Many people think of Christmas as only a time of family, Santa Claus, presents, Christmas trees, and lights.  These are not bad things, but Jesus-followers need to remember why we really celebrate this time of year.  It’s the coming of our Savior!

I know that many criticize Christians for celebrating on December 25th.  This is probably not the actual date of Jesus’ birth, and it was the date of a pagan holiday.  But does it really matter? The point is to celebrate the birth of our Savior, not that He was born on that specific day.  We could just as easily celebrate in the middle of summer.  It makes perfect sense to me to celebrate on the same date as an already established holiday.  If everyone else is celebrating something, why not have the Christian celebration at the same time?  It might have helped believers avoid pagan practices.

So, back on topic.  The reason believers celebrate Christmas is to commemorate Jesus’ birth.  But it really goes beyond that.  To know why we celebrate Christ’s coming, we need to understand why He had to come in the first place.  In order to understand that, we must go back to the beginning.  Romans 5.12 says:”Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”  Adam was the man by whom sin first came into the world.  If Adam hadn’t introduced sin and death to the world, we wouldn’t need a Savior. 

 “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.  So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.  For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” – Romans 5.17-19
 

Adam’s sin brought punishment to everyone because we all sin, too.  But Jesus came and was obedient to God’s will.  Through Jesus’ death and resurrection we all have the chance to be reconciled with God.

It is so important to not only know that Jesus came, but also WHY He came.  The Gospel is presented for the very first time in Genesis 3.15:  “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall [crush] you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”  This is God speaking to Satan after Adam and Eve sinned.  He told them that things were going to be difficult, but that there was hope in the future.  Just telling people that Jesus died for their sin isn’t enough if the person doesn’t know what sin is, or doesn’t see him or herself as a sinner.  We have to start at the beginning of the story.

Enjoy the presents, lights, decorations and even Santa Claus; but never forget the REAL reason we celebrate.  Jesus Christ, or Lord and Savior!

And don’t forget to tell the story from the beginning!



*All verses from NASB.

Followers of Jesus* frequently speak, or sing, of being “washed in the blood.”  People outside the faith usually don’t understand what this means or why it is important to believers.  Very simply, being washed in the blood means that our sins have been forgiven.

But being washed in blood sounds disgusting, right?  Why would anyone want that?  Well, our sins are disgusting to God.  Any bad thing we do, whether it seems great or small, is an affront to Him.

I visited my old church this week (Trinity Chickasha), and my former pastor spoke about the ancient Jewish sacrifices.  In the Old Testament, God provided a means by which the Jews could atone for their sins through the sacrifice of certain animals, at specific times.  The writer of Hebrews explains that these sacrifices were not permanent.  They had to be offered every year.  Hebrews 10.4  says: “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”**  The only way for our sins to be erased is to trust in Jesus.  This was accomplished in the Old Testament by trust in God’s future plans.  The Jews did not trust in the sacrifices themselves.  These sacrifices were a temporary practice that foreshadowed the supreme sacrifice of Jesus.

When Jesus came and died on the cross, He was the ultimate, final sacrifice.  There are no further sacrifices needed because Jesus gave up His life for the sins of all who choose to believe in Him.  Being washed in Jesus’ blood is a way of saying that we are made pure by the sacrifice of His blood.

New Testament authors speak frequently about the blood of Jesus. 

Matthew 26.28: “For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The context of this verse is Jesus speaking of the wine that represents His blood in the Lord’s Supper.

Romans 5.8-9: “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!  Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.”

1 John 1.7: “But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

These are only a few examples.  Also, many of the great, old hymns speak of Jesus’ blood: There is a Fountain, Power in the Blood, Nothing but the Blood.

The image of being cleansed by blood is powerful.  God allowed Jesus to take our place, our punishment.  Do you realize if Jesus hadn’t done this, we would have to pay the penalty for our own sins?  God didn’t have to allow this substitution.  He loves us and gave us a way to return to Him.  We, after all, are the ones who have turned our backs on Him.  We have a choice.  We can continue in our own way, doing whatever we want to do – and suffer the consequences ourselves.  Or we can accept the sacrifice of Jesus and give our lives to Him.  Jesus’ blood covers us so that God no longer sees our sins. 

Oh, precious is the flow that makes us white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

There is nothing more beautiful than being washed in the blood of Jesus, the Lamb.  Because of His sacrifice we don’t have to be separated from God.

Unashamed
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*I am going to try to not use the name ‘Christian’ as this term has been warped to basically mean a person who goes to church once in a while and says they believe in God.  A follower of Jesus is someone who has had a life-changing encounter with Jesus and has given their life over to Him.
**All references are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible unless otherwise noted.

In the book of Romans, Paul writes: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1.16, NASB)

As a believer in Christ, this is a call to me to speak out about my faith without shame.  That is what I intend to do in this blog.  My pastor has been preaching for the last few weeks about Christians’ influence in the world, or lack thereof.  For me, this means writing about my beliefs and why I believe what I believe, inviting questions and discussion about God, Jesus, Christians, etc.

I welcome comments and questions from both believers and non-believers; though I can’t promise to have answers for every question.  I only ask that people remain polite and respectful, even in disagreement.

For my first post, I thought it would be appropriate to write about the verse that supplied the name for this blog.  I’ve been thinking for a couple of months about starting an apologetics blog, but couldn’t think of a name.  This morning, my pastor was preaching about Romans 1.15-16, and it hit me! 

He spoke about Christians losing faith in the power of the Gospel – that Jesus came, died, and rose again.  For us.  For anyone who believes.  God didn’t have to do anything for us.  We (mankind) have turned our backs on Him, not the other way around.  Instead, He offers us a way to turn back to Him.  He doesn’t force us, but gives us a choice.  Christians can’t make people listen; we can only share what God has done in our lives with those who are willing to hear.

Jesus gives believers a mandate in Matthew 28.19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (NASB)  This is our call as believers.  This is what I want to do here.

Unashamed