The myth started way back in the 1st century when Jesus was born into this world. The Jewish people completely misunderstood why he had come. They thought he had come as a royal conqueror to make their lives better and to set them free from the domination of the Roman government. But that was a myth.
The people had a consumer mentality instead of believing and following him. For example, when he fed bread to the 5,000, instead of believing on him and following him, they only held out their hands and demanded more food.
But Jesus had come to meet a far deeper need than bread. The angel made this clear when he said of Mary in Matthew 1:21, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus wasn’t born to make us happy, healthy, or wealthy. From the beginning, his coming was about salvation from sin because sin is our biggest need.
Jesus didn’t come just to be an example to us or to give us a comfortable life. He came to save us from the guilt and grip of sin. He did this by eventually sacrificing his life on the Cross and absorbing the terrible wrath of God as punishment for our sin.
The real focus of Christmas is not the manger, the Christmas trees, the tinsel, the colored lights, the gift giving, and the family get-togethers. All these things are well and good. But they’re not the focus. The focus of Christmas is Christ and his mission of saving us from sin.
Because of who Jesus is and the reason why he came to this earth, he calls us to put our faith in him and make him number one in our lives on Christmas and every other day of the year. Not Jesus as some kind of convenient add-on, but making Jesus the very center and focus of our lives.
Will you do this? Will you make this Christmas a time of renewed commitment to passionately follow him?
Written by Dick Papworth
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