THE SEASON—THE REASON:

OUR FATHER’S LOVE

David Battle

Our Father which art in heaven…God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

No one really knows the actual day, date and/or year of Christ’s birth. However, we accept without reservation the global recognition of His birth as December 25th. Was it really “On a cold winter’s night that was so deep” as suggested in the song The First Noel? Are all of our Christmas’ supposed to be white as intimated when singing White Christmas? Should we all have “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” and does “a turkey and some mistletoe” really “help make the season bright” as heard in the song The Christmas Story? I’ve heard it said that Christmas “Tis the season to be jolly” and that we should “Deck the halls with boughs of holly.” Shall we take the recommendations of the song It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas as the determining factor of it being “Christmas once more?”

There’s the worldview of what this SEASON should look and sound like and there’s the biblical truth of what this SEASON should look and sound like. Some of our songs suggest the praise of Jolly Old St. Nicholas and that we should “Troll the ancient Yuletide carol.” Other of our songs speak to the heart of what the SEASON is really all about; we sing songs like O Holy Night, Silent Night, Away In A Manger, and others. My personal favorite is Mary Did You Know which asks of Mary, “Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb.” It also asks Mary if she knew “This child that you delivered, will one day deliver you” and if she knew “That sleeping child you’re holding is the great, I Am.” 

While we don’t know exactly when Christ was born, what we do know is the real REASON He was born. Christ is that “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). Joseph was told by “the angel of the Lord” (Matt. 1:20) that the baby born of Mary would “save his people from their sins” (v.21); a promise that transcends unto all of mankind. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, stated that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” and he characterized that statement as “a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation” (1 Timothy 1:15). The entire world must recognize the real REASON for Christ’s birth which was and is for their deliverance—the saving of their soul. This must be an experiential recognition; not just head knowledge. It must be a recognition that leads to excepting God’s one and only plan of salvation—being born of water and of the Spirit.

Our Father which art in heaven knew the world would need a savior—a perfect sacrificial lamb. We are “not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold” (among which includes Christmas materialism), “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). John the Baptist called Him out when he saw “Jesus coming unto him” declaring “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Since a blood sacrifice was required to redeem our sins, God prepared a body for Himself (Ps. 40:6-8, Heb. 10:4-10). He gave that body the characteristic name Emmanuel which characterizes Him as “God with us” (Matt. 1:23, Isa. 7:14). God, Himself, was born of a virgin in order to die for the sins of the world.



The SEASON we’re celebrating is the world-wide recognition of Christ’s birth. The REASON we celebrate is because of OUR FATHER’S LOVE in that, while we were yet sinners, God embodied Himself in Christ in order to die for us, “reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” (2 Cor. 5:19).

My natural father, Suf. Bishop Jesse Battle, Sr., was not a fat man in a red suit coming down the chimney type of man. He brought up his twelve children (yes, I said twelve) in both the “nurture (training as a child, chastening)…of the Lord” and “admonition (a putting in mind) of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). As such, I too raised my children the same way, No… No… No… lies about a Ho Ho Ho holly jolly fat man in a red suit, I refuse to profane (pollute) the word of God with a worldview of the Christmas SEASON and it’s REASON.