The Cross of Christmas

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”  Hebrews 1:1-3

There was a report on the news the other day concerning a homeowner’s association which either had fined or told a family to remove a wooden cross that they had placed in their yard.  The HOA said that it wasn’t an acceptable Christmas decoration.  The family had so much support and television coverage that the HOA had to back down.  What the folks who administer the HOA failed to understand is that the cross has everything to do with Christmas.  Without the cross, there never would have been Christmas, and without Christmas, there is no Resurrection Day (Easter).  Christ did not come to stay a Baby in a manger, but to give His life so that men, women, boys, and girls could be set free from the guilt and bondage of sin.  Being born in human form was God’s way of coming to earth to redeem all those who trust in Christ for salvation.

The premise of the book of Hebrews is that Christ is superior to the law and was written primarily for those who, after receiving Christ, were trending back toward the law.  In this book, the writer reminds his readers of the method in which God used to reveal Himself and His word unto His creation which was through His prophets in order for them to reveal God’s plans, promises, and warnings to His people.  This was done at various times and by various methods, including a direct word spoken by God, through dreams and visions, and through the written word by His own hand as He wrote upon the tables of stone.  God’s words were given by His prophets unto the fathers, the men whom God designated to carry out the substance of His word from generation to generation.  God chose Abraham to be the father of a great nation, then after him there was Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and later David and Solomon, fathers and leaders of God’s chosen people.

However, each of these men appointed by God had only a portion of God’s plan revealed to them.  None of them were privy to the overall “big picture” of God’s design for the future and for the promised Messiah.  I suppose they all had ideas of what He would be like and contemplated His appearance during their time on earth just as  believers look for Jesus to return during our lifetime.  The nation from which the Messiah would come was revealed to Abraham.  When called upon to offer his son Isaac, God provided a substitute sacrifice, symbolic of the sacrifice that God would later provide for mankind, and which would descend from Abraham’s seed (Genesis 22:1-14).  To Jacob, it was revealed that the Messiah would come through the line of Judah, Jacob’s fourth son (Genesis 49:10).  King David was promised that the kingdom of God would be established upon his throne forever (II Samuel 7:16).  In Psalm 22, David gave us a clear picture of Christ’s crucifixion.  To the prophet Micah, the place of the Messiah’s birth was made known (Micah 5:2).  The time of the Messiah’s birth was revealed to Daniel (Daniel 9:25).  To Malachi the last Old Testament prophet, it was revealed that one in the spirit of the prophet Elijah would come just prior to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  We know him as John the Baptist (Malachi 4:5-6; Luke 1:17).  Jonah’s time in the belly of the great fish was symbolic of the burial and resurrection of Christ after three days (Jonah 1:17; 2:10, Matthew 12:40).  Isaiah 53 gives us the most detailed description of the rejection and torture of Jesus because of man’s sin.  All of these prophets and men of God lived at different times, and each had revelations of the Messiah to come.  The only one living when Jesus came to earth was John the Baptist.  All the others died believing in the promise made by God to send a Deliverer for His people.

We have the advantage of seeing much more of the overall picture, the one that the prophets were only able to view in part.  Jesus Christ did come as a Human and fulfilled every prophecy revealed about Him and His mission.  However, we are like those men and women of old in that we have not yet been privy to seeing the complete fulfillment which includes the return of Christ.  Jesus is the manifestation, that is, the clear evidence of God the Spirit in human form.  Christ came to show us the Father and teach us how to live in love and harmony with one another, but His main focus was on making us righteous before the Father.  Man’s sin, beginning with Adam and Eve, had broken the relationship between a holy God and His creation.  To return to God in good standing required an extreme sacrifice, One who was sinless, whose blood would cover man’s sin and bring forgiveness and reconciliation.  After Jesus’ sacrifice and His resurrection, He ascended back to His Father and now occupies the seat at God’s right hand.  He still bears the scars of redemption and is waiting for His Father to give Him the signal to return to earth to set things in order.  When He does return, it won’t be as a tiny Baby in a manger, but as the King of kings and Lord of lords.  So, yes, the cross has everything to do with Christmas.