We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to free us from the power of death through His death...

This week we are looking at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Hebrews that will provide for us a second answer the question "Why Christmas". Yesterday, we talked about the reality that the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote this letter to communicate a simple but profound message. And that simple and profound message involved the absolute supremacy and superiority of Jesus Christ and Christianity over Judaism.

The writer of Hebrews then pointed the readers of his letter the that fact that God the Father, who is the source and Creator of everything that exists, found it suitable to lead those whom He chose to rescue from their selfishness and rebellion so that He could adopt them as a part of the family of God through the suffering that Jesus endured on the cross for their selfishness and rebellion. And it was the suffering of Jesus on the cross for the selfishness and rebellion of humanity that proved and demonstrated that Jesus had accomplished the goal and plan to rescue selfish and rebellious humanity from their selfishness and rebellion.

When we were outsiders when it came to having a relationship with God, God the Father brought us into the splendor and radiance of being adopted as a child of God through the suffering of His One and Only Son Jesus so that we could be insiders and a part of the family of God. And because of that reality, the writer of Hebrews explains that Jesus is not ashamed to call those whom He rescued from their selfishness and rebellion through his suffering brethren.

In addition, the writer of Hebrews reinforcing the solidarity and unity that followers of Jesus have with Jesus as a part of the family of God. The writer of Hebrews then begins to unpack why Jesus, who is God in a bod, would decide to come to the place where He could have such solidarity and unity with His followers as part of the family of God in Hebrews 2:14-16:

 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.

In theses verses, we see the writer reveal for us the reality that, in order to demonstrate His solidarity and unity with His followers as a part of the family of God, Jesus took on flesh and entered into humanity. The word partook here, literally means to have a part or share in something. Since those whom God chose to rescue from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God had a human nature, Jesus willingly chose to enter into humanity and take on a human nature.

Now the big fancy 50 cent theological word for what the writer of Hebrews is describing here is the word incarnation. The word incarnation simply means to take on flesh. Jesus, who was God, added to His Divinity humanity by entering into humanity as God in a bod. The writer of Hebrews then reveals two different reasons why Jesus would choose to add to His Divinity a human nature and enter into humanity.

First, Jesus chose to add to His Divinity a human nature and to enter into humanity so that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. What is so interesting is that the phrase “that he might render powerless” literally means to cause to come to an end.

Now, as we have talked about in the past, Jesus and the other authors of the letters that make up the Bible teach us that demons are a group of supernatural beings who are under the leadership of the devil, or Satan. We also know that demons have superhuman, but limited knowledge and power. Demons are angels that were created by the Lord before the creation of the universe, who rebelled against God sometime before the fall of humanity that is recorded for us in the very first letter in the Bible in Genesis 3.

 And the Devil and the demons that follow the Devil are driven by a desire to destroy the Kingdom of God and the people of God. The writer of Hebrews point here is that Jesus willingly added to His divinity a human nature and entered into humanity so that His death on the cross would put an end to the power of the Devil to bring eternal death to those who were chosen by God to be rescued from their rebellion and become a part of the family of God.

Second, Jesus chose to add to His Divinity a human nature and to enter into humanity so that through His death He might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. You see, humanity throughout history has demonstrated a fear of death. Humanity throughout history has been intimidated and alarmed by the prospect of death. And humanity throughout history has been enslaved, or subservient to the power of death, as they lived their lives here on earth.

And because of the slavery that the fear of death had placed humanity under, Jesus took on a human nature and entered into humanity so that He could set us free from the fear of death through His death on the cross. The writer of Hebrews then reinforces what Jesus had done to set us free from the fear of death through His death on the cross by explaining “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.” Now this little phrase “For assuredly” conveys the sense “for one would agree”. When the writer of Hebrews uses the phrase “give help” this little phrase literally means to be concerned about someone or something so as to take an interest in so as to help.

So this phrase, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “for we would all agree that God is not so concerned about angels that He would extend such help so as to free the angels who had rebelled against God. After all, angels simply are servants who worship Jesus as King and minister to humanity, they cannot rescue humanity.  However God is so concerned and is so driven to help those of humanity that He has chosen to experience the fulfillment of the promises that He made to Abraham to live in relationship with Him as part of the family of God, but who rebelled against God, that He would have His Son Jesus take on humanity and enter into humanity so that He could die for humanity. 

And it is here, in this section of this letter that was written to those who had stopped growing in their relationship with Jesus and who were considering bailing on Jesus, that we see revealed for us a timeless answer to the question “Why Christmas?”And that timeless answer is this: We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to free us from the power of death through His death. Just as it was for these early Jewish followers of Jesus who were experiencing persecution, just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, we celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to free us from the power of death through His death.

You see, Christmas is significant because Christmas is about God the Father providing us the opportunity to be brought into the splendor and radiance of being adopted as a child of God through the suffering of His One and Only Son Jesus so that we could be insiders and a part of the family of God. Christmas is significant because Christmas is about Jesus entering into humanity to become “one of us” and to proclaim God to us before dying for us.

Christmas is significant because Christmas is about Jesus willingly entering into humanity so that His death on the cross would put an end to the power of the Devil to bring eternal death to those who were chosen by God to be rescued from their rebellion and become a part of the family of God. And Christmas is significant because Christmas is about God the Father demonstrating His concern to help those of humanity who He has chosen to experience the fulfillment of the promises that He made to Abraham to live in relationship with Him as part of the family of God that He would have His Son Jesus take on humanity and enter into humanity so that He could die for humanity. 

Friday, we will see the writer of Hebrews hammer this point home...