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7 Browley Street, Moss Vale NSW 10am Sunday Worship Service

That Poster Dec-2018 “Christmas”

That Poster (Outreach Media)

Walmart in the United States stays open 24 hours every day of the year … except for Christmas day. It’s an example of how, all over the world, Christmas is so much bigger than Easter. This year, it’s estimated Australians will spend $11 billion on Christmas presents – and that’s just the presents – not the food or travel.

So, why is Christmas so much bigger than Easter? Surely part of the answer has to do with whether we prefer a beautiful little baby or the horrible murder of an itinerant preacher. Where’s the contest? Babies are cute and cuddly, fresh and innocent, and full of promise and potential. While Easter is all about the awful thing that happened to that little baby when he grew up and became a man.

So, can’t we just focus on the Christmas story? Only marvelling and dwelling on the miracle of childbirth and especially… especially the wonder of God coming amongst us in human form?

Well, no we can’t! Jesus didn’t come to be a perpetual baby, or the cutest or cuddliest. When Jesus grew up, he explained his purpose for coming from heaven was “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

You see, what happened on a cross at Calvary was an intervention by God on behalf of the human race. As a sinless man, the shedding of Jesus’s innocent blood was a ‘ransom’ or payment to satisfy God’s requirement that sins against him are punished. And Jesus’s death on the cross as our substitute allows us to escape making that payment. So, it’s the reason why people everywhere can be reconciled with God and have peace with him. Is it any wonder the cross is the universal Christian symbol?

Back when Jesus was born, an angel said to some shepherds who were nearby,

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

When those shepherds went to gaze on the baby held in the arms of Mary, his mother, they knew he was their Saviour. What they couldn’t have known is how his death on a cross would be the solution, and how for generations to come those who believe in him would receive eternal life and find their comfort and joy in him.

Ian Brunton

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