Good News of Great Joy
When the angels appeared on the first Christmas Day, they described Jesus’ birth as “good news of great joy!” It’s a safe rule of thumb to remember that when angels use words like “good news” and “great joy,” what- ever they’re talking about must be big – really big. After all, they live in heaven. So, good news by their standards has to be something off-the-charts good. What was it about the coming of Jesus that they knew was so fantastic? It’s what they knew would happen when He completed His mission here on earth.
There are many aspects of His coming we could celebrate. As you reflect on the meaning of Christmas this year, keep these three in mind:
- Our sins have been taken away. If you are a Christian, you can be sure that God has forgiven your sins, but the good news of Christmas is even better than that. The Bible says He took them away so that you are now justified – that is, you’re in a position as if you’ve never sinned at all. Nothing. They’re all gone and no trace of sin is left on your (now- holy) spirit. It is just-as-if-I’d (justified) never sinned! You don’t have to shirk away from God in embarrassment about anything because God’s heart toward you is to do nothing but love you.
- God’s anger has been taken away from us. Since there are no sins to stand between us and God, there’s nothing that would cause Him to be angry with us anymore. You may have grown up thinking that your heavenly Father is looking at you with a disapproving look on His face, but it’s not true. God looks on us with delight as He sees Jesus in us. We may still see our sins, but from the eternal realm God knows “it is finished” and that they’ve all been totally obliterated. Think outside the box – the time box – and be assured that your Father is happy with you because He has dealt with your sins already.
- We don’t have to try to change ourselves. Religion is man’s attempt to make himself become acceptable to God by changing himself. You don’t have to do that anymore. You are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10). If you look at yourself through the legalistic lens of performance-based acceptance, you’ll see flaws and will find yourself experiencing an urge to improve yourself on your own. When you look at yourself through the lens of God’s grace, you will know that He loves you at this very moment. He loves you enough that He will assume responsibility for bringing any changes into your life that may be needed.
It’s Christmas and our Father has given us a gift in Jesus Christ that surpasses anything we can imagine. He has taken away our sins. He adores us completely. He has let us off the hook so that we don’t have to assume full responsibility for changing our lives. Those gifts are just the tip of the iceberg.
Will you embrace the full meaning of Christmas? Jesus didn’t die just so you could go to heaven. He came to give you life – His life; an abundant life free from guilt, condemnation, and slavery to both sins and “religion.” He came to bring a grace revolution to the world and that is exactly what He accomplished. Now, that’s a reason to have a Merry Christmas!
Loving you in the Lord,
Pastor Bill Linton
Tags: christmas day, eternal realm, first christmas day, good news of great joy, heavenly father, holy spirit, jesus birth, meaning of christmas, rule of thumb, true god
Filed under: From Our Pastor
