Christmas Destruction
Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. Often when we think of Christmas we associate it with the feelings of joy, peace and goodwill. Joy because the Savior has come, peace because He is the Prince of Peace and goodwill because Christ instills us with the attitude of benevolence towards others.
These are all good things—important things—but there was only one thing on God’s mind when He sent His son…..that was destruction.
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” 1 John 3:8
The only reason Christ came was to destroy evil! Each one of us is evil and each one of us deserves death. So God—because he loves you so much— sent Christ to offer us the opportunity to choose life. Christ who is blameless came to take upon himself our evil and in return made us righteous.
How do we know if we are born of God? Well John continues to say:
9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
Often we read this passage assuming John is stating that once we become a Christian we can no longer sin. But that is incorrect, John is saying we will sin, we will fall down but with Christ in us we will hate the sin. Christ in us leads us to repentance.
So what if you are living in habitual sin and have not repented of that sin. Then John says, “Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child.”
Sometimes we like to make bible passages seem warm and fuzzy making it easier to swallow. But this passage says if you are living in habitual sin and you think you are Christian, you are not. Sure there are seasons of sin in peoples lives and it may take time to come around to repentance, but Christ says if there is no repentance then you are not God’s child.
So my question is, do you hate evil like Christ hates evil?
If you are not a believer, Christ is opening up his arms and is offering you life this Christmas. His only reason for coming as baby in a manager is so he can come to destroy the sin that binds you. All he asks you to do is admit you are sinner and he will cleanse you from all sin (not some sin, not just the light sins, but ALL, ALL, ALL, SINS!)
[9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
(1 John 1:9-10 ESV)
If you are a Christian, spend this season reflecting on any sin in your life that you may need to repent. We will all fall down and continue to sin until Christ comes again, but because His seed is in us, our sin should lead to repentance.
In the meantime we anxiously wait for the time when He comes again. Just think, he came as a baby and defeated evil, imagine what it will be like when he returns as the King he is!
Merry Christmas!
Amen! I can’t wait until He does come as the King of Kings… but I am truly thankful He came in human form as a baby to become my Savior… Blessings…
Amen Lori… Amen.
Lori, I’ve missed reading your posts lately. I agree with what you wrote here. If you are a Christian, you won’t continue in habitual sin. We are not alone. The Holy Spirit convicts us and reveals our sin to us. I am so thankful that I am forgiven but I don’t want anything to disrupt the intimacy I have with the Lord.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Debbie
Amen, Lori. I am not sinless; I often stumble and fall. Sometimes even with the ‘old’ stuff. I am looking forward to the day where I will be in the presence of God.