John 1:14

"The reason for the season" is a phrase that is sometimes used to point to the fact that in the midst of all of the commercialism and all of the partying and decorations, that we do not forget what we are celebrating in the first place.

The reason for the birth of Christ is so sinners, people enslaved to the pollution and curse of sin, might be saved and restored to God. The real reason for the season is "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of His good pleasure." It is about the restoration of God's people to God through the sacrifice of His son on the cross as payment for their sin.

Jesus Came for Us to See Him

The birth of Jesus is God, the eternal Word, as the second person of the Trinity, coming and being in our midst. His being in our midst is, first of all, God Himself taking on human nature. There is a coming together of God and man in the incarnation, in the person of Christ. This is truly God, remaining fully God, also now in the flesh, fully human. The incarnation-the Word became flesh-is the essence of "God with us."

The Scripture says that "He dwelt among us." We are very familiar with the story in Luke 2 of how the shepherds went and saw the baby Jesus and wondered and praised God. There is also the story of Simeon in Luke 2:30 who had been granted the privilege of seeing Jesus. We read that Simeon said, "I have seen salvation."

God has always been with His people. In the Old Testament He was with His people by means of the cloud by day and fire by night, also by means of the tabernacle and the temple. Prior to that, He spoke to Noah and to Abraham. But this is more than revelation or contact with God. This is salvation. All that God had pointed to and promised in the Old Testament has now come about.

It is important to understand that the essence of salvation is to be at one with God, to be in fellowship with God. That was the relationship which God established with Adam and Eve in the garden. It was destroyed by sin. So what Adam destroyed, God now restores by coming to dwell with us Himself, by means of the incarnation. There is no closer relationship which we can have with God, than that we might see Him. This is Immanuel.

The birth of Jesus is a wonderful story, but more importantly it is a demonstration of grace. This is the eternal, sovereign creator God, who is born. If you think simply being born in a stable and lying in a manger were humble circumstances, remember it is God Himself who is born in these circumstances. Paul speaks of this humiliation in Phil. 2:6-7, "who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men." The idea of Immanuel is that the second person of the Trinity humbled himself, took on the form of a servant, that is, human nature with all of its limitations, so that He might be God with us.

Remember what this is really all about. As God created man in His image, it is of the very essence of our nature to be in fellowship with God. Adam and Eve enjoyed that fellowship. They saw God and experienced life in His presence. Yet it was man who destroyed the relationship, who rebelled and broke the fellowship. It was man's fault; it was our sin when we forsook God to pursue other gods. God would be perfectly just if He said, "Man got himself into this situation-it is by his own doing, too bad."

Instead the God of grace made the supreme sacrifice, humbled Himself in the incarnation and became flesh. Though we had gone away from Him, He comes to us to restore and reconcile us to Him. When we were blinded by our sin, God provided the ability for us to see Him through Immanuel. Even as the shepherds came and saw, and as Simeon saw, so we by the Holy Spirit have our eyes opened that we might see salvation.

The problem is ours. The misery is ours. God comes by grace so our problem might be fixed.

Jesus Came That We Might Actually See Salvation

John is talking about a lot more than seeing the baby Jesus. The apostle John had been with Jesus and had been taught by Him. Even more to the point, Jesus is the Word of grace and truth. The revelation of Jesus is the revelation of salvation. In Jesus we see salvation.

When God came to Adam and Eve after they sinned in the garden and He cursed the serpent, God gave a basic promise of salvation. By various means this promise is continued and expanded upon throughout the Old Testament. Jesus Himself is that message. When we say that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, we must understand that it is the revelation of God's plan of salvation. To say that you see Jesus is to say that you see the Word of salvation. It is not just to have some religious or spiritual experience, or to feel good about Jesus. But it is to see that the Word came and dwelt among us. To see Immanuel is to hear, to understand, and to learn the word of truth. It is about the teaching, the doctrine of God, and His plan of salvation.

Jesus Himself is the grace of God; He is the truth of God; He is life; He is happiness. These things are only in God and you can only see them when you see Jesus by faith, when He dwells in your heart.

Jesus Came That We Might Have Fellowship with God

Again, remember that Christ came because of our broken relationship with God, as a result of sin. He came to restore that relationship. It is not just about going to the stable and lowly shepherds being able to lay their eyes upon Jesus, or Simeon to take Him in his arms. But it is to be with God face to face. It is to once again be able to walk and talk with God, to sit as it were at His banquet table. It is to truly know God.

The revelation of grace and truth is not just about the mystery of how the eternally begotten Son of God could enter the womb of Mary and be born as a baby. The truth which is revealed in Jesus is that He is the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sin of the world. Ultimately, Christmas is about the Son of God becoming sin for us, bearing the full weight of the burden of sin and going to the cross. It is about Jesus suffering in our place the full wrath of God against sin.

We are told near the end of this book, written by the apostle John, that the very purpose for this writing is to see salvation. "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:30-31).

The story is about an actual event. At Christmas we celebrate an actual event-the birth of the Savior. We understand the real dwelling among men is not just about the short time in which the person of Jesus was on earth. It is because of this real event, the dwelling of the Word among us, that Christ dwells now in your heart, and you can dwell forever in the presence of God.

To see God is to see the glory of God. To see Immanuel is to see the glory of God. The shepherds saw that glory. To be restored to God by salvation is to see His glory, to be in the presence of God, and to know His glory for eternity. What we are talking about here is eternal life. To truly see Jesus and to really understand the "reason for the season" is to have eternal life. This is not just some momentary warm and fuzzy experience. It is to have eternal life. Ultimately this is what it means that the Word of God came and dwelt among us.

Christmas is a great time. It is very appropriate that we celebrate. Remember what you are really celebrating!