Christmas is a Promise Fulfilled

Beyond the spirit of giving that permeates the festive season of Christmas, 'giving' along lacks centrality. For those who disregard Christianity but still prefer to celebrate the season, they usually end up assenting to myths about Santa Claus and a host of invented fairy tale characters usually promoted by sales companies and movies. If it is about Christ then a lack of understanding of the biblical meaning will leave both children and adults mesmerized by Christmas trees, dancing lights, and mangers while Bing Crosby sings the carols.

To celebrate it fully is to understand how the closest people around Jesus see the arrival and birth of Christ in this world. How did they react, and what was in their minds can be summed up in one word: PROMISE

Mary sang her song:
 
And Mary said, My soul magnifies and extols the Lord, And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior .. He has laid hold on His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, even as HE PROMISED to our forefathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever. ( Luke 1:46-55 )
 
Zacharias also shoutd out in praise:
 

Now Zachariah his father was filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and brought deliverance and redemption to His people! And He has raised up a Horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant-- THIS IS AS HE PROMISED by the mouth of His holy prophets from the most ancient times [in the memory of man]-- That we should have deliverance and be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who detest and pursue us with hatred; To make true and show the mercy and compassion and kindness [promised] to our forefathers and to remember and carry out His holy covenant [to bless, which is all the more sacred because it is made by God Himself],THAT COVENANT HE SEALED BY OATH TO OUR FOREFATHER ABRAHAM: To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our foes, might serve Him fearlessly (Luke 1:67-74)

The element of PROMISE Fulfilled is at the very heart of the people who were witnesses to the birth of Christ.

Christ birth was no accident, 4000 years past from the time of Christ (by biblical genealogy- and not by science http://www.creationtips.com/earthsage.html ) GOD promised an offspring that would war with and cut off the serpents head.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Gen 3:15

Now fast forward 2000 years after Adam, this promise was again made to Abraham:

“In blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed (Heir) will possess the gate of His enemies, and in your Seed (Christ) shall all the nations of the earth be blessed and [by Him] bless themselves, because you have heard and obeyed My voice.” (Gen 22:17, 18)

Every faithful Jew has always looked upon the fulfillment of this promise especially during times when they were persecuted or enslaved within a span of 2000 years before the birth of Christ. The writings of the prophets had their own versions of prophecy with regards to the coming of the messiah as well.

GOD has made a promise and 2000 years of wait since Abraham is such a very long time. People have forgotten, only the few where still watching and waiting in expectation. During the time of Christ, there were the Pharisees who seemed to have neglected this expectation and have instead conformed and colluded with their pagan masters in Rome. Protective of their influence and control, they did not even recognized Christ when he came to them but instead persecuted him. There were also the Zealots that time, those who want to act like messiahs and liberate their land from their roman rulers and realize by force the Kingdom of David/God on earth like hundreds of years ago. There were also the rest of the masses who just seemed to go about their own lives and disregard any religious expectation or fulfillment of any prophecy as having no importance. They just don’t care.

And then there was Mary, and Joseph, and the rest who still waited longed for the fulfillment of a promise made, and believed God in His word.

And then at last! , THAT GOD AFTER THOUSANDS OF YEARS, HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN BUT KEPT HIS PROMISE BECAUSE HE SAID HE WOULD. 

This is what is in the very heart of Mary and Zacharias testament, that God has fulfilled his promise at last! The time has come. A promise once given, a promise now fulfilled.

Since faith in God literally means believing God because he has promised (and there are many promises of God towards his children), Christmas and its biblical meaning makes us faithful to God even more. Why? Because it is the proof that God keeps his word.

It is relevant for us today:

☼ God sets his example to be our model. We ourselves are the results of that promise. We are, as Paul would describe, not only are 'children of God' but also the 'children of the promise' (Gal4:28). 

a) God keeps his promise, we must also keep ours. We must always remember the vows we gave to Lord, and never forget and always keep it. "If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth" Number 30:2

b) We must keep our promises we make to those around us as a testimony reflecting God's nature. Gifts of any kind (say Christmas gifts) have only value as the ties/relationships that bind the giver and the receiver. If a stranger gives a gift to somebody whom he/she does not know, it will have lesser value as long as the motive is unknown or relationships are not defined. If a husband gives a gift to the wife, or a Father returns home this Christmas to his family- beyond the gifts and what really gives it value is the fulfillment of a vow or promise to love and care made to each other in their close knit relationship.

☼ And here is perhaps the punchline for us today. Our current generation is 2000 years (more or less) from the time of Christ, 4000 years from the time of Abraham, and 6000 years from the time of Adam. And yet... there is another promise that every Christian is waiting to happen, CHRIST WILL RETURN.

Already we have versions of Pharisees (those who have forgotten and conformed to this world) and non-interested masses that just don’t care or believe. The return of Christ is even seldom preached in the pulpits. And I doubt a lot of christian are 'longing' for Jesus's return, much like Mary and Zachariah was longing for the coming of the savior. Everyone seems to be too busy in church let alone saying the statement 'He remembered His promise" the moment Christ returns. Many even think it just an event, not even a promise. After all 2000 years is such a long long time, kingdoms and nations have risen and fall, wars have come and go. Even the Vatican had gone the way of the pharisees declaring http://bit.ly/1OM3n3W ; but of which they have since denied.

There is no math sequence that every 2000 years some biblical event is going to happen.. and maybe there is! Who knows but God alone? But regardless if it will be in our generation or in the next 2000 years when our physical bodies are all dusts in the wind, we can always be certain today, that Christ will indeed return because He said He would. -> all because of the testimony Christmas gives to us every year.

But ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation (2Pe 3:13-15)

And in this we can say we truly share Christmas same as Mary and Joseph and the rest of them in scripture, not just by the gifts we give to each other, but by having the same disposition as their hearts - the longing for the promise to come true believing God, that He will accomplish it because He said He would.