Christmas Message Chapter :

As I've taught on Christmas, as I've looked at these things, there's some deep, deep symbolism in Christmas that I think we pass over. We have a Christmas tree. And then when we look in the Bible and that's connected to us, to the birth of Christ, when we look at the Bible, we hear mentioned there's a tree of life. If you pay attention to the tree of life in Genesis and the tree of life in Revelation, you come to the pretty certain conclusion that the tree of life is the cross. So the real Christmas tree, I think, is the cross. And then we have these lights that hang on the tree. They bear light.

They bear witness. In other words, when we go to the cross, we become Christmas lights. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. We're so glad you're with us here on this Christmas day to enjoy the rich teaching of God's Word.

We also have D. A. Brown, one of David McGee's associate pastors, here with us in the studio to tell us a little bit about today's program. Bob, it's Christmas, one of the most exciting days of the year. Jesus came to dwell among us so we could live forever with Him. It doesn't get any better than that.

Absolutely. Now here's David McGee with part three of his teaching, Why Did Jesus Come to Earth? Today, we're going to be talking about Christmas and why did Jesus come to earth. When we talk about Messiah and we talk about Jesus, we talk about Jesus Christ. Let's understand the name because some people think Jesus Christ. Jesus was His first name. Christ was His second. See, it was like Joseph and Mary Christ at 806 Jester Road, the Christ house.

No, no. Jesus was His name. People were known by their name and where they were from. Jesus of Nazareth, Paul of Tarsus. Christ was not His name, was His title. Christ, our word, comes from the Greek Christos. Christos is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah or Mashiach, or He will save, or He is salvation, which is Yeshua. More appropriately, you could say Jesus, the Christ. Jesus, the anointed one. Jesus, the Messiah. We needed Him to be the Messiah. Whenever something bad happens, some people always jump up and say, Where was God?

You know what, friend? That is the height of human arrogance. Where was the goodness of man that people talk about?

Where was the goodness of man? Jesus came for anybody who was willing to come to Him. Matthew 9, 12. When Jesus heard that, He said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

This is a real interesting play on words. Jesus says, I didn't come to call the righteous. Well, if He would have come to call the righteous, let me ask you a question. Who could have responded to that call?

No human. It would have been interesting to see who would have responded. I'm sure some would. Oh, that's me.

Just like I've toyed with that. They're putting a sign out here saying only perfect people allowed. And they're really, the humorous thing about that is some people would come and they would see the sign. Oh, good. Praise God. We have finally found our church, Martha. Come on.

Get rid of the riffraff. I would really enjoy teaching that sermon. In the New Living translation, that same passage, Jesus heard this. He said, Healthy people don't need a doctor.

Sick people do. Then He added, Now go and learn the meaning of the Scripture. I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices. For I've come to call, not those who think they are righteous, but those who know their centers. And somehow we've gotten this church thing all twisted that we think it's somewhere you go when you've worked all your issues out. When you've got your whole life with God sorted through, then you go to church. I'm delighted.

I tell you, I hear stories and there's people that come that come here as atheists, that come here as God haters, that come here to check out the claims of Christ, who've come here as Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, all sorts of people, and then they end up becoming followers of Jesus. Now, it's interesting to me how some of us try to hide that there's anything wrong. I'm fine. I'm fine. I don't need forgiveness. I'm good.

No, you're not good. We're all broken. Every one of us. We've all done wrong things. It reminds me of my dad was an engineer and he had training both as an aeronautical engineer and a mechanical engineer, which is kind of unique.

So he understood a lot of things about a lot of things. So if I broke something, he could usually fix it. When I would break something, you know what I would do? I would hide it. I would tuck it down in my toy chest instead of just taking it to him. Then when I would be messing around in there, I would see it and I would feel bad because I knew I broke it. Usually it was because I didn't use it the way it was supposed to be used or I'd do it out the window to make it fly or something stupid and it broke.

So then I hide it instead of what? Instead of going to my dad and saying, hey, this is broken. Can you fix it? That's what we do in our lives. Part of our lives are broken.

What do we do? We cover it up with other toys and occasionally we see the broken toy and we feel this twinge of guilt and shame and so we try to cover it deeper rather than just pulling it out and taking it to a father and saying, father, can you fix this? And the heavenly father can fix anything. There was a Christmas special years ago that I love and Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. In Rudolph, there was this place called the Isle of Misfit Toys and this was a place where all these toys, they weren't walking and the reason they were created, they weren't being played with by kids. The reason toys are created, they were all, there was something wrong with them and so they're all on this Isle of Misfit Toys and they can't really fix each other so they're waiting on this being to come fix them so they can get off of the Isle of Misfit Toys and become what they were created to be.

I watched that one night and I thought, that's humanity. We're all on this Isle of Misfit Toys and not by God's flawed design. His design's perfect but because we've hurt ourselves or hurt each other, we're all kind of waiting to see if we can fix each other and we can't. We try to hide our flaws, that doesn't fix them.

We're waiting on the being, God, Jesus' son, who can heal us, who can fix us so we can walk in the fullness of who and what we've been created to be. Instead of hiding your flaws, today, will you consider going to the Heavenly Father? The whole reason this Christmas season happens and going to Him and say, Father, I messed up. I'm broken. I've done some wrong things. Will you fix me?

If you do that, I can promise you, you will hear a resounding yes. Now, the next life lesson here is Jesus came to fix and heal you and offer you a better life here and eternally. Let me say that again. Jesus came to fix and heal you and offer you a better life here and eternally. You need to understand, Christianity isn't just fire insurance that, you know, you kind of just try to make it through life so you can get through this and then go to heaven. But God wants to be the God of your life here and He wants to improve your life here so that you can walk with joy and peace and love and blessings. And He not only tells us that, but He also tells us why the enemy is here. In John 10, 10, He says, the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy.

But I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. So there's the two decisions. Now, it's a tough one. Here's the enemy. He wants to steal and kill and destroy.

He wants to rip you off and take you for a one-way ride. And here's Jesus who wants to give you a satisfying and abundant life filled with forgiveness, joy, and peace. Boy, this is a tough one. And let me mention to the adversary, Christmas is just a holiday. If I can summarize why Jesus came, I've gone through these verses of why He came, why He didn't come. Let me put it like this. Jesus came for you.

But the real question is, will you come to Him? See, because each of us have the decision. I ask what the holiday is. Do you understand each person has to answer that?

Some people say, well, yeah, it's just kind of a little retail deal one day a year. And somehow they're so cheaply satisfied that that's enough. But some, what's more? And for those of us who have some type of spiritual spark, God wants to take that spark and develop a flame.

He tells us this. And the world that's so dark and cold needs the warmth and the light of the flame that we can be. Jesus in John 12, 35, 36, and Jesus said to them, a little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light lest darkness overtake you.

He who walks in darkness does not know where he's going. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them. And then John 8, 12, Jesus said this. Then Jesus spoke to them again saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. And then John 9, 5, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Well, Jesus is no longer in his earthly ministry. He wants us to be the light of the world. And in Philippians 2, 13, it says, for God is working in you to give you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Do everything without complaining and arguing so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people hold firmly to the word of life. Then on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain, that my work was not useless. Your attention, please, when he uses shining like bright lights, you know what's interesting in the Greek, the word is very similar to the word luminary.

Luminary. Like the luminaries we see during this time of year on the side of the road. Put a smile on your face and hopefully keep you from driving off the edge of the road. That's part of what we're supposed to be doing. Jesus wants us to be light. Life lesson here is Jesus came that we might be a light to others in a cold, dark world. You're listening to Pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge.

He'll be right back with more in just a moment. But I want to remind you of the free resources available to you on crossthebridge.com. There's a team of hundreds of people that will pray for somebody to be saved. You have a loved one that needs to know Jesus as Savior. You need people to pray for him.

You need someone to present God's word to him. Every day we're presenting God's word to him here on Cross the Bridge with Pastor David McGee. We can pray for them as well just by simply going to crossthebridge.com and click on the pray for the lost button. All you need to do is put in the first names of the people you love that need to know Jesus as Savior. Click on submit and immediately hundreds of people will begin praying for your lost loved ones. What an awesome way to bring your loved ones to Jesus. Here's a word from associate pastor DA Brown. Hey Bob, we're excited about what God is doing to Cross the Bridge with Pastor David and we want to take a minute to pray for some listeners in these cities.

In Idaho, Mountain Home, Pocatello, Salmon, Sandpoint and Twin Falls and Decatur and Mount Vernon, Illinois. God, we thank you for everyone tuning in today. We pray that they would have an expectant heart. Hey, you want to speak to them right now knowing all situations that are going on in their life. Lord, we pray if they're going through some sickness, some health issues, that you would please heal them. And God, that you would remind them that you love them, you know what's going on and you have a good plan and you will be glorified in their life. And Lord, we pray for the pastors and churches in this area. We pray that they would be excited about following you. Lord, that they wouldn't grow weary in doing good. And Lord, that you would remind the pastors that they are loved, they are called, and that you're going to bless them. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. As I've taught on Christmas, as I've looked at these things, there's some deep, deep symbolism in Christmas that I think we pass over. We have a Christmas tree. And then when we look in the Bible, and that's connected to us to the birth of Christ, when we look at the Bible, we hear mentioned there's a tree of life.

If you pay attention to the tree of life in Genesis and the tree of life in Revelation, you come to the pretty certain conclusion that the tree of life is the cross. It's as cursed as he who hangs on a tree. Jesus hung on a tree. So he's cursed? Yeah. Why is he cursed?

For you and me. So the real Christmas tree, I think, is the cross. And then we have these lights that hang on the tree. Remember, the tree is kind of symbolizing the cross.

We have these lights that hang on the tree because as the lights are on the tree, they bear light. They bear witness. In other words, when we go to the cross, we become Christmas lights telling a story, the story, the greatest story ever told. And we need to shine on because it is a cold, dark world and it's getting darker.

And so it all comes down to this. Jesus said, Matthew 5, 14, you are the light of the world like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. And he tells us when we do good things that our light shines in Matthew 5, 16. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly father. Now, talking about Christmas, there's one verse that troubles some people and I want to tackle that one real quick.

Let me say this. The King James Version, I love it. I love the King James Version. My Bible that I've had for years and years and studying is King James. They translated it in 1611. A lot of it was the work of a man named William Tyndale who's one of my spiritual heroes.

Incredible man. We've learned a lot about Greek and Hebrew since then. And some of the places and some of the meanings of the words have changed just slightly.

Not enough to throw big doctrinal wrenches in anything but to add clarity. In this verse, Luke 2, 14, glory to God in the highest on earth, peace, goodwill towards men. It's a verse we hear a lot this time of year. And that's the King James Version. But if you look to the New Living Translation Version, which is closer to the Greek, it says this, glory to God in highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased. Who is God pleased with? Those who have accepted His Son.

Those who understand the real reason for Christmas. We'll have peace. And not peace afar off. Not peace next week or next month or next year. No. Like right here.

Right now. Each of us have to make this decision. If it's just a holiday or if it's something much, much more. See, this is where heaven and earth meet. This is where God and man meet. This is where darkness becomes light, where sinners become saints, where sins become forgiven, where despair becomes hope, where apathy and hatred become love. This is where the savior from heaven comes to earth temporarily so sinners from earth can go to heaven eternally. This is where rebels and traitors and betrayers and sinners are not only granted full pardon and amnesty and are not only invited into the presence of the king, but are invited to be adopted by the king, to become part of his family as a child and as a joint heir.

And not just any king, but the king of kings and the Lord of lords. This is where the lonely become family. This is where the wounded become healed.

This is where the unloved become cherished. This is where one day on the calendar becomes a doorway into eternity as God makes all this possible and he asks you if you want to continue living under the shame and the guilt and the selfishness and despair of the world, or if you want to be forgiven, set free living abundantly and filled with love and joy and peace because you don't have to celebrate Christmas just one day a year on the calendar, but you can celebrate it every single moment of your life until you come into the presence and you can celebrate it every single moment of your life until you come into the presence of a loving, merciful, gracious God that Christmas points to like a road sign. And that road sign is directing you not to settle, not to settle for a holiday, some retail excursion a few hours out of a 365 day a year, but to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. And I'm a messenger here to present this to you while all the heaven waits right now to record your decision for eternity. Because make no mistake, if you reject the real meaning of Christmas, you are rejecting that baby. You are rejecting that savior. You are rejecting God. If you accept him, heaven stands right now ready to record your name in the lambs book of life to offer you forgiveness and admittance into heaven for eternity. So friend, is it just a holiday?

It's your decision and it's time for you to decide. Let's pray. Lord, thank you. Thank you for making it so plain what Christmas is and what it isn't. And Lord, I pray for each person listening that they would not be so cheaply satisfied to accept just some retail holiday, but to accept it as what it is so much more. God leaving heaven and coming to the earth. God becoming man so people could become children of God. Friend, this is an incredible gift I'm sharing with you, but you've got to open it.

If you leave it unopened, it's as if saying to the giver, you don't want it. Jesus wants to forgive you. And we need in this moment to look up at our heavenly father and say, father, I'm broken. I've messed up.

I need your help. And oh, the heavenly father will heal you and he'll fix you and he'll love you and he'll cause you to walk in the fullness of all you were created to be and to do. But it all comes down to this decision, your decision. See, because there was a thousand steps between you and God. God's already taken 999 of them.

This last one is yours. The pain of the cross was Jesus. The plan of the cross was heavens. The choice of the cross is yours. Choose well.

There's a lot riding on this one. And so you asked Jesus to forgive you. Not because you've earned it, because he wants to forgive you. Tell him you're sorry for the things you've done wrong.

Ask him to help you not to keep doing wrong, to help you to live for him. This is your moment. This is when life can become living. Everything can change.

This is what you've been looking for and more. Some of you need to return to the Lord. Some of you, maybe you've never come to him. Maybe this is the first time. That's awesome.

Maybe you just need fresh grace and mercy. This is the moment. This is the time. Today's the day.

Now's the time. Don't wait. Some of you have already waited days and weeks and years. Don't keep waiting. God's been patient. You've got this time right now.

You don't know if you've got next week or next year. I know you've got today because you're here and because you're live and you're breathing, God's given you another chance. He's given you another opportunity. I would encourage you strongly to take the opportunity. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. God wants you to pray this prayer so much that he died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven and I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life and I've done wrong things. I have sinned and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things.

Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus name, Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. Jesus said he would not turn anybody away who comes to him and he came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness.

Those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations friend. You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit CrossTheBridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross The Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27117 and share how God is working in your life. You know, the Bible tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. But it does cost for us to come and bring that message to you and to others in your neighborhood through radio, through the internet, and through the mobile technologies that God has gifted us to be able to use. So if you'd like to support this ministry, please go to CrossTheBridge.com, click on the donate button, and ask God how much he would have you give either on a one-time basis or a continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's Word continues to go out through Cross The Bridge.

Thank you so much. Well, DA, before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee. Thanks again for listening and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.