Christmas: When Impossible Becomes Possible

Christmas is a time of wonder and anticipation.  A time when each of us, both child and adult, can wish for and anticipate something we have hoped for.  When our hopes and wishes are fulfilled, we are surprised and filled with great joy and thankfulness.  The seemingly impossible becomes possible.

Indeed, Christmas is rooted in the story of how the seemingly impossible becomes possible.  It is about one starry night 2,000 years before the Christ Child was born in Bethlehem.  On that ancient starry night, God proposed something so huge that when the man heard the promise, he deemed it impossible.  At least it seemed impossible at first.  Then, when he considered who it was that made the proposal, the old man whose name was Abram believed the impossible could actually happen.  His gift of faith combined with thoughtful consideration led to willing obedience.  And Abram’s obedience came, not because he was already righteous and doing a work of righteousness, but because he chose to make God who is righteous the object of his faith (Romans 4: 5).  Therefore, Abram’s response became “a pleasing aroma” to God—so pleasing that the Bible says, “It was reckoned to him as righteousness.”  And, God even renamed Abram, “Abraham.”

At Christmas time, both children and adults can reenact in a small way the experience of old Abraham which began with an impossibility on a starry night and led to the greatest gift he could ever receive, the gift of God’s righteousness through faith that he would have a son in spite of his old age.

Our reference to the starry night and the promise of the birth of a son may have reminded you of the Christmas account in which the angel of God appeared to Zacharias; and then, to separately to Mary and Joseph to make another announcement that seemed impossible to believe.  We will return later to these stories of great faith.   For now, let’s consider another favorite part of Christmas.  Many families love to practice Christmas traditions.

Clues to the Deliverer
One of our family’s favorite Christmas traditions is to hide selected gifts and then ask each family member in their turn to open a series of clues which lead them to their hidden gift.  It is a fun time for both seekers and watchers.  This year, it occurred to us that our tradition of “gift hiding and seeking” is a metaphor for two other searches associated with Christmas time:  the search for a Deliverer, and our search for Peace.

In the Old Testament of the Bible, God reveals to us a timeline of human history from creation through the Fall of Man and on to the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s Deliverer from our sin.  Biblical scholars have found between 200 and 400 prophecies from Genesis to Malachi which are “clues” to the identity of this Deliverer, all fulfilled by the Life of Jesus (See HERE for a listing.).

Like a loving parent writing clues for their son or daughter on Christmas, God begins with very general clues in Genesis; and then, He reveals increasingly specific clues as His revelation unfolds through Old Testament history leading to Christ’s birth in Bethlehem.  To illustrate the amazing nature of God’s revelation, observe our list below of only seven (7) clues out of the hundreds of biblical prophecies from Genesis to Malachi.  [Click on graphic to enlarge.]

Fulfilled prophecies provide strong evidence that Jesus actually was who He claimed to be—God in human flesh (John 1: 14).  If we were to select only eight (8) from the hundreds of fulfilled prophecies, the chances of anyone other than God being the Predictor and the Fulfiller of them is an astounding 1 chance in 100 million million. 

Truly, Jesus Christ is the central focus of the Old and New Testament Scriptures.  The hundreds of prophetic “clues” in God’s Word all point to Him.  God revealed one of His most clear and dramatic clues through the pen of the Prophet Isaiah seven centuries before the birth of Christ (Isaiah 9: 6)!  The ancient date and message of this recorded prophecy has been affirmed by the discovery of the so-called Dead Sea Scrolls (See HERE):

Isaiah’s prophecy clearly states that the Christ Child would be born like any other baby (i.e. [JS1] He was a human).  But this Child “will be given” through a supernatural conception (i.e. His deity as the Mighty God, Eternal Father).  When it was about to happen in His mother Mary, this supernatural conception was also announced to his earthly father, Joseph (Matthew 1: 20).  The Child would also govern perfectly as the Prince of Peace.  This brings us to our second Christmas search—the search for Peace.

Our Search for Peace
Our Christmas tradition of hiding gifts and seeking them with clues is also a metaphor for mankind’s age-old search for “Peace on Earth;” and, peace in our individual lives.  We all want peace.  But not everyone has the same notion of what true peace is or how to find it. Peace can mean different things to different people:

• The weary mother finds peace when her fevered child finally falls asleep.
• The teacher enjoys peace when her students are quietly working during study hall.
• The pastor-shepherd yearns for the peace from a unified congregation.
• The labor negotiator finds peace when a satisfactory contract is signed.
• The politician seeks the peace of a bi-partisan agreement on legislation.
• The “peace negotiator” defines peace in the satisfaction of a signed treaty.
• The corporate CEO hopes for peace with liberal progressives by offering ESG (Environmental, • Social, Governance) incentives to investors.
• The critical race theorist envisions the peace when all oppressors are eliminated.
• The wife and mother experiences peace when her husband, a man in blue, comes home safely.
• The troubled adolescent seeks peace through unhealthy relationships or use of drugs.

When family members gather in homes this year for Christmas, not everyone will agree on how to find peace or whether peace is even possible.  Some may not understand the biblical significance of Christmas-- that Christ was born to die for the sins of the world.  Others may understand the message of the Gospel but may have chosen to reject its claims.  However, according to the Scriptures, there is only one Source of true Peace for every person —Jesus Christ, the “Prince of Peace.  The Bible also reveals why not all of us pursue Peace through Christ.

God reveals in His Word that He gave us dominion over His creation to honor and serve Him as His stewards. Along with this, God gave us a moral conscience to judge right and wrong.  Even if we willfully choose to deny God's authority, we are "genetically wired" to acknowledge a higher authority to whom we are accountable (Romans 2: 14-16).  It follows that everyone of us pursues moral justification for our values and actions in the “court” of this higher authority. This theological claim is verified by modern psychology.

According to Gregg Henriques, professor of psychology at James Mason University, writing in Psychology Today, one postulate within the “Justification Hypothesis” “predicts that the human self-consciousness system is designed in such a way that the individual maintains a consistent, relatively stable justification narrative of the self and generally works to maintain a justifiable image in the eyes of others.” We seek moral wholeness, consistency, and approval—i.e.  we want to be justified, or reckoned “Not Guilty!”

Law-Keeping or Grace-Receiving?
Who among all people would not want to live so as to be justified and declared “Not Guilty?”  However, according to God’s Word, it remains for every one walking the path of life to choose which of two paths will lead to justification.   One path may be called “Works of the Law” and the other, “Grace through Faith.” 

Those who choose to live under Law believe they will be justified by strict law-keeping.  They will aim to avoid stealing, lying, murdering, adultery, coveting, etc.  Sadly, no one except Jesus Christ can live a perfect moral life.  The law-keeper will eventually react in one of two ways.  Those who believe they are succeeding in law-keeping will succumb to the sins of pride and a judgmental spirit.  Law-keepers who discover they are failing will become discouraged, depressed, and resentful of others. 

According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus told a parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous (i.e. justified before God), and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector” (Luke 18: 9-14).  Jesus went on to describe the pridefulness of the law-keeping Pharisee and the humility of the tax collector who realized his sinfulness and cried out to God for mercy.  What did Jesus conclude?  He said, the humble tax collector went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

The only hope for law-keepers is to surrender their pride and realize they are law-breakers.  But instead, many will devote themselves to “worthy causes”—saving the Earth, minority rights, reparations for wrongs committed by society in the past, etc.  Such “worthy works” are not necessarily bad, but good works will not cancel our debt of sin (rebellion) against God.  Other law-keepers acting on their own supposed moral perfection will become judges of everyone else.  For example, those who seek to apply critical race theory falsely pretend to be judges of the “oppressors” and the “oppressed” with the intent of orchestrating perfect justice by human effort.  Only an omniscient and Holy God can perfectly judge us (Romans 14: 10-12; James 5: 9).

Jesus considered people like the Pharisee above who seek justification by observing ceremonial laws as being “spiritually blinded” (John 9: 39-41).  He said, You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me (John 5: 39).  Because of their pride of self-righteousness, the Pharisees and many people today are blind to the very clues that lead to their real Deliverer and to the Peace He offers.  To understand this truth, we must return to old Abram standing under a starry sky.

Weak in the Flesh to Strong in Faith
According to Genesis 12 and 15, God repeatedly promised Abram (meaning “exalted father”) that He would become the father of “a great nation” (Genesis 12: 2).  But Abram and his wife Sarah had no child and they had grown too old to have children.  And yet, God appeared to this old man under the starry sky and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be (Genesis 15: 5).”

Abram faced a crisis that shook his world.  God had called him to that fork in the path leading either to justification by “Works of the Law” or justification by “Grace through Faith.”  On the one hand, Abram saw his wrinkled, weak flesh, and he knew Sarah was beyond her child-bearing years.  They were weak and the “laws of nature” were against them.  On the other hand, Abram had sensed the call of God-- a call to exercise great faith.  Could God expect him to believe He would do something beyond the natural—something supernatural?  A miracle?

The Apostle Paul describes Abram’s response in this crisis of life (Romans 4: 18-22).  We summarize the progression of God’s promise and Abram’s reasoning as follows:
1)  God’s promise:  Abram, you will be “father of many nations,” v. 18)
2)  Abram reasons that his own body is “as good as dead…and the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (v. 19).  [God doesn’t ask us to exercise “blind faith” but to “count the cost.”]
3)  Abram’s decision:  Against all hope, Abram in hope believed and so became [Abraham, meaning] the father of many nations… (v. 18, 20-21).  [God changed his name.]
4)  God worked super-naturally and gave them a son, Isaac.
5)  Application:  Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s Law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith (v. 13).  [Unrighteous Abram became righteous Abraham, not because he was already a good and righteous man but because he chose to focus God’s gift of faith back onto God whom he believed was righteous.]

Although he was “as good as dead,” Abraham became the “father of many nations,” both biologically and spiritually.  Biologically, Abraham became the father of the Nation of Israel, and his descendants are related to many other nations and ethnic groups.  Spiritually, Abraham’s faith is the standard for anyone who wishes to be justified-- declared righteous, declared “Not Guilty!” in God’s judgment.  The Apostle Paul wrote that the righteous man (or, the just man) shall live by faith (Romans 17).  To those who trust in the Law and ceremonial cleanness, Paul declared:  He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.  But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God (Romans 2: 28-29).

Dying to Self, Living by Faith
“Against all hope,” Abraham gave up hope that his wrinkled, powerless flesh could produce a son.  In effect, Abraham “died to self” in order to believe God could work the miracle within his body and in Sarah’s womb to bring forth “new life” in a son.  The story of the faith journey God called Abraham to follow is a lesson for all those He is calling out of darkness.  It is a call to die to self; a call to die to the “works of the flesh” under the Law; and a call to receive forgiveness and “justification by faith in the finished work of Christ on His cross.” 

Over two thousand years later, the angel of God appeared to an elderly Jewish priest named Zacharias whose wife Elizabeth was also childless.  The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1, records that God similarly called this elderly couple to believe in “the impossible” news that she would bear a son.  Miraculously, John and Baptist, forerunner of Jesus Christ was born.  Similarly, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that, although she was a virgin, she will bear a Son conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1: 35).  The angel also revealed to Joseph, Mary’s husband-to-be, that Mary’s pregnancy was through supernatural means (Matthew 1: 20).

We began this article by saying that Christmas is rooted in the story of how the seemingly impossible became possible.  It is about Abraham and Sarah, Zacharias and Elizabeth, and Joseph and Mary.  God called each couple to choose between a faith limited by “the possible” according to their understanding of the laws of nature versus a faith in the promises of God whose will sovereignty works above and beyond the laws of nature.

Like those heroes of faith in Scripture, each of us must choose our path to justification before God-- between either the path of faith in the good works of our dying flesh to keep the Law, or the path of faith by believing that God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, conceived supernaturally in the flesh that He might become a sinless sacrifice in the flesh to die for the penalty of our sin (Law breaking).  God is pursuing us, led by His grace, love, and truth.  The Apostle John wrote, For the Law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ (John 1: 17).

Which path have you chosen?  Below you will see two models in an imperfect attempt to represent God and human reason.  Which of the models describes your understanding of the authority of human reason relative to the knowledge and sovereignty of God?  If you have not chosen the path of God’s grace through faith, what hinders you?

The Path Is Open to Peace
This Christmas, we look forward to making clues for our family members to follow and find gifts.  We have seen that God provided clues through many biblical prophecies pointing to the coming of Jesus, the “Prince of Peace.”  All of us desire peace and want to be justified.  We hope that each reader has willingly followed God’s clues to find the true Peace that knowing Christ brings.  Only Jesus can be our Deliverer from sin and bring us Peace.  The Apostle Paul summarizes this best Christmas gift we could ever receive because of what Christ accomplished through the blood of His cross:

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8: 1-8).

Christmas Gift of Peace
The path to Life and Peace through faith in Christ can lead to a growing personal relationship with God the Father through His Holy Spirit who comes to dwell within us.  Near His departure, Jesus promised His disciples that He would send His Spirit, “the Comforter” (John 14: 15-17).  The Comforter (from Latin, com- meaning “with” plus -forta meaning “strength”) comforts us by bringing “strength of faith” from the Truth of His Word to our minds and hearts.  When we are confused or doubting, the Spirit can help us understand and teach us by combining spiritual truth of Scripture with what we are experiencing (John 14: 26).  As Romans 8: 6 (above) states, the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.  God the Father, Son, and Spirit equips His children to be true disciples who do not shirk responsibility.

Where are we in our relationship to God?  If our description of Life and Peace through the Spirit of Christ sounds foreign or unattainable to you, why might that be?   Maybe you are still following the path of “works of the flesh” under the Law.  Or maybe you have chosen the “path of grace through faith” and simply have not become a true disciple (committed learner) of Christ.  Maybe God is preparing you for a test of your faith.  You may wish to prayerfully consider how God will use you this Christmas to demonstrate the reality of Christ at work within you.  Here are some suggestions based on how we have been praying along these lines:

1.  Devote time in prayer and in God’s Word to affirm your salvation in Christ, and to thank God for saving you from sin and eternal separation from Him and loved ones.  The simple outline of “Steps to Peace with God” (Click HERE.) provides helpful Scripture and a prayer.
2.  Have you been “abiding in Christ” as a committed disciple according to John 8: 31-32 and John 15?  Only by abiding in Christ the True Vine can you bear the fruit of His Spirit—Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, etc. (Galatians 5: 22-23).  We refer you to an excellent “booklet” online called, “Have You Made the Wonderful Discovery of the Spirit-Filled Life?”
3.  Is there some area of your life that you need to surrender to God.  Maybe His Spirit and Word have spoken through your conscience about an unconfessed sin in your life—something that only God and you can address (1 John 1: 9).  Sin prevents us from being Spirit-filled (See 2.).
3.  Is there someone against whom you are holding a grudge; or, someone you need to forgive for an offense against you?  (See Matthew 18: 15-20.)  As noted above, God’s Spirit can enable you in His love to forgive and to seek reconciliation and the Peace of Christ.

A Blessed Christmas!
In conclusion, we pray that you will have a blessed Christmas and New Year.  We pray that you will become more sensitive to the “clues” to spiritual growth in closeness to God, to loved ones, and to opportunities to witness the love of Christ to family, friends, enemies, and passersby.  It may not be a starry sky or a huge unbelievable proposition from God that comes to you, but we hope the Christmas story will inspire you to be ready for it through faith. 

We would love to hear from you through “Comments” below or privately by e-mail:  silviusj@gmail.com   We thank you for reading and responding to our Oikonomia articles.

Meanwhile, we dedicate this article to Richard and Dorothy Ware, dear friends of ours since 1985 when they moved from Brattleboro, Vermont to Cedarville, Ohio to live near their son Paul, his wife Marilyn, and family.  Richard went home to Heaven in 2008 and Dorothy eventually moved to Georgia to live near their other son, John, his wife Carolyn, and family.  At this writing, Dorothy is in hospice and still able to communicate enough to affirm her faith in God and to instruct her family and care-givers to help her prepare to “slip the surly bonds of Earth…to touch the face of God.  By faith, we look forward to renewing fellowship with Richard and Dorothy in the New Heaven and New Earth.

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 [JS1]