Thanksgiving yields to Christmas, and this season of the year brings to mind the events that speak of God’s plan of salvation for men. Once again we return to the cradle at Bethlehem that held, in human form, the incarnate God who was made flesh and dwelt among us. Then we go to Calvary’s cross, where the Son of God offered himself as an atonement for man’s sin and opened the gates of Paradise to all men. His sacrificial death was crowned by his resurrection, which demonstrated his victory over hell, and his ascension which proclaimed to all that his sacrifice was acceptable to the Father. This is the story of Christmas, but it is not all of it.
We wait for the consummation. God has not finished his work. His Son will come again from heaven in power and great glory. Sin will be abolished, wrong will be righted, the earth will be renewed, and men will live in peace with each other. The sword will become a plowshare and the spear a pruning hook, and men will learn war no more.
Every Christmas men pause from their pursuit of wealth and fame, from their ploys for power, and from their senseless killing of one another, to pay tribute to the babe of Bethlehem. And knowingly or unknowingly they bear testimony to the hope of all men for a golden age of peace when Christ returns. Merry Christmas!
