I was driving two of my grandchildren home from school the other day when we noticed a life-size depiction of Santa Claus and his reindeer in front of a restaurant along the road. My grandson then informed me that the “real” Santa Claus is at the North Pole getting ready for Christmas. He seemed so confident that I didn’t feel I had to worry about dissuading him from his position, so I inquired about the shopping mall Santas we see. He patiently explained that Santa sends these “helpers” out in advance to learn what kids want so he can bring the right presents on Christmas Day. His logic makes complete sense to me.

However, less-enlightened adults sometimes speak of the fourth-century pastor St. Nicholas of Myra as the historic gift-giving figure upon whom Santa Claus is based. His remains are preserved in a church in Italy; a facial anthropologist recently reconstructed his face.

Now archaeologists think they may have discovered the sarcophagus in Turkey, where he was originally buried. But, as my grandson will tell you, none of this changes what will happen on Christmas morning.

Giving Up His Throne for the One He Loved
In other news, scientists tell us that our universe is expanding more rapidly than expected. The observable universe was already measured at ninety-three billion light-years in diameter. Obviously, no one knows what lies beyond that. If the cosmos is indeed expanding, and yet God measures it with the palm of his hand (Isaiah 40:12), this must mean that his omnipotence and omnipresence are truly infinite.

As a member of the Trinity, Jesus fully participated in the creation of the universe so that “without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). What’s more, he continues to participate in creation so that at this moment, “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).

And yet, he reduced his unimaginable omnipotence down to become a tiny embryo in the womb of a peasant teenage girl. He did this knowing that he would be born as a helpless baby, grow up in relative poverty, face vehement opposition, and suffer the worst form of torture known to history at his crucifixion.

On this day in 1936, King Edward VIII announced his abdication, choosing to give up the British throne to marry a twice-divorced American socialite. Jesus gave up immeasurably more for you and me. When I consider the Incarnation, I think of C. S. Lewis’s line: “If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.”

From Holy Days to Holidays
But there’s more: Jesus not only entered our race and world at Christmas—he remains with us “to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Unlike Santa Claus, who visits us only once a year, or St. Nicholas, who gave his gifts and then died and departed our world for the next, the Christ of Christmas is all today he has ever been and does today all he has ever done.

Why, then, is his incarnational presence not more obvious and transforming in our broken world?

Here’s one factor: “The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). In much of the world he does this by keeping people from ever hearing the gospel. In the part of the world that has heard the truth of Christ, the enemy uses the traditions of secular culture to distract us from him.

Nicholas of Myra could not have imagined that he would become the roly-poly figure we call Santa Claus. The shepherds and Magi who worshiped the infant Christ could not have imagined that they would become figurines and ornaments in a secularized holiday.

Early Christians marked the resurrection of Jesus with Sunday worship and Easter celebrations; today, Sunday is for watching sports, and Easter is for hunting painted eggs. Early settlers to this continent held services of Thanksgiving gratitude; today, Thanksgiving is for food, football, and Christmas shopping.

In addition, what passes for religion in much of our culture is watered down from Scripture. Postmodernism declares that the Bible is a diary of religious experience rather than the authoritative word of God. Moral relativism persuades clergy and entire denominations to bless abortion clinics and same-sex marriages. Religious pluralism insists that evangelism and missions are the improper imposition of our values on others.

These deceptions offer so little life and hope that millions of Americans are leaving churches that embrace them or abandoning the project of Christianity altogether.

“He Will Tax the Last Grain of Sand”
However, my point today is not to criticize Christians whose theology I consider to be less than biblical. It is to use their challenges to highlight my own.

If Satan cannot keep us from hearing biblical truth, and he cannot persuade us to compromise such truth, he will tempt us to conflate believing the truth with experiencing the Truth. He will invite us into smug complacency and a judgmental spirit that are the antipodes of the character of Jesus.

All the while, the Christ of Christmas waits to give us what no secular holiday can offer—an intimate daily communion with our Creator that transforms our lives and changes our world.

As we noted yesterday, when we submit our lives holistically to the Holy Spirit, we experience all that his omnipotent power, omniscient wisdom, and omnipresent help can give us. As Oswald Chambers noted, God “will tax the last grain of sand and the remotest star to bless us if we will obey him.”

Jerry Bridges was right:

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”

Which kind of day are you having today?

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