I know Christ will always be in Christmas because He is the first word.
So read the message my daughter wrote in her Christmas card to our pastor. And once again, just like that, God spoke His truth out of the mouth – or the pen – of a child.
I know what she meant. I know what she was trying to say. But there’s a truth here that’s bigger than a compound word. It’s a truth more profound than simple verbal arithmetic. It’s a truth deeper than semantics or spelling or etymology. It’s a truth as old as time…no, make that older than time. It’s a truth begun in eternity past, birthed in history, bound by a promise, framed in humanity, experienced by eyewitnesses, and breathed to life by God Himself.
We read this truth in the book of John, chapter 1 verse 1:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God….and the word WAS God. (emphasis mine)
That Word, the Word that was not only with God but was also God Himself, that word was “Christ.” A word that in its holiest form means “anointed”…the Lord’s anointed. Messiah.
Long before the creation of the world, long before anything we know or understand existed, Christ did. He existed as God, but also as God’s anointed. The chosen Messiah. The one who – when the time was right – would be sent to redeem a fallen world and give us hope and life. He was that as-yet unspoken word, the Word of God, the word of truth and sacrifice and victory. And it was “Christ’s Mass” – his advent, his spectacularly miraculous appearance on the earth He himself spoke into being, using the very creatures He himself created to give Him human life – that literally spoke God’s Word into being. He was the first – and final – Word of salvation, of restoration, of reconciliation between God and man.
For 33 years, He lived as God’s word in our world. Through His ministry, His teachings, His example, and His life, He spoke God’s truth and taught God’s way. And as He drew His final breath, He proclaimed these words, “It is finished.” The first word of Christmas – Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah – had completed God’s story of salvation. A story that ended not with defeated resignation but a victorious proclamation.
Yes, Christ will always be in Christmas. He is the first word…as well as the final word.
And, as far as I’m concerned, the only Word that matters.