"Thank You [Jesus] for loving me"

As was mentioned when I presented my teaser for upcoming July blogs, I have been watching some Christmas is July programming.  Recently, I decided to view a Christmas film solely on the description this particular network gave it.  They stated that a college student took on a job of walking a dog and in the process “learns the real reason of Christmas.”  So I was hooked to discover what they were going to present as “the real reason of Christmas”

What ensued was a young woman who took on the job of dog-walking.  While the two were on their initial walk (which basically consisted of the dog walking her), she literally ran into a young man at a dog park.  The man and woman got to talking; soon, he informed her that the dog park was in danger of being shut down and demolished, and he really didn’t want that to happen.  By film’s end, the dog park was saved, and the young man and woman had fallen in love.  It wasn’t a bad movie, but it had little to do with the real reason for Christmas.

The truth of the matter is Christmas is a celebration of Jesus Christ.  He had a miraculous entrance into the world; through a virgin’s womb, without a male seed at conception.  How is this possible?  Because, as the angel told Mary, with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).  Jesus grew up and lived the most remarkable life. 

Jesus said things that normal people don’t say.  For example, at one point, He not only heals a paralytic man but He also declares to him, “your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5).  And this drew the ire of the religious in the crowd.  “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone? (verse 7).  They apparently never stopped to even consider that Jesus was/is God in human flesh.  And Jesus declared His identity as God to them by flat-out stating He has the power to forgive sins (verse 10).

Ultimately, Jesus was condemned to die a criminal’s death, even though He did nothing wrong.  Why did this happen?  Because humanity has a sin problem.  We don’t measure up to God’s holy standard.  But because God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us, Jesus – God in human flesh – died on a cross to pay the penalty for my sin, and yours.  One worship song puts it this way: “Crucified, laid behind the stone, You lived to die rejected and alone.  Like a rose trampled on the ground, You took the fall.”  In the end, this same Jesus arose from His own grave, victorious over even death!

Let me end with where I began: the movie about a woman who took on a job walking a dog.  The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that they were asserting that love is the real reason for Christmas.  In her case, love for an animal, love for family and friends, and romantic love with a promising new relationship.  These are all good things.  Please don’t think I’m saying otherwise.  But I submit that the film didn’t go far enough; Jesus’ love for humanity is the real reason for Christmas.  Songwriter Tommy Walker had it right in his song “Thank You for loving me”:

“Greater love this world had never seen when He died on that tree; O why would He do such a thing for dirty sinners like you and me?  O God, Thank You for loving me, when on the cross You made history.  Lord, You died for me, forever my praise will go to Thee.”

Kevin