12 Reasons for Christmas

As Christmas was nearing last year I began doing a bit of research on Christmas traditions.  Since it was B and my first Christmas together I wanted to establish our own traditions.  This search turned out to be an overwhelming amount of humbling truth about Christmas which has only made me hunger more to truly be focused on the birth of my Savior.

The Gospel Coalition and Desiring God Ministries (John Piper) are just two examples of websites that typically share articles, videos, audio, and even family traditions of well respected pastors on the topic of Christmas from a biblical perspective.  When reading through some of these articles, I came across the 12 Reasons for Christmas which comes from a sermon by John Piper that I want to share in hopes that your family can delight in these truths.  We are so thankful for the birth of Jesus and all these reasons for His coming and we never want to lose sight that this is the reason for Christmas.

1.        “For this I was born and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37).

2.       “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8; cf. Hebrews 2:14–15).

3.       “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).

4.       “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

5.       “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

6.       “God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5).

7.       “For God so loved the world that whoever believes on him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16).

8.       “God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9).

9.       “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

10.    “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against . . . that the thoughts of many may be revealed” (Luke 2:34ff).

11.      “He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18).

12.     “Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarches, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (Romans 15:7–8; cf. John 12:27ff).