Jesus Christ Is the Reason!

By Alexandra Copeland

Around this time of year, we might hear people say, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Indeed, he is, but many people that use this catchy phase really do not understand who Jesus is or the true reason why he came. We celebrate his arrival into the earth during the Christmas season, but the advent of his coming is too impactful to be summed up on a liturgical calendar or wrapped up by celebrating one day near the end of each year. He came to fulfill the Will of God, which is to redeem humanity and restore us to the place of sonship that God intended all along. Because of Christ, we were adopted into God’s family. Our level of gratitude for this should overflow in our hearts every day of the year.

 

What's in a name?
Matthew 1:18(NLT) states, “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Mary was a very young woman who was engaged to marry Joseph, a carpenter, and this was publicly known in the community where they lived. Mary was a virgin, which means that she had not had sexual intercourse. A woman living during this biblical period could be stoned to death for becoming pregnant without being married, and her family’s good name would be ruined; Joseph knew this. Matthew 1 tells us that he was a good man and didn’t want Mary to be disgraced publicly for being an unwed mother, so he decided to break the engagement in a way that wouldn’t draw attention. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him not to be afraid to marry Mary, because the child she carried was conceived through the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 1:20(NLT), the angel said, “And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

In earlier biblical periods, names were extremely important and meant more than they mean to us today. The names given to us at birth cannot compare to the significance of names given during biblical times. People living then believed that names represented the essence or identity of a person. A good name conveyed their character and was more important than a good reputation. This gives us a context for understanding that God would not leave the birth name of His only begotten Son to chance. In Matthew 1:20, Joseph received specific instructions regarding the name of Jesus, and in 

Luke 1:31, Mary received the same directive.

The name ‘Jesus’ in Hebrew means “Jehovah is salvation.” Jesus Christ made our salvation possible. If he had not left the throne and come to earth to shed his blood for our sins, we wouldn’t be here; the devil would have destroyed us long ago. After the devil tricked Adam and Eve out of the dominion and authority God had given them in the earth, humanity was doomed. Because of Brother Adam and Sister Eve, everyone fell under the same curse as they did. Romans 5:14-15(NLT) tells us, “14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.”

 

He Rescued us
We have a loving, merciful Heavenly Father that is full of grace. We need Him desperately because we are a stubborn, stiff-necked, and often hardhearted people. 1Corinthians 15:22(NLT) tells us, “Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.” Jesus Christ purchased us from the devil and undid the damage Adam and Eve caused. We didn’t deserve this extraordinary act of love, and we were incapable of doing anything to earn it. God did it because He loves us so much. But even after everything that He’s done for us, there are more people who reject Him than those that love Him. It is unfathomable and sad beyond measure, but this is the truth.

Colossians 1:13-14(NLT) tells us, “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” Adam and Eve are symbols of all humanity. They reflect what is best in us as well as what is worse in us. They demonstrated the deadly choices we make when those choices are not motivated out of our love for God and His people. We were doomed to repeat this bad behavior and wrong choices if Jesus Christ had not intercepted and interrupted the devil’s plan. Because Jesus Christ gave his life for us, we are no longer under the kingdom of darkness and enslaved to horrific punishment and evil. We are free, and we have been adopted into God’s family. Our precious and powerful Lord, Jesus Christ, is the reason not just for the season, but for every day, and we must be so incredibly thankful for all he has done for us!■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.