28 Dec Is Jesus Really “The Reason for The Season?”

I heard something recently on a Christian radio station that made me cringe…until I digested what the host had said. He mentioned that his pastor shared that Jesus isn’t really the reason for the season. You are. My initial thought was, oh boy, the last thing we need is a self-absorbed culture believing that Christmas is about them! As the host kept talking, I began to see the point.

Jesus came for you. He knew He would come for you before the beginning of time as we know it. He came for each one of us, by name, to fix what Adam and Eve broke in the Garden of Eden, our relationship with God. As many have pointed out, Jesus would have come to earth as a humble baby and died a brutal death for you, even if you were the only person alive. So yes, he came for you and for me personally and individually. He came for all the billions and billions of people who have lived and died since He died on the cross.

He knew us all by name before we had names, before the earth was formed. The Creator of the Universe left heaven for you! I missed the host explaining why his pastor thought it was important for you to know that Jesus came for you and that you’re the reason for the season. Here’s what this revelation means to me: 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. John 3:16 (NIV)

Forgiveness of my sin is the reason for the season. My salvation is the reason for the season. God’s grace to sustain me in the here and now is the reason for the season. Jesus paid all of that for me with a bloody, violent death is the reason for the season.

Christmas Day has passed, yet we can live the Christmas season throughout the year. We do that by understanding that we are the reason for the season. Be clear though: we are not the reason for the season because we are special. We are the reason for the season because we were entirely unworthy of God’s love and forgiveness, yet God found us worth it. So, knowing you are the reason for the season should bring humility, not pride.

If you didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas this season from friends and family, remember that it’s not important that the horizontal Christmas season isn’t “all about you.” Because the Christmas season that counts, the vertical Christmas season, is all about you. Let the joy of that sustain you throughout the new year!

Pastor Jerry Bader