Christmas: Tinsel, or Salvation in Jesus Christ?

Introduction

Amid the festive glow of Christmas, the string lights, the red and white decorations, Pastor René Ouandji asks you a direct question: who will you be talking about this Christmas? Will you stay on the decorations, or will you speak the name of the one who gave you a new name? Because the Bible says the world lives in darkness, and it isn't the lights on the tree that will bring light into this world. It's Jesus Christ. Drawing from the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22, this message reminds you that Christmas is first of all God giving you what was most precious to him, for your salvation and your freedom.

Message Outline

1. God gave what was most precious to him

In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham and says: "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and offer him there for a burnt offering." God insists on "whom you love," because Abraham had two sons, the son of promise and Ishmael, Hagar's son. What is being asked for really is the most precious thing he had.
The whole Bible speaks of God's plan to restore humanity in Jesus Christ, and this story of Abraham is a foreshadowing: Abraham stands as a picture of God, and Isaac as a picture of Jesus Christ sacrificed for you.
Most often, we're generous with things we no longer need, a piece of clothing, a shirt, a pair of shoes we're about to give away. But God gave what was most precious to him. When Jesus was baptized, a voice was heard from heaven: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17).
Romans 5:8 says it: "God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." God had only Jesus Christ, his beloved Son, and he did not withhold him. No human being, no prophet, has ever shown you that much love.

2. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world

On the way up the mountain, Isaac asks his father: "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham answers in faith: "God will himself provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son."
In that moment Isaac experienced something very close to what Jesus experienced at Gethsemane: the weight of a sacrifice yet to come. Jesus too, on the road to Golgotha, lifted his eyes and said, "Father, take this cup away from me", and Scripture speaks of sweat like drops of blood.
At the very last moment, just as Abraham was about to slay his son, God worked a miracle: a ram caught in a thicket. It was a foreshadowing of the Lamb of God. And when John the Baptist sees Jesus, he declares: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).
The sin of this world will not disappear through laws passed by parliament, not through the upbringing you give your children, not through the strength of your own resolve. It disappeared only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Neither can you remove sin from your own life by your own effort: New Year's resolutions (lying less, being more patient, more helpful, less quick to anger), don't hold up unless you lay everything down at the foot of the cross.

3. Jesus Christ is your salvation and your freedom

After the miracle of the ram, Abraham gives God a name: Jehovah-Jireh, "the Lord will provide." We often think God provides for a job, for health, for material needs, and that's true, it's the very basics for the God who created us. But above all, God provides your freedom.
We live in a world that feels free, but true freedom is found in Christ. Those living in prostitution, depravity, homosexuality, occult practices, alcoholism, depression, or addiction are not free: they are slaves to sin and need to find their freedom.
God is able to provide that freedom: to change you if you were a liar, to change you if you were an alcoholic, to deliver you from the little bottle you can't seem to get rid of in your apartment, to make you a new creation even if you've lived in prostitution.
Jesus said it himself: "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:32). That truth is Jesus Christ himself, "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). And the word of God, according to Hebrews 4:12, is able to pierce your soul and separate within you what is good from what is bad. Christmas is remembering that Jesus is your freedom and your salvation.

Key Takeaways

Christmas isn't first about tinsel or string lights: it's the coming of Jesus Christ, the true light, into a world living in darkness.
God gave what was most precious to him (his beloved Son), to prove his love for you, while you were still a sinner.
The sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 is a foreshadowing: Isaac carries the wood just as Jesus carried his cross, and the ram caught in the thicket points to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
You cannot remove sin from your life through your own resolutions or your own strength: only Jesus Christ, laid at the foot of the cross, can restore what is broken in you.
God provides (Jehovah-Jireh), first of all for your freedom: he is able to deliver you from whatever bondage holds you, whatever it may be, and make you a new creation.

Personal Application

Who will you talk about this Christmas with your family, your cousins, your friends who don't know Christ, the red and white decorations, or the name of Jesus Christ?
What do you treasure most today (a house, a car, a piece of clothing, a relationship), and what does that tell you about the worth of the gift God gave when he gave you his beloved Son?
What "New Year's" resolutions have you already tried to keep in your own strength without success, and what would happen if, this time, you laid them down at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ?
Is there a dependency, a sin, a hidden bondage in your life (alcohol, prostitution, occult practices, depression, or something else) that you can't shake off, and are you ready to ask Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides, to set you free?
Concretely, how will you "lift the veil" and speak the name of Jesus Christ near your tree this year, in your home, so that the light of the world is proclaimed even there?

Scripture References

Frequently Asked Questions

Why preach about Abraham and Isaac at Christmastime?

Because the whole Bible speaks of God's plan of love in Jesus Christ, and because the account in Genesis 22 is a powerful foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the cross: Isaac, the beloved son, carries the wood of his own sacrifice, just as Jesus carried his cross; and the ram caught in the thicket points ahead to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Celebrating Christmas means remembering that God did for you what he asked of Abraham: he gave what was most precious to him.

What does "Jehovah-Jireh" mean, and why does this name matter?

Jehovah-Jireh is the name Abraham gives to God after the miracle of the ram: it means "the Lord will provide." This name stands alongside other Hebrew names of God (El Shaddai, God Almighty; Adonai, Lord; Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord who heals). We often think God provides material things (a job, health), and that's true. But this message reminds us that God provides, above all, your freedom and your salvation, by giving you Jesus Christ.

How should I respond to a relative who says "I'm trying out several religions" over Christmas?

You can tell them one simple thing: Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). No one seeks God on their own, no one is perfect, and it is only through Jesus Christ that a human being can be made right with God. Family holiday gatherings are a precious opportunity to share this message with cousins and family members who don't know Christ, rather than staying only in the mood of the decorations.

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