The Reason for Christmas

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" - Luke 19:10.


Probably not the verse from the Gospel of Luke that you were expecting to read when it comes to Christmas. You were probably expecting Matthew 1 & 2 or Luke 1 & 2. Those chapters share with us the Christmas story. What I want to focus on is the why of the Christmas story.


If you were to ask a child "Why do we celebrate Christmas?" you would probably get a number of answers: to celebrate Jesus' birth, to give gifts, etc. And yet I don't believe that is even the most important question. I believe the most important question is "What is the purpose of Christ coming to earth in the first place?" The answer is THE REASON FOR CHRISTMAS!


The verse given above is the reason for Christmas. Ultimately, Jesus was born of a virgin, was laid in a manger, grew up in a carpenter's home and lived for 33 years here on earth "to seek and to save what was lost." The purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the coming of our Savior for OUR sins!


We have heard it said over and over that "Jesus is the Reason for the Season." As I have shared with my church family, I disagree. WE are the reason for the season. WE are why Christ came to earth. WE are why He was born of a virgin. WE are why He lived here on earth. WE are the reason for Jesus being betrayed, scourged, beaten, whipped, spit on, and mocked. WE are the reason for His death on the cross. WE are why He was buried in a borrowed tomb. WE are why He arose.


He did all of that for you and I. He did it all "to seek and to save what was lost." We were lost in our trespasses and sins. Our punishment for sin was death (Romans 6:23a) and Christ came to earth, took your sin and my sin on His body: "God made him (Jesus) who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because of Christ, you can be saved. Because of Christmas, you can have eternal life.


"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" (John 3:16-17).



As you begin to reflect on Christmas this year, may your thoughts pass by the gifts, food, lights, and party's. May your thoughts rest on Jesus Christ who loved you and gave Himself for you! Take time this Christmas season to share this wonderful, glorious, magnificent news with someone who needs the greatest gift of all: eternal life! Now, that is a present worth giving and receiving!!