This Christmas, we’re doing a three-part series called “Christmas: The Divine Disruption.”

What is Christmas really about? Yes, we celebrate the birth of the new-born King. But what is the true significance of His birth?

Last week, we dived into Part 1 of the series with the principle: Christmas is God intervening in our story of rebellion.

Today we unpack Part 2 of the series with the truth:

 

Christmas is God Inviting us to Repentance and Relationship

I love baking during Christmas. Typically, one of the first treats I make this season is blondies which involve heart-attack-inducing amounts of butter, brown sugar, and chocolate chips. But it’s Christmas—and we all have our Christmas indulgences.

But you know what doesn’t seem to go with Christmas? I would like to suggest that Parle-G biscuits are not really a Christmas staple.

For the uninitiated among us, Parle-G is a cookie (we call them biscuits) sold in India and in Indian supermarkets around the world. It’s your boring, everyday cookie that us Indians like to dunk in our evening chai. It’s quintessentially Indian and has been around for decades.

But a few years ago, we decided that we would construct a gingerbread house out of Parle-G biscuits. When we lived in the US, we would buy pre-made gingerbread house-making kits and piece together a somewhat professional-looking dwelling, embellished with MnM’s and candy.

When we moved to India, I valiantly scoured Amazon and in grocery stores for gingerbread house kits and finally came up with “Let’s try making a house from Parle-G.”

It worked. Well, kinda. We ended up creating an open-air concept shack rather than a house, but, hey, we had fun.

 

Even though Christmas and Parle-G don’t go together traditionally, it made sense for us that day.

Friends, that’s a lot like Christmas and the idea of repentance. On the surface, they don’t seem to fit together. We don’t typically talk about those two things in the same sentence. After all, Christmas is about love, joy, peace, and goodwill. Not about sin, guilt, and shame.

But, if we dig deep enough, we will realize that Christmas is God’s invitation for us to repent of our sins, to receive His gift of salvation, and to live in right relationship with Him.

In Matthew 1, when the angel visits Joseph, here’s what he says: “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus came into the world to save us from our sins. That right there is the Christmas message.

There would be no real need for Christmas if we were sinless.

I know that sounds like I’m a killjoy. But please hear me: this is not a message of condemnation but a message of hope.

And it’s a message of hope because of the Cross and the empty tomb. Because Jesus died and rose from the grave, we are a people of eternal hope.

The cradle is significant because of the Cross. And the Cross breathes hope because of the empty tomb. Jesus came into the world not just so that we could celebrate His birth but so that we could saved by His sacrifice.

Here’s one way to look at John 3:16, one of the first verses you probably learned as a child:

For God so loved the world—The Reason

That He sent His only Son—The Rescue

That whoever believes in Him—The Response

Should not perish but have eternal life—The Reward

Christmas is God’s invitation to a sinful people, us, to repent of our sin and to appropriate His righteousness as our own.

The words of the Christmas song Hark the Herald go: Peace on earth and mercy mild, “God and sinners reconciled.” Jesus was “born that man no more may die.”

Here’s the divine disruption: God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way. Friend, He sends us the invitation. In some sense, He is the Invitation. But He doesn’t force the RSVP. 

Turns out, Gingerbread houses and Parle-G go together just like Christmas and repentance.

Can I challenge you this Christmas to look at both the cradle and the Cross. To look at both the manger and the empty tomb. This is not a one-and-done thing. Repentance needs to be ongoing so we can continue to have a right relationship with Him.

Christmas is a divine disruption that shines a light on the darkness of our hearts. May we let the light shine so we can live in the freedom He has secured for us on Calvary.

 

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