In the rush to celebrate Christmas we can so easily lose sight of the actual “reason for the season.”

The reason for the Season is arguably best captured in the Scripture For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

The reason behind the “reason” is that the entire creation needs saving and redeeming.  God is the Creator of all that exists – everything created to be in relationship with Him.  But when our first parents chose to exchange the truth of God for a lie, doing that which was right in their own eyes, sin entered the world and all creation fell, not just man (Romans 8:22).  The consequence of this sin, which infected all of creation, is separation from God and death (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 6:23).  Sin brought brokenness to the world – broken relationships: with God, with one another, with nations and within nations; brokenness in all relationships, even brokenness within creation itself.

A poignant line in a great Christmas song says it best: “Long lay the world in sin and error pining…”  The whole world has long been in bondage to sin, with no way to free itself.  Because of this, God, out of great love for us, sent His Son…to set us free from our bondage and brokenness by reconciling us to the Father by the shedding of his precious blood (Romans 5:8; Titus 2:11-14).

The Babe of Bethlehem is the hope of the world – the blessed assurance that through faith in Him alone all things are made new, all things broken are mended and restored.  In this Babe alone there is hope, life and peace – peace with God, peace within our soul, peace among men, peace within our borders, peace among nations, and peace even with our enemies.  Only through Christ can “the soul feel its worth” and be in a right relationship…with God and with one another.

At risk of oversimplification: Jesus is the answer…for he is the Reason for the Season.

The Season is the open door for all who believe to share with those who know not the reason what the real reason really is, in the hope that in hearing they would believe, and in believing be saved and made new.

Pastor Greg Schram
Loveland, CO