The Best Gift: The Complete Story of Christmas
At Christmastime years ago, my dad said to me, “You would think America was in revival at Christmastime because everyone is talking about Jesus.”
He paused, waiting for me to comprehend what he was saying, and then he continued:
“The truth is that we Americans love the little baby Jesus in the manger because that Jesus is non-threatening. What will we do when the Jesus of the Second Coming comes back on a white horse, with eyes of fire and a sword of vengeance in His hand? What will we do with that Jesus?”
What About the Second Coming of Jesus?
My dad’s statement has gotten me thinking over years about the difference between preaching the first coming of Jesus only versus communicating the first and Second Coming of the Lord together in every season.
When was the last time you heard a message on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ? Has it been a long time?
A transformational gospel that has the power to redeem people from destruction cannot just be about the first coming; it must also include the Second Coming. Why? Because we have to understand that our sinfulness and pride will not prop us up in front of the living God in the Day of Judgment.
To truly appreciate the beauty of the Christmas story, we have to know how it ends.
The Rest of the Story
Jesus was born of a virgin. He was born in Bethlehem in a stable. Angels sang about Him. Shepherds and wise men flocked to Him. He grew up, went to the temple to learn, lived a sinless life, healed the sick, trained up His disciples, walked on water and performed miracles.
The end of His earthly life is what we focus on around Easter when He willingly laid down His life, died on a cross, was buried in a tomb and resurrected three days later. He did all of this for us for our salvation, but sometimes we forget that the story didn’t end there.
Jesus was glorified and ascended into heaven. He has been before the Father since that moment making intercession on our behalf and soon, very soon, He is coming back. This part of the story gets a little lost during the Christmas season and we forget its importance, or many people frankly don’t even know this truth—that Jesus is coming back.
He is coming back to wage war on sin, sickness, unrighteousness and death. He will take on the devil and the fallen angels (demons) and banish them into the pit of hell.
We Will Be Held Accountable
He will hold all of us accountable for what we have done with Him in our lives.
Have we accepted His gift of salvation? Have we put the faith He has given us and invested it into trust that He has the best plans for us? Have we laid down our lives and made Him master and Lord? Have we maximized our lives for the purposes of His kingdom, or have we lived for ourselves?
What have we done with this Jesus, who never had a beginning in eternity past but demonstrated His love for us by showing up in the flesh in a manger, living and then dying in our place?
We have to understand why He had to come to grasp His massive love for us.
We Are in Need of Salvation
He had to come because we are wicked and sinful without Him and in need of salvation. The only way He could make us whole and redeem our lives was to come and take our place.
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Whether we kneel at the manger, the cross or in the throne room, we will kneel to His lordship. The question is, will we willingly kneel now, or will it be too late?
When pastors and ministry leaders focus only on the little baby in the manger at Christmastime, they give people only half the gospel. The full story of Jesus must encompass the first coming and the Second Coming.
The First Coming and the Second Coming
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18, NIV).
If we, in our flesh, are not offended by Jesus, we haven’t truly seen His perfection, His glory and His fame. Imagine when we see Him as John did in the book of Revelation 1:13-18:
[A]nd in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.’
When we see Jesus in all His glory, we will fall on our knees like the wise men and the shepherds, giving Him all that we have (I believe they got a supernatural glimpse into eternity future—maybe the scene from Rev. 1).
Is the picture of the baby in the manger enough to bring a wayward America to her knees? Probably not.
We might want to consider giving our families, our friends and our churches the full story of who Jesus is this Christmas. He is the soon-coming King who is ready to redeem our lives and pour His love on us, if we will only bow at His feet.
This is the beautiful complete story of Christmas. {eoa}
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Bunni Pounds is president and founder of Christians Engaged, a ministry activating the body of Christ to pray, vote and engage regularly. Formerly a congressional candidate and 16-year political consultant, she is a motivational speaker and bible teacher. Her book, “Jesus and Politics: One Woman’s Walk with God in a Mudslinging Profession” comes out nationally on Feb. 6, 2024.
