An Empty Christmas

 

Christmas is the birth of Jesus and MORE!

 

We tend to focus on Luke 2:7, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

 

This is what Christmas is: The coming of Jesus, the Christ. But what does that really mean?

 

I want to use a word to describe Christmas that will sound a little strange but hang with me as I explain it.

 

The word is Empty.

 

In Philippians 2:6-7 Paul describes the first emptiness of Christmas. Paul writes, “Who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

 

The throne in heaven was empty. When Jesus left heaven for the manger in Bethlehem, He left the throne of God empty. Even though Jesus is the Son of God and was God, He gave up all of that, He emptied Himself. He gave up the glory and majesty of heaven to become a human and to serve all humanity.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging Jesus as God and being grateful for His coming into the world.

 

In Bethlehem Jesus came as a human baby and was born in a stable, a barn, and placed in a manger, an animal’s feed trough.

 

But Jesus did not stay a baby so the manger became empty. We don’t worship Jesus as a baby. We worship Him as God and as the Lord of all creation.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is worshiping Jesus as Lord.

 

Jesus went to the cross.

 

In Matthew 27:26 it says that Pilate had Jesus scourged and delivered Him to be crucified.

 

But Jesus did not stay on the cross. John 19:38 says that Pilate gave the body of Jesus to Joseph of Arimathea after he confirmed that Jesus was dead. In John19:41 we are told that Jesus’ body was put into a tomb.

 

Jesus died on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sin, but Jesus did not stay on the cross. The cross is empty.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that Jesus died for our sins but did not stay hanging on the cross.

 

Jesus was in the tomb. But on the third day something extraordinary happened.

 

In Matthew 28:5-6 we are given the account of what occurred on that Sunday morning. It says, “But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay.’”

 

The tomb is empty. Jesus is no longer in the tomb He is risen and He is alive. He has returned to the throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing the reality of the risen Jesus in our lives.

 

All of these mean that Jesus came into the world with the cross in mind. Since God is eternal and cannot die, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, entered into the human race through the virgin womb of Mary. He took on flesh and blood and became a man. He did this to offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. He was born to die, and He died to rise again. Because of His death, we can live forgiven; because of His resurrection, we can live forever.

 

That is why an “empty” Christmas is so fulfilling.

 

With the Reality of Jesus Empowering Us

to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls,

Joe