Saving at Christmas

Pastor Gary Oser

I thought I would pause in my articles about parts of the body to share with you something related to Christmas this month. One of my favorite Christmas texts is the words of the angel of the Lord to the shepherds on the first Christmas morning.

Found in Luke 2:10-11, the angel said, “‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord’” (KJV).

"sin=hell" and "Jesus saves" written with black paint onto gray cement wall

To observe what is going on around us during the Christmas season with all of the decorations and busy activity, it may not be obvious but the Word of God tells us that Christmas is about a Savior.

Some people might wonder why that is so significant. It is significant because each of us comes into this world as a sinner. Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Verse 23 adds, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

As sinners, we deserve death and punishment for our sins. No amount of good things that we can do make us acceptable in God’s sight. What we could not do for ourselves, God did for us by sending His own sinless Son to be our Savior.

By coming into our world and dying on the cross, Jesus became our substitute for sin. When we acknowledge that we have sinned and can do nothing to earn salvation and put our faith in Christ’s death on the cross for our sins, we can receive God’s gift of salvation.

Bible opened to Luke 2, lights in the background

The words that are frequently found on Christmas cards summarize so well the true meaning of Christmas:

“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need has been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. But, our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior!”

Christmas is about a Savior who came into this world so that you can have life beyond death. If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, would you do it this Christmas season?