Christmas, B.C.

Christmas is the day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the day when God became a man. But the first mention of Christmas was B.C.

You might ask, “How can the first mention of Christmas, or the birth of Jesus Christ, be B.C.? Doesn’t B.C. stand for ‘Before Christ’?”

Well, yes, it does, but Jesus began his human existence in Bethlehem. Jesus, being God, existed long before that day. He, like the Father, is eternal because He, like the Father, is God.

The real Christmas story does not begin in Bethlehem, or even on planet Earth. It begins in heaven, where it was determined that Jesus would come to this Earth.

The first mention of Christmas in the Bible

The first reference to Christmas, or the birth of Jesus, is in Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

You might say, “That doesnt sound very Christmas-like to me!”

That statement was made by God after Satan misled Adam and Eve. The battle lines were being drawn.

God the Father was effectively saying, “Satan, there is One coming who will crush you.”

So Satan was waiting and watching for this Messiah that would come. He wanted to stop the Messiah, so he had to stop the Jewish people through whom the He would come.

Worse than the Grinch

We’ve all heard of Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Well, Satan is the real-life Grinch who tried to steal Christmas through the work of evil men.

• The Pharoah tried to exterminate the Jews, starting with the Hebrew baby boys. But God spared Moses and the great exodus took place.
• The wicked Haman tried to have the Jews wiped off the face of the earth. His plan was thwarted by Queen Esther, and he ended up hung on the gallows he had built for them.
• And then, of course, King Herod–after hearing that one was born who was the King of the Jews–tried to kill Jesus, but that too failed.

Nothing would stop Messiah from coming, because God will always have the last word.

More on this tonight as I speak on Christmas, B.C.