Why Christmas?

by Nicky Gumbel

Overview

Why Christmas? is a wonderful evangelistic tool to present during the Advent and Christmas seasons. Many churches give this booklet as a gift to guests during a Christmas-themed Alpha celebration or place them inside Christmas bulletins. These booklets also make a great addition to the church welcome packet or for your greeters to give to each guest attending Advent or Christmas services.

Alpha is based on a pattern found in the New Testament of people bringing their friends, family, and work colleagues to meet Jesus. Alpha is an easy way to say to friends, "Come and see, come and explore your questions, come and hear about Jesus, come and see for yourself." Everyone is welcome at Alpha, but the program is designed especially for people who would not describe themselves as Christians or church-goers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310089797
Publisher:	HarperChristian Resources
Publication date:	08/21/2018
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
Sales rank:	969,328
File size:	731 KB

About the Author

Nicky Gumbel is the pioneer of Alpha. He studied law at Cambridge and theology at Oxford, practiced as a lawyer and is now the senior pastor of HTB in London, one of England's most vibrant churches.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Why Celebrate Christmas?

There is something almost magical about Christmas: children dream of Santa Claus and his fantasy sleigh, we picture Christmas trees, snowy scenes, filled-up stockings, piles of presents, and smiling families around the fire.

The reality is often not as perfect as we imagine. Some people go over the top at Christmas. The overcrowding on the streets and in the shops can lead to so-called "Santa-Claustrophobia."

Over-indulging takes its toll on family life. One nine-year-old boy wrote, "I know Christmas should be a religious time, but to me Christmas is a time for the necessities of life such as food, presents, and booze." Another boy wrote, "After breakfast we go into the sitting room. Dad comes in drunk with Mom's tights and an Indian hat on!" His teacher wrote in the margin, "Good old Dad!"

For some there is a danger of overspending — buying presents that others do not need with money they do not have.

One little girl wrote to her grandmother, "Thank you very much for the nice gloves you { sent me for Christmas. They 1 were something I wanted — but not very much!"

Others can become over-demanding. One doting father asked his small daughter well in advance what she would like for Christmas. Shyly she announced she would like a baby brother. To everyone's surprise and delight her mother returned from the hospital on Christmas Eve with a baby boy in her arms. When the father repeated the question next year, there was less hesitation. "If it wouldn't be too uncomfortable for Mommy, I would like a pony!"

But while some go over the top, others go under. For many, Christmas is one of the worst times of the year. Suicide rates go up, more people die from "natural causes," marriages fall apart, psychiatrists' patients suffer regressions, and family feuds begin.

One Mori poll suggested that there are three million family arguments Christmas. A newspaper article headlined, "Enough to Drive You Crackers," spoke of people cracking up at Christmas as a result of the pressure to be perfect. It reported that two psychologists, a psychotherapist, and a counselor were running a workshop entitled "Stress in the Family: Coping with Christmas." They said that part of its success seemed to be the chance it offered to get away from it all. The psychiatrist Anthony Storr in an article on depression at Christmas entitled, "Cheer Up, It's Soon Over," had this final piece of advice: "Remember that Christmas, although recurrent, doesn't last forever."

With all the magic, the stress, and the hype of Christmas, are we missing the point? What is at the heart of Christmas? In the words of C. S. Lewis, at Christmas we remember the "central event in the history of the earth — the very thing the whole story has been about."

WHY BOTHER WITH JESUS?

When Jesus was born, a group of highly intelligent philosophers thought He was worth bothering with. They stopped everything to take Him three symbolic presents. The first was gold — a present fit for a king. The child in the manger was the King of kings and Lord of lords. God Himself had come to live as part of our world.

Too often Jesus has been obscured by Christmas. One man wrote to The Times:

"Sir: Failing to find any religious books in the bookshop, I asked an assistant for help. She showed me an inconspicuous handful of Bibles and prayer books, saying: 'We have had to move them down to the bottom shelf because of Christmas.'"

But the point of Christmas is Jesus Christ. At Christmas we celebrate the birthday of the most important Person who has ever lived. He is the centerpiece of our civilization. After all, we call what happened before His birth B.C. and what happened after A.D.!

But how do we know it's true?

We can test the claims of Christianity because it is a historical faith. It is based on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our faith is based on firm historical evidence.

Who is Jesus?

Jesus was and is the Son of God. Some people think He is just a "good religious teacher." However, that suggestion does not fit with the facts.

a) His claims

Jesus claimed to be the unique Son of God on an equal footing with God. He assumed the authority to forgive sins. He said that one day He would judge the world, and that what would matter then would be how we had responded to Him in this life.

C. S. Lewis pointed out, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn't be a great moral teacher." He would either be insane or else He would be "the Devil of Hell." "You must make your choice," he writes. Either Jesus was, and is, the Son of God, or else He was insane or evil but, C. S. Lewis goes on, "let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about Him being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

b) His character

Many people who do not profess to be Christians regard Jesus as the supreme example of a selfless life.

The Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, himself a Christian, said, "I believe there is no one lovelier, deeper, more sympathetic, and more perfect than Jesus. I say to myself, with jealous love, that not only is there no one else like him but there could never be anyone like him."

As far as Jesus' teaching is concerned, there seems to be a general agreement that it is the purest and best ever to have fallen from the lips of man.

As C. S. Lewis put it, "It seems obvious that he was neither a lunatic nor fiend; and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that he was and is God. God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form."

c) His conquest of death

The evidence for the physical resurrection is very strong indeed. When the disciples went to the tomb, they found the grave clothes had collapsed and Jesus' body was gone.

In the next six weeks He was seen by over 500 people. The disciples' lives were transformed, and the Christian church was born and grew at a dynamic rate.

A former Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Darling, said of the resurrection: "In its favor as living truth there exists such overwhelming evidence, positive and negative, factual and circumstantial, that no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the Resurrection story is true." The only satisfactory explanation for these facts is that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead and thus confirm that He was, and is, the Son of God.

The wise men were right. Nothing less than gold would be suitable for such a child.

Why Do We Need Jesus?

Even if Jesus was who He said He was, why do we need Him 2,000 years later? The second gift the wise men brought was frankincense, which was used in the temple as the symbol of prayer, and pointed to a relationship with God.

Relationships are exciting! They are the most important aspect of our lives — our relationships with our parents, boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, children, grandchildren, friends, coworkers, and so on.

Christianity is first and foremost about relationships rather than rules. It's about a Person more than a philosophy. It is about the most important relationship of all — our relationship with the God who made us. Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is to love God. The second is to love our neighbor. So it is also about our relationships with other people.

You and I were created to live in a relationship with God. Until we find that relationship there will always be something missing in our lives. As a result, we are often aware of a gap. One rock singer described it by saying: "I've got an emptiness deep inside."

A woman, in a letter to me, wrote of "a deep, deep void." Another young girl spoke of a "chunk missing in her soul."

People try to fill this emptiness in various ways. Some try to close the gap with money — but that does not satisfy. Aristotle Onassis, who was one of the richest men in the world, said at the end of his life, "Millions do not always add up to what a man needs out of life."

Others try drugs or alcohol abuse or sexual promiscuity. One girl said, "These things provide instant gratification, but they leave you feeling hollow afterwards." Still others try hard work, music, or sports, while others seek success. There may not be anything wrong with these in themselves, but they do not satisfy that hunger deep inside every human being.

Even the closest human relationships, wonderful though they are, do not in themselves satisfy this "emptiness deep inside." Nothing will fill this gap except the relationship with God for which we were made.

According to the New Testament, the reason for this emptiness is that men and women have turned their backs on God.

Jesus said, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). He is the only one who can satisfy our deepest hunger because He is the one who makes it possible for us to be restored to a relationship with God.

a) He satisfies our hunger for meaning and purpose in life

At some point everyone asks the question, "What am I doing on Earth?" or "What is the point of life?" or "Is there any purpose in life?" As the philosopher and author Albert Camus once said, "Man cannot live without meaning."

Until we are living in relationship with God we will never find the true meaning and purpose of life. Other things may provide passing satisfaction, but it does not last. Only in a relationship with our Creator do we find the true meaning and purpose of our lives.

b) He satisfies our hunger for life beyond death

Before I was a Christian I did not like to think about the subject of death. My own death seemed a long way in the future. I didn't know what would happen and I didn't want to think about it. I was failing to face up to reality. The fact is that we will all die. Yet the Bible says, "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Most people don't want to die. We long to survive beyond death. Only in Jesus Christ do we find eternal life, for our relationship with God, which starts now, survives death and goes on into eternity.

c) He satisfies our hunger for forgiveness

If we are honest, we would have to admit that we all do things that we know are wrong. Sometimes we do things for which we are deeply ashamed. More than that, there is a self-centeredness about our lives which spoils them. Jesus said, "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'" (Mark 7:20-23).

Our greatest need is for forgiveness. Just as a man who has cancer needs a doctor whether he realizes it or not, so we need forgiveness whether we realize it or not. Just as with cancer, the man who recognizes his need is far better off than the person who is lulled into a false sense of security.

By His death on the cross Jesus made it possible for us to be forgiven and brought back into a relationship with God. At Christmas we remember the fact that Jesus entered our world in order to restore relationships — first our relationship with God and then our relationships with others. In this way, He supplied the answer to our deepest need.

Why Did He Come To Earth?

Why did Jesus come? How would He achieve this restoration of our relationship with God? The third present the wise men brought gives us the answer. Myrrh was used to embalm the bodies of the dead.

Jesus is the only man who has ever chosen to be born, and He is one of the few who has chosen to die. He said that the entire reason for His coming was to die for us. "The Son of Man [came] ... to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). The supreme reason for giving Christmas presents is to remind us of His gift to us — the most valuable and expensive gift ever given.

From what we know of crucifixion, it was one of the cruelest forms of death known to man. Cicero, a first-century Roman statesman, described it as "the most cruel and hideous of tortures." Jesus would have been flogged with a whip of several strands of leather weighted with pieces of metal and bone. According to Eusebius, a third-century historian, "The sufferer's veins were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim were opened to exposure." Jesus was then forced to carry a six-foot beam until He collapsed. When He reached the site of execution, His hands and feet were nailed to the cross with six-inch nails. He was left to hang for hours of excruciating pain.

Yet the New Testament makes it clear that there was something worse for Jesus than the physical and emotional pain — that was the spiritual anguish of being separated from God as He carried all our sins.

Why did He die?

Jesus said He died for us. The word "for" means "instead of." He did it because He loves us and did not want us to have to pay the penalty for all the things that we have done wrong. On the cross, He was effectively saying, "I will take all those wrong things on myself."

He did it for you and He did it for me. If you or I had been the only person in the world, He would have done it for us. The apostle Paul wrote of "the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). It was out of love for us that He gave His life as a ransom.

The word "ransom" comes from the slave market. A kind man might buy a slave and set him or her free — but first he had to pay the ransom price. Jesus paid, by His blood on the cross, the ransom price to set us free.

Freedom from what?

a) Freedom from guilt

Whether we feel guilty or not, we are all guilty before God because of the many times we have broken His laws in thought, word, or deed. Just as when someone commits a crime there is a penalty to be paid, so there is a penalty for breaking God's spiritual laws. "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). The result of the things we do wrong is spiritual death — being cut off from God forever. We all deserve to suffer that penalty. On the cross, Jesus took the penalty in our place so we could be totally forgiven and our guilt could be taken away.

b) Freedom from addiction

The things that we do wrong are like an addiction. Jesus said, "Everyone who sins is a slave to sin" (John 8:34). Jesus died to set us free from that slavery. On the cross, the power of this addiction was broken. Although we may still fall from time to time, the power of this addiction is broken when Jesus sets us free. That is why Jesus went on to say, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).

c) Freedom from fear

Jesus came "so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14-15). We need no longer fear death.

Death is not the end for those whom Jesus has set free. Rather, it is the gateway to heaven, where we will be free from even the presence of sin. When Jesus set us free from the fear of death, He also set us free from all other fears.

Freedom for what?

Jesus is no longer physically on earth, but He has not left us alone. He has sent His Holy Spirit to be with us. When His Spirit comes to live within us, He gives us a new freedom.

a) Freedom to know God

The things that we do wrong cause a barrier between us and God — "Your iniquities have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2). When Jesus died on the cross, He removed the barrier that was between us and God. As a result, He has made it possible for us to have a relationship with our Creator. We become His sons and daughters. The Spirit assures us of this relationship, and He helps us to get to know God better. He helps us to pray and to understand God's Word (the Bible).

b) Freedom to love

"We love because he first loved us" (I John 4:19). As we look at the Cross we understand God's love for us. When the Spirit of God comes to live within us, we experience that love. As we do so we receive a new love for God and for other people. We are set free to live a life of love — to live a life centered around loving and serving Jesus and loving and serving other people, rather than a life centered around ourselves.

c) Freedom to change

People sometimes say, "You are what you are. You can't change." The good news is that with the help of the Spirit we can change. The Holy Spirit gives us the freedom to live the sort of lives that, deep down, we have always wanted to live. The apostle Paul tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22, 23a). When we ask the Spirit of God to come and live within us, these wonderful characteristics begin to grow in our lives.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Why Christmas?"
by .
Copyright © 2008 Alpha International.
Excerpted by permission of Thomas Nelson.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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