old ways.

They will tell you, 'there's no need to get radical', it just Christmas!' This will show you just where their minds are. And, it is not on Christ!!

In closing let me wish you and yours a Merry CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year!!