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I have not blogged in quite a while, but this year I wanted to do something to share the hope of Christmas. I have had more people ask me about aspects of Christmas and wanted to share some things that always encourage me. I pray that these will help you rediscover the wonder and hope of Christ’s coming.

 

3. A Savior. 12/3/25. 

Today I just want to back up and in plain terms talk about Christmas. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Luke 2:11 says, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." You may ask what is a Savior? What do we need saving from. We hear the reference for the first round draft pick that is supposed to solve all the problems for the team or person running for office that seems like he will fix what is broken, but what does it mean that Jesus is the Savior. 

To understand this you have to understand what is wrong with the world. The Bible speaks to this very clearly. God gave his people good commands and promised them life if they obeyed, but they disobeyed and broke his commands. As a result, a just judgment was brought upon the world. Just like when you break a law and there is a punishment for it.

Some key aspects of this punishment from God were 1) death. When you turn from God who is the source of life this is what you get. Death would happen in ways ranging from old age to natural disasters and accidents. It is the pattern for every person. 2) Hardship. The ground was cursed and life became difficult. It says through the sweat of your brow you will eat. Nothing is easy and everything feels the pull to disorder. 3) Fallen nature. People became corrupt and prone to sin. They turn from God in thought, word and deed. 4) A corrupt world. When people turn from God bad things happen: murder, theft, lying, cheating, stealing and on and on. 

Most of your struggles in life probably pertain to one of these. It may be the fear of death or the battle of disease and sickness. It may be having a hard time making ends meet or the unceasing wave of challenges that always seem to come our way. It may be with our own struggles to think rightly and not let toxic thoughts get into our minds. It may also be the struggle of suffering from or living in fear of the evil actions of others. These are all terrible travesties that make us long for something else. And this is what Jesus came to save us from.

Jesus is the savior of the world. He comes to redeem us from sin. He atones for all our mistakes. He takes our guilt away so there is no more judgment. He heals us so we are a new creation and will no longer sin- in thought word or deed. He promises us a new heaven and new earth so that we no longer live in a fall world where people do evil. He restores nature so that it will no longer be cursed and give its yield reluctantly but rather bless us abundantly. He saves us by restoring the world and our selves to God’s original intention. He is also a king who will usher in a kingdom of peace and prosperity and in which there will be no more evil. He will heal all our hurts and wipe away all our tears. Essentially, he will make all things new (Revelation 21:5).

 

2. Grace upon Grace. 12/2/25

Grace is defined as undeserved favor, approval or blessing. It means we are getting something that we have not earned. The coming of Jesus– the Savior of the world– is all about grace. I alluded to this yesterday in the genealogy but want to go into a little more detail. 

After the first sin, a judgement of hardship and death came into the world, but in that God also made a promise to redeem people, and he was faithful to that promise. He was going to bring it about despite what people had done. The genealogy of Jesus reflects this, because all the people included had one thing in common– they fell short of God’s standard. 

For instance, the first person mentioned in the genealogy of Matthew chapter 1 is Abraham. Abraham believed God and left everything- home, family, country, possessions to follow God, but Abraham also did some dumb things. One was lying about his wife being his sister because he feared Pharoah might kill him for her (Genesis 12:12). Another prominent person mentioned is king David, who was "a man after God’s heart," and he received a promise to be king and another promise that a son of his would reign on his throne forever (2 Samuel 7), but David also stumbled and committed adultery and even had the husband killed (2 Samuel 11). 

Also mentioned in the lineage is Rahab the prostitute. She helped the Israelites conquer Jericho and saved her family, but that’s not who you would think to stand in the family line of the Savior of the world. I’m pretty sure that record would be scrubbed somehow by the British Royal Family!

There is also Manasseh who worshipped idols and sacrificed his own son (2 Sam 21:6)! One of my personal favorites is Zerubabel. He was tasked with rebuilding the temple after it was destroyed. God spoke very highly of him saying he was a “royal diadem in the hand of the Lord” (Haggai 2:21-23), but Zerubabel’s work never materialized, and he died in obscurity. He showed great promise but never lived up to his potential.

What it all means is Jesus Christ came into the world not because of the faithfulness of people, but because of the faithfulness of God. God promised a Savior, and it is because of God’s grace and mercy that he continued with his plan. People didn’t deserve or earn a Savior, but God was gracious. If you feel unworthy, as though you haven’t done enough or done too many bad things, then know you are in good company. We all have a sickness of falling short of God’s commands, and it is good news that Jesus came to heal the sick. Through faith we too can find ourselves included in his line of promise.

1. In the Line of Hope. 12/1/25

It’s hard to know where to start in talking about Christmas, but as good a place as any is Matthew 1:1. This is the genealogy of Jesus, and for Bible novices it contains the infamous repetition “so and so begat so and so.” It may seem tedious and as uninteresting as 9th grade history class, but it is really quite profound. Here are the first two verses:

"The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers." Matthew 1:1–2.

These are just a few of the people mentioned in the chapter, and most of them appear in Scripture so you can read more about them. Some were noble. Others were not. There are kings, but also prostitutes, adulterers, foreigners (those outside the family line), and some people who showed great promise but fell into anonymity. I’ll talk more on this tomorrow.

Arguably the most important aspect of this line is that Jesus comes because of promises that God made and kept. Verse 1 highlights two important people: Abraham and David. God made a promise to Abraham in roughly 2000 BC. God called Abraham to leave everything he had and go to the land God would show him and God promised to bless him and said that through him and his offspring all the nations and peoples of the entire earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3).

Later, God built on this through a descendant of Abraham’s named David in roughly 940 BC. David was a mighty warrior king, and God told him he would have a son who would reign forever in righteousness. These two promises are why family lineages were so important to Israelites. They were tracing the promises of God. It is into this family line, a line of promise, that Jesus Christ is born into.  

Jesus taught some of the greatest morals ever recorded by any teacher, he did miracles that no one else could do, and he just so happens to be in the family line of people who received incredible promises of a future king who would reign in righteousness and bless all people. His family line communicates that God makes promises and fulfills them, and his birth communicates the realization of long awaited hope.

If you don’t know the promises of God there is no better time to learn them than now.