I love Christmas. I love family gatherings, giving gifts, and sharing meals together. I love it that our world talks more about Jesus during Christmas. I like nativity scenes. I love the manger displays. Away in a Manger is a great song. So much talk about God sending his son to be born. For so many people, that is the only message they hear. Cute, baby Jesus. But that is not all there is to the Christmas story.

Baby Jesus grew up. Jesus lived as a real man in a real world. He lived among us so we would see how to treat others. He left an example so we would know what following God means in a real world. He taught us about God, about living in community, and about telling our world the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Baby Jesus grew up and died. We killed him. It was our sin that cost him his life. He died so we could live. That is the real Christmas story. Jesus came to earth to die. The cross is not cute, nor is it cuddly. But it is life. It is life because God raised him from the dead. He will never die again.

Jesus invites us to die with him. If we do, we will never die again. In fact, the death that this world fears so much becomes the door to forever life for us Christians.

The coming of Jesus is worth celebrating. Not just as a cute baby at Christmastime, but as the man who came to die for us. The baby grew up, then died, then was raised, and now lives. And because of that, I too have died, been raised, and will live forever. So can you.

The good news of Christmas is that Baby Jesus grew up to die for our sins.
I would be honored to visit with you about baby Jesus who came to die for you… and how you too can die to be raised forever. Write me at steve@hopeforlife.org. Or visit our website at www.hopeforlife.org.