Christmas Hope
MC Midweek 11/30/22
by Gene Zackerman, Life Group Leader
Every Friday morning, I send out a classic rock trivia question to Jeff Prince and Josh Buck. Recently, I asked them to guess my five favorite secular Christmas songs, after acknowledging that O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas hymn. Between the two guys, they finally got all five. Josh called me out on one of the songs – Christmas Must Be Tonight by The Band. He said, correctly, that the song reflected the truth about the birth of Jesus, even though it was written and performed by one of the more popular rock bands of the late 1960s into the 1970s. Either way, I do love the song and its portrayal of my Savior’s birth.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah was inspired to write in chapter 9, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” As we know, his prophecy that was written roughly 700 years before the birth of Christ precisely depicts what took place in Bethlehem in Luke 2.
Ever since the fall of man, God has known that we would need a sacrifice as the atonement for our sins. That precious little baby born in the most humble of surroundings would be the sacrifice, the One who became sin for us on the cross. As we sing songs about Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman, we can enjoy the secular fun of the season. However, we can rejoice in the miracle of Christmas truth with songs like Joy to the World, Silent Night, and O Come All Ye Faithful.
Today is the best time to let the light of Christ shine in us. I can praise Him in song, but more importantly, in action. Here are the first few words of that song that I love:
Come down to the manger
See the little stranger,
Wrapped in swaddling, lo the Prince of Peace….
May peace and hope in Jesus be present in our lives, not just in December, but all through the year. While it’s true that Jesus is the reason for the season, He is truly the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
INVITE…INVEST…INVOLVE
