CHRISTMAS IN SOCIETY
Well, Christmas time is almost upon us again. Some people ignore this time and see it as nothing but another holiday. Some see it as a means of satisfying the flesh in eating and drinking and getting drunk. Some consider it a time to meet with family and friends, give gifts, and be happy.
Those in the commercial world see it as a time to make great profits in their businesses. Generally, though, the world places Christmas in the box of family, riotous gluttony, drinking, and fulfilling selfish aims.
Well, what of the Christian? How does the Christian understand Christmas? Some downplay the event because of the great materialism attached to Christmas and realize that the birth of the Lord was most likely in August or September because shepherds were on the hills and fields, a thing not done in winter (not in December).
Many Christians go to church and celebrate what the First Advent was all about – the birth of the Saviour of the world. They sing Christmas carols and look at the biblical references to the birth of Christ such as these two:
Isaiah 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders, and His name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 7:14-15 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.”
Christmas plays are enacted, and Christians are happy with rejoicing and enjoying their Saviour and friends and family. This is because of the “good tidings of great joy” that the angels spoke of. Joy is a condition that comes through the Holy Spirit in a person’s life, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
THE COUNTERFEIT HAS COME
For everything in this world that is good and is of God, the devil has his counterfeit. It is what’s false and is manifested in many aspects around us, such as:
Creation. The counterfeit is evolution.
Marriage. The counterfeit is homosexual marriage.
Male and female. The counterfeit is over a dozen gender distortions.
The one true God. The counterfeit is idolatry and false gods of money, etc.
Has Christmas escaped this counterfeit? No, it has not. Christians honor the Saviour and the Hope of mankind, the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan has his counterfeit, known as Santa Claus. Santa Claus has replaced Christmas in carols, in schools, and in shopping centers. Santa has become the hope of the world, as he gives out gifts and overtakes children’s minds to distort truth into fiction.
Some shopping centers used to have beautiful window displays of the Christmas scene, and I remember magnificent ones of those as a kid. Now all that is discarded, thrown away, replaced by Santa and reindeer and glitter and bling. A growing number of children only know Jesus Christ as associated with swearing and nothing else, but they all know who Santa Claus is.
Santa has become the great counterfeit for Christ. Mr Christmas rules Christmas just as the pagan nations discarded the knowledge of God to make for themselves idols of wood and gold and silver. It is all about transference. You take your creation and decorate it with expensive materials to make it more valuable, then transfer to it the honor and worship that belongs to God alone. In the materialistic world, they may not do that with wood and silver idols, but it is done in prestige, possessions, behavior, and bank balances. People worship the false, the flimsy insecurity of this world’s standards. The cross of Christ is the world’s Christmas tree.
Just as Santa is false, so too are all the natural beliefs of people. When a person and people replace God, then the vacuum must be filled by the substitutes. More and more right now, we see this in the developed world as it throws out the standards set by God and substitutes what is false. Satan will always fill a vacuum. People’s lives are vacuums because the knowledge of God has not only faded, it has been deliberately legislated against. That is why you see Government enforcement of homosexuality, abortion, the sexual destruction of our children, and the stupidity of WOKE practices by people supposed to have intelligence.
Pseudo-Christmas is all that is false about Christmas, the first advent of Messiah. We, as Christians, hold to the biblical truth of the inspired word of God. We believe the Saviour came into the world, was born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, the promised Son of David, Christ the Lord. Any system that would negate any of that and set up substitutes and honor creation more than the Creator is false; pseudo beliefs of a fallen race of people.
CONSIDER CHRISTMAS
This Christmas time, consider seriously the whole reason why Jesus came, and believe the reasons why He came that were for you and your salvation. Sadly, some people do not get past the Babe of Bethlehem to see the Lord upon the cross dying for the sins of the world. You cannot separate the two facts – the One who came is the One who came to redeem the human race.
Maybe you acknowledge the infant Jesus with Mary but have not advanced past that. You need His salvation that comes through repentance and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. Give your life to Him if you have never done so.
POEM ABOUT THE FALSE CHRISTMAS
We are going to close with a poem of mine called “CHRISTMAS TRAVESTY – PSEUDO Christmas.” It deals with some of the things mentioned above. Unfortunately, it loses the stanza formatting on Sermon Central and puts everything in double spacing. If you want to put it correctly, then the stanza lengths in lines are: 10, 8, 6, 8, 4, 10, 6.
God bless you all.
CHRISTMAS TRAVESTY – PSEUDO CHRISTMAS
Around comes Christmas once a year,
A time for some for family cheer.
All the rage is pseudo-Christmas:
Gaudy, and all that’s frivolous –
Santa, reindeers, and Christmas tree;
People drunk, they call “Christmas glee.”
Candles, bells, and turkey and ham,
Crabs, prawns, oysters, and roasted lamb.
They eat, drink, make merry, and sing,
Then, each one will do his own thing.
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What is this scene that’s been described?
Well, a Christmas wrongly ascribed.
Whatever is done, it must fail –
It practices some other tale,
That’s of a message most forlorn,
But Christmas heralds Jesus born;
The Son who came to save from sin –
Died, unrighteous people to win.
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Don’t miss the point at Christmas time –
Christ is the story most sublime.
The world keeps pagan delusions
Derived from the wrong conclusions;
Rejects our Christ; opposes Him.
Their understanding is so dim.
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The world disdains our precious Lord,
And people now His birth defraud.
Their pagan customs substitute;
What is godly, they prostitute.
From Christmas, Christ has been removed;
A godless Christmas now approved.
Be not conned or deluded be.
Christmas belongs to Christ, you see!
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Then, what is Christmas all about?
It’s the time to expel all doubt;
Embrace the Son of God who came,
The infant Christ, His precious Name.
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We sing and praise and fellowship;
Acknowledge the Saviour’s Lordship;
Reconnect with Christ’s first advent;
Recall the reasons He was sent.
Yes, the shepherds and the manger;
In that stable, He, a Stranger
Of humble birth, yet He was King.
At Christmas time, with voice you sing
To the Saviour who was born that night,
Away from the world’s hostile sight.
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There is a Christmas false and true.
Reject the false but grasp the true.
The simple Christmas story told
By the Bible, its truth we hold.
There is a Christmas false and true.
Reject the false and grasp the true! (embrace)
R E Ferguson
Luke 2:8-14 “In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. An angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.'”