The Promise of Christmas … (December 2024 Update)
What is the reason that we celebrate Christmas? Some celebrate just because of tradition. Others celebrate because they love the festiveness and joyfulness of the season. Still others celebrate because they love getting and giving gifts. Some even celebrate because they understand the real reason for the season. But what is the reason for Christmas? It is because God promised to send a deliverer who would “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Christmas begins with a promise, and it is based on a promise. Christmas began long before there was a babe in the manger. It was spoken about long before there were “shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.” It was anticipated long before wise men brought their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Christmas goes all the way back to the Book of Genesis. In Genesis 3:15, God gave Adam and Eve a promise that a deliverer would come that would save them from their sins: “And I will put enmity, between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Christmas begins with the promise of God.
During the Christmas season, all kinds of promises are made. Children make promises that they will be good so they can get presents. Parents make promises to their children that they sometimes cannot keep. Promises are only as good as the integrity of the person making the promise. When a person keeps his word most of the time, we consider him to be trustworthy and we often tell others that his word “is as good gold.” But even the best-intentioned people often fail to keep their promises. But not so of God. Numbers 23:19 reminds us, “God is not man that he should lie, nor the son of man that He should change His mind. Will he not do all that He has promised?”
The promises of God are the foundation for all that we believe. If God is not faithful to keep even one of His promises, then how can we be sure He will keep any of them. God’s promises depend on His character. His promises are trustworthy because He is trustworthy – always! That’s why Numbers 23:19 says, “will He not do all that He has promised?”
Like everything else, Christmas, too, begins with a promise. It does not start with a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” It does not even begin with the angel’s announcement to Mary that she will have a child. The promise of Christmas goes all the way back to Genesis 3 after Adam and Eve sinned. Genesis 3:15 is often called the “protoevangelium” or the “first gospel” because it contains the promise of God to send Jesus as our Savior. And that is what Christmas is really all about.
In Genesis 3:15, we learn 3 things about the Christmas Promise of God. First, it shows us the Reason for the Promise. Second, it shows us the Revelation of the promise. And finally, it shows us the Result of the Promise.
First, it tells us about the Reason for the Promise. “And I will put enmity, between you and the woman.” It has become common for Christians to say, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” But that is partially true. The real reason for the season is Sin. Think about it: if Adam and Eve had never sinned, there would be no need for Christmas. If there was no sin, then we would have no need for a Savior. But when Adam and Eve sinned, God responded with a promise to send a deliverer who would crush the serpent by paying for their sins. That’s the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Not because of the glitter or the joy of the season. Not because of the gifts. But because of the greatest gift of all – God sent His son to pay for our sins.
I love the songs of Christmas – both sacred and secular ones. One song I remember from growing up was “We Need a Little Christmas.” But when we think about our sin, we realize that we need a lot of Christmas because, like Adam and Eve, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. And, in Genesis 2, God told Adam and Eve that they could eat of all the trees in the garden except for one. If they ate of that tree, God said, “You shall surely die.” Satan came to Eve questioning God’s Word and encouraging her to eat of the fruit. She and Adam disobeyed God and ate of the tree. And all of Adam’s descendants after him have done the same thing over and over again. We need a little Christmas precisely because we need a Savior! And that’s why Jesus came. And that’s the reason for Christmas.
And notice what sin did to them. It opened their eyes, it made them feel ashamed and it cause them to hide from God. But, most of all, notice what God did. He immediately comes looking for them. God’s first response to sin is always grace. He calls out to them and gives them an opportunity to repent. But they don’t repent. Then God pronounces His judgment on them. But amazingly, He does not begin with their judgment. He begins with a promise that He will send a deliverer who would defeat Satan. That promise is the promise of Christmas. This is where Christmas begins! This is why Christmas is celebrated! Because, even in our sin, God gave us a promise – the Promise of Christmas!
Second, Genesis 3:15 shows us the Revelation of the Promise. The reason for the promise is our sin. But Genesis 3:15 also reveals to us how we can know when the promise will be fulfilled. Here God reveals that “her seed” will come and defeat Satan. Now this is very strange wording. Everyone knows that the woman has the egg, and the man has the seed. This is consistent in science and also in the Old Testament. The man always has the seed. But this is even more important theologically. In Jewish theology, the sin nature is passed down through the seed of Adam. If Jesus has a human father, then he would have the seed and the sin of Adam. And if he had Adam’s sin, then he could not be the sinless son of God. Even the rabbis realized this. In the centuries before the coming of Jesus, rabbis who interpreted Genesis 3:15 said things like this:
“When the Messiah comes, he will have no earthly father.”
“The Messiah will be born without any sin.”
“The birth of the Messiah will be unlike any other. It will be like the dew that falls on the ground without the actions of any man.”
While these rabbis probably did not expect anything like the virgin birth, they understood that the Messiah’s birth would be different and unique, unlike any other.
One of the least discussed aspects of Christmas is the virgin birth of Jesus. This teaches that the conception of Jesus came about through a miracle: “Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’” And this miracle was the fulfillment of God’s promise in Genesis 3:15. Jesus would be born as “her seed” because he would have no earthly father.
All of this sounds amazing. But it is more than amazing – it is essential. First, it fulfills this strange prophecy about the seed of a woman. God made a strange promise in Genesis. But God kept that promise in the birth of Jesus. Christmas is about God becoming man. And this prophecy is a strange sign that reveals who this Messiah would be – someone born without the seed of a man.
Second, it is essential for our salvation. For Jesus to be our savior, he must be a perfect substitute and a perfect sacrifice. To be a perfect substitute, Jesus must truly be human. He must be one of us! He must, like all humans, be born of a woman. But to be a perfect sacrifice, he must be completely sinless. If he was born of a man, then he would also have the sin of Adam and not be sinless. If he was not sinless, he could not pay for our sins. To be a perfect Savior, he must be a real human being as well as being God incarnate. If he is only a human, even a sinless human, then his death could pay only for the sins of one other person because his righteousness would be finite. But if he is God incarnate, then his righteousness is infinite, and he can pay for an infinite number of sins. He can truly pay for the sins of all the world.
That’s why the virgin birth is so important. He must be a sinless man, and he must be an infinitely righteous God. And that’s what Genesis 3:15 reveals – our Savior would be born of the seed of a woman. And “her seed” would one day crush the seed of the serpent. That’s the Promise of Christmas. Not gifts and decoration, but salvation available for all mankind!
Finally, Genesis 3:15 shows us the Result of the Promise. God says to the serpent, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” The obvious result of the promise of Christmas is our salvation. But that’s not the focus here in this promise. Here the result of the promise is suffering! When we view the baby in the manger, we usually don’t think about the suffering of our Lord, but that is what the promise is all about. In fact, we have romanticized Christmas so much that we have forgotten that most of Christmas is about suffering. Just think about the suffering in the Christmas story. Think about the shame Mary endured having to bear a child without being married! Think about traveling to Bethlehem on a donkey while being “great with child.” Think about arriving in Bethlehem and finding no place to stay. And don’t forget about Herod’s massacre of the babies in the areas surrounding Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16-18).
But that is not the suffering that Genesis 3:15 talks about. The prophecy is speaking about the suffering of Jesus in providing our salvation. Isaiah 53:4-6 describes that suffering:
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
When many Jewish rabbis read passages like these, they came to the conclusion that there would be two Messiahs coming – Messiah ben Joseph (the Joseph in Genesis) who would suffer and Messiah ben David who would reign and rule. But we see that Jesus was the Son of David and that he came to suffer and die. He said on one occasion: “I have come to give my life as a ransom for many.” Repeatedly, he told his disciples that he must suffer and die and rise again on the third day. He understood that he was born to die. Here is how John MacArthur puts it:
Here’s a side to the Christmas story that isn’t often told: Those soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb, were made so that nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day stagger up a dusty hill to be nailed to a cross. That sweet infant’s head with sparkling eyes and eager mouth was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it. That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling clothes, would one day be ripped open by a spear. Jesus was born to die.
The result of the promise of Christmas was salvation for us, but it was suffering for Jesus. While we all enjoy the beauty of the babe in the manger, we must never forget that the baby was the result of the promise. The suffering and death and resurrection of Jesus was the result. He crushed the head of the serpent, but he bruised his heal. If he had lain in the manger and lived a sinless life but failed to go to the cross, then Christmas would not be worth celebrating.
Christmas does not begin in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. It does not begin with the announcement of the angel nor the birth of Jesus. Christmas begins with the promise of God – that a Savior would come who would crush the head of the serpent. That’s the message of Christmas; that’s the joy of Christmas – all because of the Promise of Christmas in Genesis 3:15. May you rejoice in the Savior as you celebrate His birth this Christmas!
Teaching Ministry …
I continue to be involved with the nursing home ministry in Fayetteville whenever I have time. This December, I have been preaching a number of Sundays for Christmas.
As I mentioned last month, I have been asked by the dean at Ukrainian Baptist Seminary in Lviv to help with Doctor of Ministry (DMin) students and their papers there. I will be working with some in the coming year as they work on their dissertations. I have done this with several PhD students here in the US, but this will be my first time working with DMin students. Pray that I can help them as they work on their dissertations.
I am working with some former students at Kyiv Theological Seminary to help them teach my classes in the coming year. It looks like I will be teaching just two times this spring and two times next fall. Hopefully, this will be the final time I will be teaching these classes as the former students are almost ready to teach the classes now on their own. In February, I will be teaching Theology 1 again. Be praying for me as I prepare for this class.
Please continue to pray for our students at both seminaries, Kyiv Theological Seminary and Ukrainian Baptist Seminary (L’viv). In spite of the war, these students are still studying and still sharing the gospel in Ukraine. Both seminaries have set up “bomb shelters” so classes can continue with limited interruptions during the frequent missile and drone attacks from Russia.
Finally, in February, GlobalServe International (GSI) will be holding its “Senders Forum” Conference here in Fayetteville. I attended this conference last year in Florida and it was great to see how God is using various churches from all over America to care for missionaries sent out from GSI. This conference is designed to train churches on how they can better support their missionaries who are serving in restricted access countries (closed to missionaries). This is the primary ministry of GSI. Katya and I plan to be helping with this conference. Be praying for these churches and missionaries as they work to share the gospel in closed countries with unreached people groups.
Family and House …
We had our first Thanksgiving in our house this year. Almost all our family in Arkansas was able to join us and we had a house full. But we had a great time with lots of fun, food and memories. The girls all enjoyed being together and Meredith prepared a special craft project that they all loved!
We are also enjoying the Christmas season. The girls were able to participate in a Christmas play/musical at Faith Baptist Church in Huntsville and we also went as a family to the Christmas Tree lighting in Goshen (small town near us). Finally, we continued our Christmas tradition of seeing the Nutcracker Ballet again this year. We are looking forward to a special Christmas time together with our family this year.
Pray for Ukraine …
Please continue praying for Ukraine and our friends and colleagues there. Winter is one of the most difficult times because Russia targets energy infrastructures in an attempt to freeze Ukraine into submission. While Ukrainian defenses shoot down most of the missiles, many still get through. Also, the coming year is full of uncertainty as Russia continues to send men and weapons against Ukraine while Ukraine is facing a possible cut off weapon supplies. This next year will be a very critical time for Ukraine!
Also, pray for our students and friends ministering in Ukraine. So many have died during this war, and this has opened many conversations about life and death and opportunities for sharing the gospel. Pray for their protection and for their opportunities to tell others about the Lord during this time of war.
We continue to be amazed at how God has provided for us in the last three years (It is hard to believe we have been here that long!). When we left Ukraine in January 2022just weeks before the invasion began, we had just 4 suitcases. Over the last three years, we have experienced God’s grace in so many ways. When we arrived, we had nothing. Now, three years later, we really lack nothing in terms of basic needs. In fact, God has provided “exceedingly, abundantly beyond all we could ever ask or think!” As we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate God’s faithfulness to keep His promises regarding the Messiah and His coming. But we also celebrate God’s amazing faithfulness to us and to our family. We pray that you would be able to look back over the past year and also be able to say, “God is faithful to keep His promises!” May the Lord bless you and grant you a very special and Happy New Year too!
By His Grace,
Jim and Katya, Kristina and Nadia
If you missed previous updates or just want to read some short theological reflections, you can find these at our website at https://teachingresources.org/ .
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