Dakota Beacon

Christmas! The season marches on with an unrelenting cadence. Please, back away from the hubbub and take time, make time, to reflect on the Life of the celebration. A story, a poem, a song will inspire the Christmas spirit.

In our post-modern era, as Christianity slowly wanes, a Biblical meaning of Christmas pleads to be told. One old Christmas sermon caught my eye expressing a time past when people embraced their Christianity far more seriously than they do today. Or so it seems. A volume (1903) titled “Holy-days and Holidays” contained a succinct sermon written in the late 1800s by David Gregg, DD.

His quest? Where was Christ before Christmas? My interpretation? Well, read on.

First, Gregg points to the obvious. The eternal God, as Elohim, or God-in-Three-Persons, always existed. The arrival of Christ in bodily form would occur after the creation of time and for a particular reason. From the beginning Christ was seen as a type in the genealogies. He descended from the first family in the Garden of Eden and was in the covenant line forward until His physical birth in Bethlehem. Regarded as the Messiah, He was the unifying principle of the Old Testament.

Events and people of the Old Testament pointed to the coming of Christ as man. Even unpleasant episodes served a purpose. The Old Testament chronicles some of humanity’s darkest deeds. Rape, lust, perversion, murder, greed, theft, and a host of attitudinal offenses comprise an unending list of transgressions. As Gregg emphasizes, these dark incidents reveal the counterpoint, the mercy of God as our Adonai, creating hope for all in despair during trial, tribulation, and turmoil.

Gregg’s second point illustrates that Christ existed through the Old Testament reflected as the ideal man. Christ, the Messiah, embodied sublime perfection. His anticipated arrival made Him real to the Hebrews over hundreds of years. As an ideal man who would someday arrive, Christ was a type reflected by, and inspiring the heroes of, the Old Testament. Moses the lawgiver was inspired by the foretold coming of the Messiah. He provided enlightenment serving as a conduit between the Father and His people.

Gregg makes the final point. Christ was one of three in the Godhead before the creation of space and time. Many people are familiar with the opening of John’s Gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John identified Christ as the Word. By this witness, He was co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. His existence predates the creation of time. Revelation, both general and special, came through Christ. He was the Word.

Gregg presses his case. Throughout Old Testament history Christ communed with men and women. It was He who walked with Adam in the Garden. He had special friends in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the Old Testament He cared for His people just as in the New Testament He watched over the new Church. He appeared as a guest, as a nameless person, and as a wrestling angel. He spoke to his people enveloped in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.

Reading Dr. Gregg’s sermon imparts a fresh understanding of Christmas by means of context. Beyond the hustle and bustle of the season resides a quiet reassurance giving substance to form.

Using Bethlehem as the anchor point, time past and future becomes a wee bit clearer to the believer. With this understanding, Christians embrace Christmas with the significance it deserves. Christ not only came to earth, He entered every person who acknowledged need of Him and welcomes Him. Christ, as God incarnate, in His mercy, came to reconcile to Himself creation gone astray. That is truly something to celebrate!

Let all skeptics render some respect and understanding for why Christians celebrate the season. In our post-modern era where wokeness demands equal time and a “safe space” for all beliefs, Christianity is unique in that a merciful God, the Three-in-One, went the extra mile by reaching down in the form of Jesus Christ to reconcile his creation to Himself. All other beliefs require endless striving by adherents to justify themselves before their god.

Where was Christ before Christmas? He has always been present through every age. He has been here all along available to all who seek Him.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).