Advent 2025 – A Christmas History Lesson

Did you know that the early church did not celebrate Christmas? The church’s testimony about Christ was completely centered on the resurrection. Church officials decided that the birth of Jesus should have equal emphasis with his resurrection. Pope Julius I picked the date in 350 AD, and it was formalized in 529 AD, when Roman Emperor Justinian declared Christmas to be a civic holiday. December 25th was borrowed from secular festivities as the designated day for celebrating. Both the Pope and the Emperor liked this date because it coincided with the pagan festivals celebrating the winter solstice, which dated back centuries. Combining Christmas with these ancient celebrations allowed the church to keep the winter holiday tradition while refocusing the party on the “new” religion of Christianity. It was a grand gesture, but the pagan influences of the holiday, unfortunately, stayed with it. Through the years, the church has alternately banned and embraced Christmas as celebrations became more about feasts and parties and selfish behavior and less about the Christ Child. Yet Christians continually talk about “getting back to the real reason for the season.”
The truth is, we really don’t know the date of Jesus’ birth. At least not on a calendar. But the Scriptures do tell us exactly when the Child came. Galatians 4:4 says, “When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman.” I find so much comfort in that. The Bible is chock-full of references to time, from the record of Creation to “the day [when] His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.” God actually does have a calendar of sorts – a divine calendar – and all of human history flows according to the plans He made before the creation of the world. Everything will happen “when the time has fully come.”
I hope you take that personally. Because the same God who established the universe’s timeline has your name on His calendar too. He is moving in your life according to His purpose and design. He is making things and people and events come together just as He planned. Beloved, your life is not some crazy quilt with pieces of all shapes, sizes, and colors haphazardly sewn together. It is a work of beauty, precision, and exactness, stitched firmly together with blood-red cords. Every moment of your life has been leading up to the magnificent finished project that will be revealed, “when the time has fully come.”
The point is not to know when He came, but to know that He came and why He came. To set you free from your bondage of sin and to give you eternal life. So feel free to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th with joy and thanksgiving for God’s perfect, divine plan. And remember that He’s an “on-time” God. It won’t be a second late. Nor will it be a second early. It will be “when the time has fully come.”

Advent 2025: The Favor of God

The ancient blessing from God to the Hebrew people contained the words: “The Lord make His face shine on you . . . The Lord turn His face toward you . . .” (Numbers 6:26). In the terminology of the Old Testament, to “turn one’s face toward” someone was to signify favor and blessing from the greater to the lesser. A king might show favor to a trusted soldier or advisor by giving him gifts and position—he had turned his face toward him. It was a mutual benefit as the king then gained greater loyalty from the one he favored.
For the nation of Israel, the God of heaven and earth turned His face toward them and promised His blessing, His grace, and His peace (see vs. 24-26). This weary group had just escaped from Egypt after four hundred years of slavery. They had nothing to offer that would garner His favor; they had no country of their own, no wealth or treasure, and no political or military power. When God turned His face toward them, it was purely an act of unmerited favor from the Lord.
As we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the favor of the Creator poured out on us, His creation. We celebrate the gift of His mercy and His grace given through the Baby in the manger. Yet our celebrations are meager compared to this incredible, priceless gift. We hang lights in our homes to honor the Light of the World. We give gifts just as the Magi gave gifts to the Christ Child; just as the Baby was a gift to us from the Father. We sing songs remembering the song of the angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests” (Luke 2:14). We rejoice at the Joy of the shepherds who first saw this wondrous gift from heaven. We gaze at the beautiful decorations, imagining the awe and wonder of the angels at the sight of God’s Son in a manger.
In all our Christmas celebrations, let us not forget that God showed His great favor toward us at Calvary. The gift given at Jesus’ birth was made complete at the cross. In that one terrible moment, the Father turned His face away from His one and only Son – so that He might turn His face toward you, Beloved – and give you peace. It is the highest act of kindness and love, and it is the greatest gift you will ever be given.

Only One King

Solomon was considered one of the greatest kings of Israel. The son of King David, he inherited the kingdom and expanded his rule over a vast territory, amassing an immense amount of wealth. He sat upon an enormous throne of gold and ivory. Silver was inconsequential in Jerusalem during Solomon’s reign because the king and the city were so incredibly wealthy. Solomon was born in a king’s palace, and his destiny was the throne. Though he was considered wise and good to his subjects, his own wants and needs always took precedent. He never knew poverty or want and could fulfill his every desire and whim. He was born and bred to be a king.
Paul paints a contrasting picture when he said that “Jesus Christ, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself . . .” (Philippians 2:6-8).
Jesus, the eternal King, humbled Himself – “made Himself nothing” – the word used here denotes something hollow, empty, and of no value – to identify with humankind. He never lost sight of who He was, but He did not claim privileges and prosperity as would befit His royal identity. It was an act of His gracious will to do so because it was the only way to save mankind.
Tell me – how many earthly kings do you know of who humbled themselves to be one with their subjects? How many earthly kings, fully aware of their power and authority, choose to live and walk and sleep among the poorest of their people? How many earthly kings would set aside their crown and take up the mantle of suffering to save – not only their own subjects – but those who have set themselves against him?
Only One. Only Jesus. Only one King would make himself an empty vessel of no earthly value to rescue and redeem a lost and dying world that has rejected Him outright at every turn. Only one King would humble Himself to the point of servanthood. Only one King would set aside His royal identity to become a helpless infant born to impoverished parents and live a life of struggle, ridicule, and persecution. Only Jesus would do all that – and He did it all for you, Beloved.

Do Pigs and Wise Men Belong at the Manger?

“Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth” (Matthew 22:16)
Quick, tell me, how many wise men were there? When did they come to see the Child-King? Duh, you might be thinking, three wise men came to see Jesus when He was born. Not so fast! Those answers are part of our modern construct of the Christmas story. The Bible doesn’t tell us the number of wise men – only that they bore three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We assume there was one wise man per gift. We sing, “We Three Kings,” to support that idea, and our Nativity scenes further have all the shepherds and wise men together at the manger. But the Magi didn’t come to the stable. Matthew reports that they headed out when they saw the star, and tradition says that they traveled from Persia, over a thousand miles away, to Judea. That would have been a long, arduous journey. And recall that Herod ordered the murder of all male children in Bethlehem under two years of age.
My best friend, like me, is a stickler for accuracy in portraying biblical accounts. She saw a nativity set that a toy company produced with a smiling pig among the animals. She wrote to the company and told them that no good Jewish family would have pigs around; they were unclean animals according to Levitical Law. Would you believe the company pulled the pig? There’s a Christmas miracle for you!
The point I’m making is we need to be very sure we are listening to and absorbing accurate information when it comes to spiritual things and biblical portrayals. Our traditions have painted over the Bible’s account of the Christmas story.
Now the wise men may seem to be a very small part of the whole account, and what harm is there in a happy little pig welcoming the newborn King? None, if you don’t hold to the authority and accuracy of God’s Word. But when you let wise men and pigs come to the manger, you’re taking the world’s view over God’s record. One little detail becomes another and another until the truth and authority of the Bible gets lost in a cultural soup.
The Scripture tells us, “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). God came to His lost creation as a human baby, to die as the God-Man that we might live eternally. That, Beloved, is the truth about Christmas.

Do You Know the Signs of Christmas?

On the day of Pentecost (Yes, I know, this is an Advent devotional – bear with me) Peter stood up and said, “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs . . .” (Acts 2:22). Signs were important to the Jews, and they are important to the church today. Signs are markers, signals, symbols, or events that communicate the authenticity of God’s message and messenger. Many miracles and wonders were performed by the prophets of the Old Testament to prove the truthfulness of their message. Likewise, Peter said, Jesus’ miracles and the wonderful things He did were to confirm that He was who He said He was.
We know about the sign that was given to the shepherds – a baby in a manger wrapped in cloths, and the sign that the wise men followed – a brilliant star in the eastern sky. But the first confirming sign of Jesus’ identity was not even about Jesus directly. Isaiah said, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). This sign was a promise, and we regard it as Advent poetry. But the first sign was actually shocking and caused a scandal for a peasant girl from the nothing town of Nazareth. Mary’s highest goal was to marry Joseph and have a home and family. Suddenly, she finds herself an unmarried young woman with a child in her belly that is not her intended husband’s. Mary’s quiet, well-planned life was suddenly interrupted by God. How does a supposed virgin explain her condition?
To say God’s call on her life was an inconvenience would be an understatement. She was put in a most shameful situation, one that could have cost her all her dreams with her beloved Joseph, and quite possibly her life. Yet she humbly surrendered herself to the will of God and embraced an unknown future with awe and wonder and faith. Her reply to the angel who brought the incredible news was a simple, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:37). The first sign was a young woman with a God-sized problem and the faith to entrust her life to His plan.
Has God interrupted your life with something unexpected – something inconvenient, something hard, or perhaps even shocking? How will you respond? With fear and anxiety? Or with faith and humble surrender? Beloved, are you willing to be a sign to the world of God’s faithfulness and holy, perfect love?

Advent 2025: Mercy Wins

No one would fault him for walking away from her. The baby she carried was not his. No one would deny that she deserved death. The Law of Moses demanded that a woman who is not a virgin at the time of her marriage should be stoned at the door of her father’s house (Deut 22:21). It was what any righteous, Jewish man would do.
But Joseph could not bring himself to follow the law. When Mary, to whom he was betrothed, told him of her condition, he simply could not put the woman he loved through that. No, he would handle the matter privately and save her from public disgrace. And for that, Matthew, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, deemed Joseph “a righteous man” (Matt 1:18-19).
I have always had a tender spot in my heart for Joseph because this righteous man responded to Mary’s scandalous situation with mercy rather than judgment. Jesus, the son that He would raise, esteemed mercy; He said the merciful will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7) and declared that God “desires mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 12:8).
Though he did not believe his claims at first, His (half-) brother James came to faith after Jesus’ resurrection. I believe Joseph’s influence is evident as James declared, “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). It was a living model in his father’s home. It was the testimony of his big brother. Mercy was undoubtedly the theme with his family.
I think, sometimes, the church gets it backward. Much like the Jewish religious leaders, we think that righteousness means always doing the right thing; Joseph shows us that righteousness is doing the Jesus thing – showing mercy. After all, that is the heart of the Christmas story: God’s hesed – His love – was poured out in mercy to sinners like you and me through Jesus Christ.
This Christmas season, is there someone in your life who needs, not toys, or jewelry, or Christmas finery, but mercy? Is there someone who needs love and kindness – despite what they have said and done? I know this theme is playing itself out in my own family right now. Mercy will be one of the hardest things you’ve ever done. Some people – even good church folks – will think you’re crazy. But mercy is the Jesus thing.
Beloved, let’s commit to being righteous people – let’s be people of mercy.

Advent 2025: A Humble King is Born

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15)
Why would the God of Glory send His Son to be born of impoverished parents, in a mean stable among filthy animals? He is the Son of God; should He not be born in a palace befitting His supreme identity? Should His birth not be hailed by princes and royal guests and feasts and celebrations in the grandest style? Should His mother not be cared for by the best physicians in the land? Perhaps that’s how we would have written the Christmas story, but that is not how the original Author presented it.
Jesus was born in a stable, on loan for the night. His mother had only her frightened husband, Joseph, to aid her in the delivery. He was greeted by cattle and sheep and all the filth that comes with them. And rather than a soft bed of luxurious silk, he was laid in the animal’s feeding trough, on a bed of scratchy, rough hay. Is this any way to bring a King into the world? His visitors were the lowest people in that society – shepherds – unwashed and unwelcome by the elite.
Perhaps that’s the point.
In Mary’s song, she said, “He has been mindful of the humble state of His servants” and “He has lifted up the humble [and] filled the hungry with good things” (Lk 1:48, 52-53). God seems most drawn to humble people. Probably because they most recognize their desperate need for Him.
Maybe God sent His Son in this way so the child born in a tiny tin hut in Haiti or on the filthy floor of a crack house in New York would identify in the most basic way with Jesus. Maybe it’s so the unwashed and unwelcome can find cleansing and belonging. Maybe it was so that those who have nothing can find a connection with the God who wants to give them everything.
Jesus’ birth is God coming to the forgotten, the lonely, the poor, and the lost on common ground. He wanted to reach the “poor in spirit, the meek, the hungry and thirsty” (Matthew 5:3-10) and the forgotten.
I don’t know if you are rich or poor, living a life of advantage or hardship, sleeping in a palace or a homeless shelter. I do know that Jesus was born for you. And He died for you. The Christmas story is for you – yes, even – especially – you.

Advent 2025: How to Save the World

“For to us a child is born . . .” (Isaiah 9:6)
Ask a general how to save the world, and he will tell you to use military force and control. Ask a humanitarian, and she’ll probably suggest programs to eradicate poverty and hunger. Pose the same question to politicians, and they’ll tell you they need money, money, and more money to appoint a committee to study the matter. If I were going to save the world, I would round up the criminals and terrorists and rioters and child abusers and abortionists and drug lords and put them all on a one-way trip to the moon. But God had a different plan – He determined to save the world through a baby.
It seems strange to me that a helpless infant would be the answer to the woes of the world. He couldn’t feed himself, change himself, or get from place to place by himself. He slept all the time like any other baby. What’s so powerful about that? Oh, but this baby wasn’t just any other baby. Yes, He was the son of a human woman, but more than that, He was the Son of the Most High God, and that changed everything.
He who could not feed Himself would feed multitudes. The little one that couldn’t change Himself would change the fate of the human race on a wooden cross reserved for the worst criminals. The babe who had to be carried from place to place will carry all who believe to heaven. This sleeping child would wake from the sleep of death to awaken the souls of men.
This baby left the glory of heaven to save the entire human race. He brought peace between God and man. He broke the chains of sin. He erased the curse of death. This baby took on your sin and mine; He bore the punishment that you and I rightly deserved. He surrendered His body to the cross and the grave.
But glory be – He did not stay there. He rose to life – and now all who believes on Him will live forever. Yes, God used a Baby to do what generals, humanitarians, politicians, and you and I could never do. Jesus brought peace with God to the whole world – even to you, Beloved.

Advent 2025: Immanuel

The boy stood looking at the writing on the angry man’s poster: GOD IS NOWHERE. When the man set down his poster to step into the nearby café, the lad turned the poster over and wrote diligently. The man came back to his spot on the sidewalk, and the boy said, “Hey, Mister, you had a mistake on your poster, but I fixed it. He picked up the poster to read what the boy had written: GOD IS NOW HERE.
That is the whole point of the Christmas story. The Bible shows us that God has continually drawn near to His creation. In the beginning, He had close and personal fellowship with Adam and Eve, walking through the Garden with them in the cool of the evening. But sin broke that intimate fellowship, and a barrier was placed between God and man. Later, God commanded the Israelites to make a Tabernacle that He might come and dwell among His people, and He did for hundreds of years until again, the sin of the nation of Israel became so great that God withdrew from the Temple. The Old Testament records many visitations of God to Abraham, Jacob, Samson, and others who were devoted to Him. But these were brief occasions to impart a message or empower His servant for a specific act. God desired a deeper communion with man. And God had a plan.
When Gabriel came to Mary, he recalled the prophecy: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him called ‘Immanuel’ which means God with us’” (Matt 1:23). Jesus brought God near to us as a tiny baby in Bethlehem, as a man proclaiming the Good News, as the sacrifice on the cross for our sins, and finally, as the risen Lord. But when He ascended to heaven, He did not abandon His followers. He gave us His presence continually in His indwelling Holy Spirit. God is still with us in storms and darkness and trials and suffering. He is with us in our times of doubt and fear and loneliness and emptiness. The joy of Immanuel is knowing that there is no place we can go and no circumstance of life we will face that God does not go with us. Jesus made Himself one of us that we might be with Him now and for eternity.
Beloved, I pray that the Joy of Immanuel is with you this Advent season.

Mercy

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46)
Joy. Peace. Hope. Love. These are the words we most associate with Christmas, and for good reason, the birth of Christ ushers in all of these good things. Joy abounds in this season, especially on the faces of little children. The angel brought “good news of great Joy” (Luke 2:10) and declared “peace on earth” (v. 14) to the stunned shepherds. Many a war has called for a “Christmas cease-fire” so that there might be peace, at least for a moment. The birth of Christ holds out the hope of God for all men everywhere. And Jesus is the embodiment of perfect, holy love. Those who believe and receive Him are filled with an uncommon love for God and the world. These are perfect words for the Christmas season. But one word gets forgotten during this holy time of the year.
Mary’s song – called The Magnificat – is a beautiful and moving oration inspired by the Holy Spirit in the heart of a humble girl. But her song doesn’t focus on joy or peace or hope or love. Mary speaks of the mercy of God. She said, “His mercy extends to those who fear Him” (Luke 1:50). Mercy is as much a part of the Christmas story as the “big four.” Truly, they all rely on mercy. Mercy brings us Joy as we are set free from the penalty and control of sin. Mercy means there is peace with God through His forgiveness. And mercy inspires hope – for eternity and for every day of this life.
And what about love? A little word study tells us that God’s mercy and His love are interchangeable and intertwined in Scripture. In the Old Testament, the word ḥesed is often used for both “love” and “mercy.” That is because we can’t describe the love of God without His mercy and vice versa. Mercy is love. Love is mercy. Mercy is the outward, active evidence of God’s love. Love moved the heart of God, mercy built the bridge. Love desired to save us; mercy went to the cross. And the cross is where the Christmas story truly becomes a love story. Because Christmas, with all its joy and celebration, is meaningless without the cross. The story of Christmas is the story of the love and mercy of God displayed in the tiny Baby in the manger who would grow up to be the Man on the cross. Beloved, mercy did it all for you.