One of our favorite new Christmas songs is “It’s About the Cross” by the Ball brothers, the lyrics of which are:

It’s not just about the manger

Where the baby lay

It’s not all about the angels
Who sing for him that day

It’s not all about the shepherds
Or the bright and shining star
It’s not all about the wise men
Who traveled from afar

It’s about the cross
It’s about my sin
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It’s about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
It’s about the cross

It’s not just about the good things
In this life I’ve done
It’s not all about the treasures
Or the trophies that I’ve won

It’s not about the righteousness
That I’ve find within
It’s all about His precious blood
That save me from my sin

It’s about the cross
It’s about my sin
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It’s about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
It’s about the cross

The beginning of the story
Is wonderful and great
But it’s the ending that can save you
And that’s why we celebrate

It’s about the cross
It’s about my sin
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It’s about God’s love
Nailed to a tree
It’s about how every drop of blood
That flowed from Him when it should have been me

It’s about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
So that you and I could have real life someday

It’s about the cross (it’s about the cross)
It’s about the cross
It’s about the cross
It’s about the cross

     What a powerful, spot on message. At Christmas, we most often focus on the events surrounding the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem to the virgin Mary. And that is an amazing story, but the purpose of Jesus’ mission to earth was “To seek and to save that which was lost” (Lk. 19:10) and that required Him to be “Mary’s Little Lamb whose fleece was white as snow” so He could die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin (II Cor. 5:21; I Pet. 2:24). In order to put away our sin Jesus had to be without sin so He could bear our sin and, as the God-man, be the innocent substitute for the sins of the world. 

     So, how appropriate that Jesus be born where the lambs were raised to be sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem.  Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, would introduce Jesus as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). The multitude of lambs that were sacrificed in the Temple were mere pictures or types of the One who would come to “take away” sin once and for all by His one sacrifice (Heb. 9:11-14,22-27; 10:10-14).   

     You will recall that the last plague that God placed upon the Egyptians to get Pharaoh to let the Israelites go was the death of the firstborn. In order to avoid the plague the Hebrews had to kill an unblemished one-year old male lamb and apply its blood to the doorposts and lintel of their houses (Ex. 12:5-7).  God said, “And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you…” (v. 13).  And, remember what Abraham spoke prophetically when Isaac, seeing the altar and having carried the wood, asked “where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Gen. 22:7). Abraham replied, “God will provide Himself the sacrifice…” (v. 8).  God provided a ram caught in the thicket to substitute for Isaac, but ultimately provided Himself as the substitute for us all (Jn. 3:16). The Apostle Paul referred to Jesus as “Christ our Passover (who) also has been sacrificed” (I Cor. 5:7).  

     So, Christmas: “It’s all about the cross.”  It’s all about Mary’s Little Lamb whose fleece was white as snow who became the sacrifice for our sin. Praise God for “His indescribable Gift” (II Cor. 9:15).  Have you received God’s Gift (Jn. 1:12)? If not, why not do so this Christmas!  

Forever Grateful,

Pastor Dave N