For Those Who Hate Christmas and Those Who Don’t

I suppose there’s really only a few thousand well-organized individuals out of the 315 million in America and seven billion globally that actually really hate Christmas and what it stands for—but what an impact they seem to be having throughout the culture—as everything relating to Christmas, Jesus Christ and God Himself is increasingly tossed away through a corrupted legal system, intimidation, increasing secularization (not to mention socialism), political correctness, multiculturalism and traditions once so precious but now lost or in the process of being lost. (The good news is that God can always turn things around.)

Still, millions in America and hundreds of millions globally will celebrate the true purpose of Christmas—Jesus Christ, His love, and His incarnation and what they mean for every person living, whether for something good or not (Luke 2:34; 2 Cor. 2:16).

But the larger point is that we who are Christians want those of you who hate Christmas and Jesus (or are simply indifferent) to know that we love you anyway—and we also love those of you who discount or just don’t like the season for whatever reason. And we empathize with you, and also those of you who are discouraged or depressed for whatever reason, and also with everyone, wherever one might be at, whatever the circumstances.

And the very reason we do so is because of the love God has shown us and the grace of Christ in us such that we hope with all our hearts you will come to know Jesus Christ personally, as we have with all the endless wonders it entails. We know full well that “but for the grace of God” there we are walking alongside you. We would still be walking in your shoes, our old shoes, uncomfortable and clumsy, lost in the pursuits of materialism and its interesting but ultimately empty pleasures, not knowing who we are or what we do, somehow depressed during the season of joy—or even fighting against God and Jesus, seeking to secularize the culture, without God and without hope in the world (Eph. 2:12).

But for God’s grace we would still be lost and nothing, worse people than many of you who are not even currently believers in Jesus; even less than nothing, carrying the loads of our sin and guilt, our past always catching up with our present, never sure of the meaning of life, not knowing the infinitely loving God who is there personally for us, waiting with outstretched arms, and the tremendous Gift of His Son to each of us that we might have permanent joy and hope now (Rom. 15:13; 1 Thess. 2:19). As Isaiah 30:18 reads, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.” God not only desires to give us an abundant life now but that we might literally live forever in a world of wonder beyond our greatest imaginings (John 3:16).

We who are saved from our sins know full well that among us are the worst of the worst—once we were in prison, thieves, adulterers, homosexuals, child molesters, murderers, pornographers, haters of God and Christ, slanderers, arrogant and boastful, faithless, ruthless, heartless inventors of evil, cruel and uncaring—you name the sin and it was found among us (e.g., 1 Cor. 6:10-11; Eph. 2:3). And some of these sins are yet to be found among us even in the Church today, since none of us are perfected in this life and we are still subject to temptations and the schemes of the world, the flesh and the devil, and others of us are just now converted, not yet even understanding our new life in Christ and the path of Christian love and discipleship.

But the joyous news of the season is the incredible, even infinite extent to which God really does love us—no matter who we are or what we have done, no matter how hard it may be for us to believe this love, no matter how unworthy or unloved we may feel, no matter how abandoned or lonely, no matter how dire or discouraging our circumstances, no matter what we have done in the past, regardless of how horrific it is. God still loves us anyway and more than we can ever conceive—and He proved it on the cross of Calvary—He demonstrated it publicly, geographically in space-time history for all men to see for all time (Rom. 5:8; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). He raised Christ from the dead, giving proof to all men of His love (John 3:16; Acts 17:31). And He freely forgave all those sins we have committed, even the most wicked (Rom. 5:17; 6:23; 2 Cor. 9:15), down to the very last one of them (Heb. 9:26; 10:14; 1 Pet. 3:8).

To be sure, no list of the most vile sins anyone on earth could sit down and think up (spending hours upon hours conjuring the very worst of them), could even approach the depths of God’s love that covers them completely. God’s love and grace are infinitely greater than all these and virtually infinite other sins combined—that’s the very purpose of why we celebrate Christmas, the incarnation of Jesus into the world to die for our sins.

Because of His great love for us (Eph. 2:4) when Jesus died on the cross He died for all of our sins (Col. 2:13), past, present and future no matter how great or wide or high or deep—He took the penalty of each and every sin we would ever commit until the day we die; He died for us once for all time (Heb. 9:26; 10:14; 1 Pet. 3:8) to freely forgive us and offer us a free gift of eternal life with Him forever—to give us the knowledge of the one true God (John 17:3) and life with Him, the greatest and most exciting Treasure and Gift in the universe. (That’s everything we could possibly want in life and more!)

Whether you are indifferent to Christmas, just celebrate it culturally, know nothing about it, choose not to celebrate it for religious reasons (Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.), or celebrate it religiously but without personal faith in Jesus Christ, it matters little.

The prayer for you from everyone of us who names the name of Jesus Christ is that you may nevertheless, somehow, by any means, understand and “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” for you (Eph. 3:18), and that you may find the true purpose for which you have been created—and that this very Christmas will represent the time your current and eternal destiny will be changed forever, that you will experience more love than you could ever imagine, find more meaning than you ever thought possible, discover more joy than you could possibly dream of—all because of who God is—and His unsurpassed love for you—even for all who are the unlovely, the indifferent, the hurting, the self-seeking, the weak, the foolish, the poor, the downtrodden, the miserable, and even for all who are His true enemies. Yes, God loves His enemies and His Son, Jesus, gave His life for them as well (Rom. 5:6, 10; Eph. 2:3).

May you find the hope that never disappoints, the peace that passes understanding; the joy beyond describing and may you know the love that surpasses knowledge and endures forever (Rom. 5:5; Eph. 3:19; Phil. 4:7; Psa. 136:1-26). After all, which is better? To get all the goodies you possibly can on Christmas morning, even under a million Christmas trees—or to get the very One who made them—along with everything else in heaven and earth and infinitely more?

Nothing could be greater than to be “spiritually reborn” (John 3:3-8) this Christmas season and to come to know God personally through transferring your personal trust to Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins (John 17:3). Try and imagine the joy of knowing God personally as your best and most intimate friend, forever.

If you want to know more about becoming a Christian, please see the homepage of www.JAshow.org.

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).

Written by By: Dr. John G. Weldon, ©2012.