Each year around this time, in Facebook posts and elsewhere, we are
certain to be lectured by well-meaning Christians on the "sinfulness" of
celebrating Christmas. Their
arguments can be persuasive. "In the Bible, God never told us to
celebrate Christmas," they say. "Christmas has its roots in paganism,"
they say. So that must mean we're
just dupes celebrating a pagan ritual when we ignorantly think we're
gratefully celebrating the birth of Jesus. Who wants to celebrate what
God never told us to celebrate
and which supposedly has its roots in paganism? Not me! But are those
things really true?
While there is no specific instruction in the Bible to honor or
celebrate the birth of Jesus each year (and no, of course we don't know
the actual date of His birth), neither is
there any prohibition of it. Further, when you read the Gospel accounts
of the birth of Jesus, it is clear that heaven and earth celebrated
that miraculous event. Can you
imagine the breathtaking awe felt by
those humble shepherds at the sight of
the multitude of heavenly host praising God on that powerful, wonderful occasion?
I can think of nothing more worthy of annual remembrance and celebration
than the birth of Christ, alongside the celebration of His resurrection
from the dead (the supposed
"paganism" about which we are also lectured by those same well-meaning
Christians. "The root word for Easter is the name of a pagan goddess!"
they say). These events
are part of the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of
God.
I submit to you that the truth is the opposite of these assertions of
paganism. The claims that the pagan rituals in which Christmas (and
Easter) supposedly are based pre-
date Jesus' birth, earthly ministry, sacrifice and resurrection from the
dead are wrong. Nothing "pre-dates" Jesus. He is the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He is outside of time, because
He is before time.
All things were made by Him,
and without Him nothing
– nothing – was made. He is God. His willing sacrifice to save the
world was set and planned before the dawn of time and creation of the
world.
All pagan (satanic) rituals, "holidays" and celebrations throughout
history are nothing more than cheap imitation knock-offs of the Real
Thing. Satan has always tried to set
himself in the place of Jesus, to be the object of worship. Before
being cast to earth, he tried the same thing in heaven. To this end, he
has created myriad false religions
and rituals, from blatantly pagan to sneaky, fake "Christian." Not only
are these designed for Satan to soak up men's worship, but also to
deceive men and keep them from
coming to a saving knowledge of Truth found only in the Word of God.
In so many different ways, since the fall of man in the Garden, the
devil has deceptively imitated and mocked Christ's ministry and message,
even before they played out in
time. So, no, the celebration of the birth of Christ – that we call
Christmas – does not have its roots in paganism. It's the other way
around. Satan has always
stolen the ideas he has from Christ's truth, and then he twists and
perverts that truth into lies and grotesque wickedness.
Another point to consider is the fact that the world, currently under
Satan's lordship, despises and reviles all things of God and Christ.
Thus, we see Satan's war on
Christmas, waged by his servants the God-haters among us. If Christmas
was truly based in satanic paganism, don't you think the devil would be
fine with its presence in
the public square? Instead, we now see almost every major corporation
aggressively scrubbing even the mention of Christmas from their
businesses and advertising.
It's irksome to see the ridiculous level this corporate purging of
Christmas has reached. Having been in radio for 22 years, I've watched
as the generic word "holiday" has
slowly replaced Christmas in national radio ads. It would be silly if
it weren't so devilish:
"This holiday, give the gift your sweetheart wants!" "Make your holiday
cards special!" "Find all your holiday gifts in one location!" "Do
your holiday shopping with us, and
save!" "We have the perfect holiday gifts at prices you'll love!"
It's not "holiday." It's Christmas. No one sends out "holiday cards."
They send out Christmas cards. No one does their "holiday shopping."
They do their Christmas
shopping. No one gives "holiday gifts." They give Christmas gifts.
This is yet another example of the world doing its worst to obliterate
even the mention of Christ –
in this case, as it appears in the word Christmas. The giant
corporations are glad to scrub Christmas from their advertising, but boy
do they love to load up on national
"holiday" ads in order to separate you from your Christmas cash!
Christmas is not pagan, and it's not "holiday." It is part of the
greatest True Story in the history of stories. How fortunate we are
that
God so loved the world!
Jesus, stepped down from the glory of His heavenly
throne and into the form of man. He was born into the world He loved so
much that He willingly offered His precious, sinless life in place of
ours, and all we have to do is
believe and accept His free gift salvation.
For those well-meaning Christians who deeply believe celebrating
Christmas is wrong, an offense to God, then for them, it is wrong. Let
every man be convinced in his
heart. But, for those of us who view it as the celebration of the birth
of our Savior Jesus Christ, then let us celebrate it with joy and
thanks to God.
Merry Christmas!
Gina Miller
Posted with permission from Gina! : )
Gina Miller, a native of Texas and current resident of the Mississippi
Gulf Coast, is a conservative Christian political writer and
radio/television voice professional.
