Christmas, the celebration of Christ’s birth, is probably one of the most secularized days of the Christian year. Situated following Advent, Christmas is both a day and a twelve day season that starts on Christmas Day and ends with Epiphany. In contrast to the penitential colors of Advent, the colors of Christmas sparkle white and gold, symbolizing the new gift that is Christ’s birth.
Christ’s birth is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy—the longed-for King, born as a baby to be the Savior, the Light of the World.
Each of the four gospels focuses on a different perspective of the Christmas story: Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus and emphasizes that Christ’s birth is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Mark’s gospel skips over the birth of Christ–jumping from John the Baptist’s foretelling to Christ’s baptism in the first chapter. Luke on the other hand sets Jesus’ birth in light of the historical context. It is this telling that is quoted frequently. Finally, John’s gospel takes a theological angle, where the Word becomes “flesh and lived among us.”
In the context of worship, our Christmas worship can stand in contrast to that of society—while we celebrate the birth of Christ, we also hold in tension the reason for Christ’s dwelling among us: Christ’s birth leads to death for Christ but life for us. And for this we celebrate and we give thanks. God’s promises were fulfilled in the light of the world dwelling among us. The world is redeemed through a baby.
There’s a big difference between the “Christmas spirit” of today and the original Spirit of Christmas. We can see the Holy Spirit’s work throughout the story when we remember and celebrate the Incarnation in this season. It’s the beauty of our Triune God - Father, Son, and Spirit - in collaboration.
Are you looking for resources for Advent and Christmas? You are sure to find something at ReformedWorship.org with hundreds of resources from series that provide services for each week, to lessons and carols, Longest Night or Blue Christmas services, children’s pageants, to advent candle lighting—we have it covered. All of these resources are a gift to you and available for free.
For this Advent series, we decided to focus on the implications of the incarnation—the “already” side of the equation—by pairing passages from Romans with the narratives around Jesus’ birth. Those stories were represented by our Advent candles, lit by people in costume to bring the stories to life for our children. We also added a large, wrapped present representing the gifts each week (hope, love, joy, peace, and Jesus himself). On Christmas Eve we heard the surprising news from Romans 8 that the birth of Jesus means that we also are children of God. We ended our series on the Sunday after Christmas by contemplating our change in status: no longer are we slaves to sin; now we are slaves to righteousness.
More Christmas Resources
Is Christmas Necessary?
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