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By Todd Linn
Saturday, December 23, 2006
I've got to be honest with you: I really don't get all worked up about people who greet me at retail outlets with "Happy Holidays." I don't feel insulted and angrily insist that they say "Merry Christmas." One of the reasons is that I've always associated "Happy Holidays" with the catchy Irving Berlin song made popular by Bing Crosby more than 60 years ago. (You may be interested to know that when I sing, I sound a lot like Bing Crosby - in my dreams!) But the main reason I don't get insulted is that I have a far greater concern.
What really works me up is not whether people say "Merry Christmas," but whether people really know and fully reflect upon why Christ came to us in the first place. It is interesting to me that nowhere in the Scriptures are we ever commanded to remember or celebrate specifically the birth of Christ. We are, however, instructed on numerous occasions to remember and celebrate specifically the death of Christ.
The Apostle Paul clearly teaches us about God the Father's relationship with God the Son as far as the work of Christ is concerned. He writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21: "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." This verse reminds us that the eternal Son of God came to us 2,000 years ago namely to take care of our sin problem by dying on a cross. When I receive Christ as my personal savior, God ascribes my sin to Christ and ascribes Christ's righteousness to me.
This is a wonderful exchange of gifts, indeed. By personal faith in Christ's death, I give to Jesus what is mine - sin. He gives to me what is His - righteousness. I owed a debt I could not pay. He paid a debt he did not owe. So with all of the clamoring for remembering that "Jesus is the reason for the season" and "putting 'Christ' back in Christmas," let's remember most importantly that the Christ of the cradle became the Christ of the cross.
If we believe in Christ and receive Him as our savior, God places our sins upon Christ and grants to us Christ's righteousness.
What a wonderful transaction is this, a gift given to us from God himself!
Rev. Todd A. Linn
Pastor, First Baptist Church Henderson, KY
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