Christmas Message to the World

Luke 2:1-14

GOLDEN TEXT: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”—Luke 2:14

ALTHOUGH Jesus was born more than nineteen centuries ago, the “good tidings” prophesied by the angel have not yet been fulfilled in this world of suffering and death. Because of this, the Christmas message has meant little to the world except to serve as a signal for a holiday in connection with which there is an exchange of gifts. Even the little bit of good will displayed in the Christmas gift habit has to a large extent become corrupted by the spirit of commercialism.

December 25 is not, of course, the actual anniversary date of Jesus’ birth. He was born approximately at the beginning of October. December 25 is the alleged birth date of a heathen deity, and to the early fathers it probably seemed like a clever bit of strategy, calculated to win converts to Christianity, to use this date in commemorating the birth of Jesus. However, the fact that the world at large considers December 25 as being the true date of the birth of Jesus need not interfere with our being glad that he was born, and manifesting that gladness in any and all suitable ways, and at all times.

Peace will come because The Prince of Peace is born. This was one of the essentials of the angelic message to the shepherds. Realizing that the shepherds would be startled by the appearance of the supernatural, the angel said, “Fear not.” The shepherds could not have appreciated the promise of peace had their hearts been filled with fear. It is the same today. Since last Christmas “peace” has come to the world, but it is robbed of its sweetness by a dreadful fear of worse wars yet to come.

It is admitted that peace was not brought about in a Christian manner. The use of atomic power frightened the enemy into surrender, but it has also brought to all mankind a tragic feeling of insecurity, so that the peace we now enjoy is an uneasy, shallow one. But even so, we should not be pessimists. Let us not be like those who reason that because there always has been war, there always will be war! This would doubtless be true if human selfishness is never to be curbed. Man’s worst fear—that of total extinction as a race—might well be realized if science and invention continue to be misused in producing weapons of destruction.

The atomic bomb will not curb human selfishness. One such bomb may destroy a whole city, but it is not potent enough to blast from the human heart that insatiable lust for gain and power which has been responsible for nearly every war that has ever been fought. The greed-inspired will, but seize upon this newest and most deadly of all weapons and use it in an attempt to further their own ungodly ends.

What, then, is the basis for true optimism in this time of uncertain peace and of dreadful fear? It is the great truth embodied in the angelic message to the shepherds, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. … Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Hearing this message, and following the instructions given them, the shepherds went to the stable in Bethlehem, and there they found the babe Jesus, the world’s future King, the coming “Prince of Peace.” No other birth in all history has affected so tremendously the course of the world. True, the earthly life of Jesus was short, and he died as a criminal. But divine power raised him from the dead, and in the centuries following practically all Europe, parts of Asia, and later the Americas, chose to be called by his name. They professed to be Christian. They gloried in his birth, his miracles, his teachings, his resurrection; and they lauded the idea of peace which was associated with his name and doctrines; but there has been no lasting peace.

But this does not mean that Jesus’ birth was in vain. It proves merely that the peace promised by the angels, and by God’s prophets, cannot be established through the efforts of fallen man, nor can the world be frightened into it by atomic bombs. In one of the most outstanding promises of peace given us in the Scriptures there appears the statement, “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”—Isaiah 9:7

The great mistake of Christendom has been that of supposing that God has been waiting for his professed people here on earth to discover some formula by which peace can be attained and maintained. The fact is that what God has been doing until now is to prepare the kingdom agencies, by and through which all the affairs of mankind are to be controlled and the people instructed in righteousness and love.

The angels’ message of “Peace on earth, good will toward men,” refers to God’s good will toward the people. It is because of God’s good will, extended to all nations through Jesus, the Redeemer, that there is to be genuine and lasting peace upon the earth. And so, the angel’s message “Fear not,” comes ringing down through the corridors of the ages to our day—to this time when man has so utterly failed to secure freedom from fear by means of war—to assure us that peace will come, because The Prince of Peace has come!

QUESTIONS:

At what time of the year was Jesus born?

Does the fact that wars have continued mean that Jesus’ birth was in vain, or that God’s plan has failed?

Whose good will is referred to in the angels’ message to the shepherds?

| Home Page | Table of Contents |