Christ is the Centerpiece!

Our bellies were full from our Thanksgiving feast and before the dishes were cleared we jumped right into the discussions and planning of Christmas.  Every year I’m tempted to allow the busyness of the season to distract me from fully celebrating the real meaning of Christmas – the birth of Christ.

The Old Testament period came to an end and centuries passed in silence from God.  With the simple turn of the Bible page we pick up in the New Testament where “The CHRIST of the New Testament is the fulfilment.  He is the fulfilment of all that prophets saw, and psalmists sang, and godly hearts hoped for.”₁  “Yes, the Jesus of the New Testament is the fulfilment of the Old Testament ceremony, history, philosophy, prophecy.  In the Old Testament He is coming.  In the Gospels He has come in visible humanity.”₂

Matthew begins with the genealogy.  Mark starts with Jesus’ public ministry.  But Luke brings Christmas alive by offering a pre-natal look of the nativity.  “It has a very human beginning. Right away we are in the hearts and homes and hopes of simple-living, godly, likeable folk- Zacharias and Elisabeth, Joseph and Mary.”₃

Would you commit to joining me this Christmas season in keeping Christ as your centerpiece of Christmas?

“Lord, give us hearts hungry to encounter more of You and help us remain focused on the true meaning of Christmas.  You are worthy of our affections and attentions.  Amen.”

Copyright©2017, Gloria Stucky

Photo by Gareth Harper on Unsplash

 

 

₁Explore the Book J.Sidlow Baxtor Pg 92

₂Explore the Book J.Sidlow Baxtor pg Pg. 97

₃Explore the Book by J.Sidlow Baxtor Pg. 243