Thoughts on Christmas

I think the words of John Owen are more apropos today than ever, but especially as we enter in the Christmas season where bigger and better is the name of the game and more bigger and better equals best.

"God showed his contempt for the world and the things of the world, chiefly by the the life, death and cross of Christ.  What is there in this world that can be loved or desired after the Son of God has lived in it?  He had nowhere to lay his head and ended his life cruelly on the cross.  If there had been anything of real value and worth to man's soul, Jesus would most certainly have enjoyed it.  But he never had more than his daily bread for which he taught us to pray (Matt 6:11).

"When Christ was crucified, the world revealed itself in its true colours for believers to see for all time.  Nor is the world any more beautiful now than it was when it crucified Christ.  the inference and conclusion which Paul drew from this he made clear: 'God forbid', he said, 'that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.' (Gal 6:14).  As if he said, 'Since I have believed, since I have fully realised the power and moral excellence of the cross of Christ, I have finished with the world and all that is in it.  The world is like a dead corpse to me and I have no love for it at all.'

"This is the great difference between the promises of the old covenant and the new.  Under the Old Testament, many promises only concerned the things of this world, the things of time and not of eternity, the good things of this world and this life.  But under the New Testament, the promises mostly concerned spiritual and eternal things.  God would not wean the church away from earthly promises until he had sufficiently shown their emptiness, worthlessness, and insufficiency to fully satisfy men's souls.  And this he did by the cross of Christ (2 Cor 4:16-18).

"Why, then, is there so much effort and hard work given to get more of the things of this world?  What is it all for?  Is it to provide for one's family?  Is it to get a name and reputation in the world?  I would never discourage any from working hard in their lawful callings.  But with many, providing for one's family is only an excuse to hide a shameful love for the things of the world." ~John Owen, Spiritual Mindedness

Why, actually I think the better question is how.  How do we as Christian's claim to love and follow Christ and then love so much of the world that literally ripped the flesh off of his bones and then nailed him naked to a tree and scoffed at him for 6 hours while he bled and died?  The Christmas season is the perfect example of this arrogant dichotomy.  Do we even realize or comprehend the level of arrogance and pride it takes to worship Christ by celebrating his birth by chasing after the things of this world?  May our prayer this Christmas be that Christ would have mercy on us by ripping out of our sinful hearts the love for this world and the things of this world that entangles us and that the things of this world would become strangely dim in the light of his glorious face.