The Reason

We’ve all heard the cliché: Jesus is the reason for the season, but what is the reason for Jesus and is He really the reason for the season? Ask yourself, why did He come down in the form of a baby, live a sinless life and later die a death He did not deserve?

Matthew 1:21 gives the answer:

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

This is the reason for Jesus. God sent His son to rescue and restore us and to bridge the gap that had previously been created by sin. Jesus came to restore what was lost in the garden when Adam and Eve first disobeyed God. Therefore, we are actually the reason for the season, our souls are the reason for the season, our potential eternal destination is the reason for the season. We celebrate Christmas to commemorate the birth of the King but Jesus didn’t come to be celebrated, He came to save us.  

 In the Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah writes that:

“For unto us a Child is born... and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah’s use of such personal language shows us that everything that Jesus did from His birth to the Cross, to the grave and to His resurrection, was for every single one of us.

There is an advertisement that comes on every Christmas with the slogan, “A dog is for life, not just for Christmas.” This is to urge people to not abandon the new pets that they would’ve received for Christmas after the novelty has worn off. In a way, this is the same for Jesus. Of course, this is not comparing our Saviour to a dog, but just the attitude that society has towards Christmas. Jesus didn’t simply come for us to have a day off from work, He came to rescue us and to establish a relationship with us for eternity. Jesus is for life, not just for Christmas.  

Many people give gifts at Christmas, which is great, it is always good to give but God actually gave the greatest gift of all and this is stated in John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

So while we celebrate Christmas and enjoy the time with our friends and our families, let us remember the reason and let us share this gift with those in our lives who haven’t had the experience of meeting with Jesus. Remind them that they are the reason for the season, that they are the reason Jesus came down as a baby, lived His life and later went to the cross. For without the baby, there would be no Cross and if there was no Cross, there would be no salvation and we would be lost.

Give More, You Get More

When you give more, you get more? This paradox is a principle that has been taught in the church, yet a common misconception is that giving more will somehow diminish what you already have. However, it does the very opposite. There is beauty in giving and sacrificing and the greatest example that we have of this can be taken from Jesus. He paid the ultimate price and wiped away our sinful debt. What did He gain? Fellowship and a relationship with us, which He and the Father deemed was more important than His precious life. 

Luke 6:38 says: 

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Jesus promises us that when you give, it will be given back to you. We see this promise being fulfilled in scripture even before Jesus spoke these words. In 1 Kings 17:7-16, Elijah approaches the widow of Zarephath during a drought and asks her to provide food for him. She was poor and only had a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug left to sustain her, until she and son would eventually die of hunger. However, she trusted in God and provided for the prophet. After this sacrifice, neither the jar of flour was nor the jug of oil became empty. This widow gave all that she had but she gained more than she had ever imagined. 

When God gives back to His people, He doesn’t hold back, in the text it says that He gives back with “good measure” and it’ll be “running over.” However, it is essential for us to realise that we cannot give a little and expect a lot from God. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7) and as He is God, He knows our hearts. In the Bible, we are also told that if we sow sparingly, we will reap sparingly, but if we sow abundantly, we will reap abundantly (2 Corinthians 9:6). 

The principle of giving more to get more doesn’t only apply to financial giving. Jesus says that “whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it” (Matthew 16:25). When Jesus said this, He was saying to the disciples (and us) that He wanted us to be willing to give up our earthly existence for Him and in return we would gain eternal life and salvation. This is in comparison to us cherishing our earthly lives which, without sounding morbid, do not measure up to eternity. Almost every Christian has asked themselves if it’s really worth it to follow Christ and give up our comfortable, sinful lifestyles? The answer is: it is. Whatever you give up and lose on earth, you will be rewarded for it in heaven and that’s where it really counts because heaven is eternal. 

It’s not easy to give, it takes a lot of faith and selflessness, however, God is faithful and He is the maker of the universe, which means that He has an unlimited amount of resources. God doesn’t actually need our money or our time, because He is God and He would be able to source it elsewhere. He asks us to give because He wants to teach us about sacrifice and to be willing to sacrifice those things that we hold so dearly onto, the beauty of this is that He will always give it back to us and will always sustain us.