What is Christmas all about? When you get behind all the special traditions and tinsel and tunes, what does this season really represent?
Of course, the short answer would be “the birth of Jesus.”
But a more full answer can be found in Paul’s explanation in Philippians 2 of the divine decisions and dynamics that made the birth of Jesus possible in the first place. In this well-known and much-loved passage, the Holy Spirit gives us an astonishing, behind-the-scenes look at what was required for the Son of God to become flesh.
Yet Paul’s purpose in this text isn’t simply to teach theology. He wants to help people live well in relationship with each other and with God! So he presses the incarnation of Jesus into service as a model for how all Christians ought to view themselves and each other.
The result is a beautifully appropriate and applicable passage for consideration at Advent, organized under four alliterated headings:
- HARMONY: “Be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord.” (Phil 2:2)
- HUMILITY: “Count others more significant than yourselves.” (Phil 2:3)
- HUMANITY: “He made himself nothing, being born in the likeness of men.” (Phil 2:7)
- HONOR: “God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name above every name.” (Phil 2:9)
This, in God’s view, is the true meaning of Christmas.
In our Advent series this year, we will ponder the incarnation of Jesus in this light—that is, what it cost Him, what motives drove His holy heart to do it, and what it demands from those of us who claim to be His followers.
In a society mad with self-promotion, power-mongering, and blame-shifting, what better lessons could there be for the church this Advent than these?