How The Christ Of Christmas Is For Me and For You

How the Christ of Christmas is for me and for you. That is a topic we'll discuss today, right here on the Christian Worldview Radio Program, where the mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

I'm David Wheaton, the host. In this ministry, we are able to broadcast on the radio station, website, or app on which you are listening today because of the support of listeners like you. So thank you for your prayer, your encouragement, and your support. You can connect with us by visiting our website, thechristianworldview.org, calling our toll-free number, 1-888-646-2233, or writing to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. Before we get to the preview for today's program, just a couple of updates. Our annual newsletter has now been mailed, and so if you are subscribed to that, you should be receiving that soon. Or if you're subscribed to our weekly email, you'll be getting it by email as well. The annual newsletter contains a message on our mission, an update on what's going on within the Christian Worldview, the news stations we expanded to this year, and also a very well-developed resource catalog for adults and children. If you don't get it and want to, you can request a copy by just calling us toll-free, 1-888-646-2233, or you can sign up for it for free at thechristianworldview.org. We have two basic publications that go out.

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Now to preview today's program. It's lamentable, but not surprising in our God-rejecting world that Christmas has become about everything than what it should be, the incarnation of the Son of God, God becoming man. Yes, Jesus was most likely not born on December 25th. Yes, many of our Christian forebears didn't even celebrate Christ's birth.

And yes, several of the traditions of Christmas, such as trees and mistletoe, are rooted in paganism. That being said, for most Christians, Christmas is a season to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into our world and ponder anew the miraculous aspects of God's redemptive plan. So this weekend on the Christian Worldview, Mike Gendron, founder and evangelist with Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries, joins us to discuss some mind-stretching and faith-building truths of Christmas and how the Christ of Christmas is for each one of us willing to repent of our sins and believe in who He is and what He did on our behalf.

Now, it's easy to get distracted around Christmas. Have you ever looked at all that is taking place in media and around you surrounding Christmas that has absolutely nothing to do with Christ's birth and had the thought, what does this have to do with Jesus? The reality is, Christmas in our culture has very little to do with Jesus anymore.

But this is always the way for Christians in our earthly pilgrimage. 2 Corinthians 4, starting in verse 3, says, And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world, that would be Satan, has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Satan and the unbelieving world have done a masterful job of veiling the good news about the birth of Christ, making it nothing about the birth of Christ anymore. Occasionally, though, the full, unvarnished truth comes out about Christmas, as it did each year in the Charlie Brown Christmas special. All the kids and peanuts are going about Christmas, but Charlie Brown is depressed because of the commercialism and lack of meaning he's feeling around Christmas.

And finally, toward the end of the episode, he asked a most important question, the most important question. In just about 60 seconds, the most truthful words ever spoken on national television are said by Linus, who simply reads God's word about what Christmas is all about, straight from the Bible in Luke chapter 2. I guess I really don't know what Christmas is all about. Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about? Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, and lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord showed round about them, and they were sore afraid, and the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord, and this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Again, that was from Charlie Brown Christmas, the peanut special that aired every year on national television in America since 1965, but it didn't air this year due to licensing considerations, we're told. But Linus simply reading scripture is a truth bomb in our culture today, for today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. So why do we need a Savior? Who is this Christ, this anointed one, the Messiah?

Is he actually Lord as in God? This is what we're going to discuss today in the program, the profound issues surrounding who Jesus Christ is, the prophecies about his birth, why he had to be born of a virgin, and why the eternal Son of God had to become a man. Mike Gendron from Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries joins us. And Mike, thank you for coming on the Christian worldview radio program as we near Christmas.

You're older now, I'm not sure exactly how old, I know you're above 50 or 60. How did Christmas become all about Santa Claus, all about house decorations, putting up trees and lights, a huge emphasis on shopping, ordering things, exchanging gifts, festive music, food, and parties, where it leaves you to look at what takes place to ask the question, what does that have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ? How do we get to such a point? Well, it's a good question, especially for the season in which we're living now. But it did take many different cultures and centuries to create this strange celebration that we now call Christmas. If you look back into the history of Christmas and the early years of Christianity, Easter was really the main holiday that was celebrated by the church. The birth of Jesus Christ was not even celebrated until the fourth century. And that came about during the time of Constantine. I think you remember he wore the title Pontificus Maximus, which means the highest priest.

And he looked upon a fragmented Roman Empire and he thought Christianity could be the glue that could unite the Roman Empire. And so it's interesting that the Bible never mentions a date for Christ's birth. In fact, there's some evidence that suggests his birth didn't even occur in the wintertime because the shepherds would not have been herding their sheep during that time. But it is believed that the church chose this date in order to embrace the pagan festival of Saturnella. And that's also in conjunction with the winter solstice.

And for your listeners that may not know what that means, it's the shortest day of the year. And pagans were celebrating this day because they believed the sun actually needed to be reborn so that it could live another year. So rather than forbidding the observance of pagan festivals, what Constantine did was Christianize them. So December 25th was changed from being the birthday of the unconquerable sun god to being the birthday of the son of God.

And it was during this time that gifts were exchanged such as urns and jewelry and coins and gold. And Christmas really never became a holiday in America until around 1681. So it's interesting that the Puritans came over and they were against the celebration of Christmas because of its pagan roots and its roots in Roman Catholicism. And so the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston through the influence of these early Puritans. And it's interesting, David, too, because you look at the word Christmas and that comes from the Roman Catholic term Christ mass.

So it's not surprising then that each Christmas Eve Roman Catholics observe the sacrifice of the mass, which is said to be a sin offering of the Eucharistic Christ. And you also mentioned all the different celebrations, including Christmas trees. And while that origin of the Christmas tree really goes back to the ancient Egyptians, they were the ones who brought green palm branches into their homes on the shortest day of the year, the day of the winter solstice. And they believe that green palm branches symbolized life.

So it was centuries later that the Romans decorated their homes with evergreen wreaths during the days of Santornella. So you can see even the Christmas tree came out of these historical pagan observances by the Egyptians and the Romans. And then you talked about Santa Claus. Why do we celebrate Santa Claus? Well, when you look at the origin of Santa Claus, he actually was a man named Nicholas who was born in the third century in Turkey, and he became a Catholic priest. And he was well known for his kindness and his generosity.

In fact, when his parents died, he even distributed his inheritance to those who were needy. And so the name Santa Claus actually comes from Sinterklaas, the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas. So you can see that it took many centuries and many different cultures to bring us to where we are today celebrating the festivities of Christmas. Very interesting.

Thank you for giving some of the history on that. I've heard some of those things in the past, but it was good to be reminded of where some of these elements of Christmas come from. Now, the obvious follow up here is with all these pagan influences to Christmas, Roman Catholic influences, and the fact that early Christians didn't even celebrate Christmas. Should that lead us today to either not celebrate Christmas or if we do, how should we celebrate it? Well, David, I think we need to be reminded of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11, 3.

He wrote, I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. And so it's during the Christmas season that Satan elevates Santa Claus in order to divert our attention away from Christ, so that our minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. And he does the same thing on Resurrection Sunday.

He elevates the Easter Bunny so that that once again diverts our attention away from the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. But it really comes down to principles of conscience, whether or not we celebrate Christmas. We are not to judge other Christians who choose to do so or who choose not to. In fact, in Romans 14, we see that Paul writes, Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand for the Lord, is able to make him stand. One regards one day above another, another regards every day alike.

Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. So that's verses four and five out of Romans 14. And so what Paul is saying here is that we have Christian liberty, we have Christian freedom to make decisions. God does not command us not to partake in this Christmas celebration.

So when God doesn't command us not to do something, then we have that Christian freedom. Mike Gendron with us today on the Christian Real View Radio program. He is the founder and an evangelist with Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries for the last 32 years.

We have their website linked at ours at thechristianrealview.org, or you can go directly there at proclaimingthegospel.org. Mike, I want to talk about some of the most important elements of Christ's birth. The prophecies about his birth, the fact that he was born of a virgin woman, Mary, who had never known a man. And then number three, why the eternal Son of God had to actually become a man and live amongst us.

So we'll talk about those three things today and try to understand those better. There are several prophecies in the Old Testament that were written hundreds of years before Christ came into this world, born in Bethlehem. Several of the very well-known passages from the Old Testament, and we've seen them on Christmas cards and elsewhere, so people will probably know these. But the fulfillment of them and how they actually came true hundreds of years later is beyond any mere happenstance or coincidence. Isaiah 7.14 says, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign, Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she, the mother, will call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. Even that, the fact that saying hundreds of years before that a virgin woman would bear a child, no one's even thought of that before. No one even thinks about something so crazy that no one's ever been born of a virgin woman. So to say that hundreds of years beforehand, and then his name, God with us, which is exactly what happened when Christ was born.

Let me read one or two more. This is from Isaiah 9, two chapters later. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. So there's a child coming, and the government's going to rest on his shoulders, and that's exactly what the New Testament said, that Christ is going to reign over this earth someday.

Well, he reigns now, but he's going to directly reign someday. And then one more in Micah 5.2, where Christ would be born, the Messiah would be born, but as for you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. In other words, there's a Messiah coming who had no beginning. He's a pre-existent God, and he's going to be a ruler in Israel. Mike, how do you explain some of these really well-known prominent prophecies from the Old Testament about Christ's birth, and really why they are irrefutable? Well, David, it really expresses the sovereignty of God. He's got a plan of redemption, and we see it unfolding as prophecy is fulfilled. The Scripture not only promises the Messiah, but it does so in such a way that we can precisely identify him. And the first prophecy of the coming Messiah was actually given in Genesis 3.15. It shows that he would be the seed of the woman.

And of course, that eliminates everybody else. Nobody else was born of the seed of a woman. And so as you look at biblical prophecy, it really gives us great confidence in the Scriptures that God is outside of time, that he's given us prophecy so that we would know the one true God. I was witnessing to a Muslim, and I mentioned to him, I said, Do you happen to know why the Qur'an doesn't have any prophecy?

And he said, No. And I said, I'm not saying this to offend you, but the God of the Qur'an doesn't know the future. He doesn't control the future. Only the God of the Bible does. And he was not aware of that, so it was an encouragement for him to pick up the Bible and read it. We have a book that God has foretold what would take place, and it's just truly amazing. Not only the prophecies that you read, but also the fulfillment. There's another one that says the Messiah would come out of Egypt in Hosea 11.1. When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. And we see the fulfillment was taking place in Matthew 2, verses 14 and 15.

When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt. And he was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt I have called my son. So even these, what we would consider minor details, are all prophecies that have been fulfilled by the Messiah. And it really shows that God has sovereign control over all the events in the universe.

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I'm David Wheaton. Be sure to visit our website, thechristianworldview.org, where you can subscribe to our free weekly email and annual print letter, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry. Our topic today is how the Christ of Christmas is for me and for you. And Mike Gendron is our guest.

He's the founder and evangelist for Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries. Mike, you say, in our Lord's descent from His majestic position in eternity past, Jesus was, quote, made in the likeness of men through a miraculous conception and a virgin birth. The uncreated, infinite, and eternal nature of God was fully integrated with the finite, created nature of man. Deity and humanity came together in perfect unity. The majestic brilliance and glory of the eternal Son of God was concealed by the perishable flesh of humanity.

Jesus had to become one of us so that He could be our kinsman redeemer. Profound paragraph there, Mike, and this is a mystery how God became man, but it's an incredibly important reality that Jesus was made in the likeness of men through a miraculous conception and a virgin birth. How did that conception take place? Was there something from Joseph and something from Mary, or was this a unique creation or conception in the womb of Mary? Well, Jesus Christ was born apart from the normal process of procreation. He was supernaturally conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. And He had to be born of a virgin to fulfill the prophecy in Genesis 3.15.

But we also know that He had to be born of the seed of a woman and not the seed of a man, because we know that through Adam and Adam's seed, sin entered into the world and Jesus was conceived without sin, and of course lived a sinless life. But the angel told Mary, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason, the Holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

And that's in Luke 1.35. So the conception took place as the Holy Spirit came over Mary, and she was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And when the eternal Son of God was clothed in human flesh, we have what you described there from my newsletter. The infinite took on the finite, and God's perfect man became man's perfect God.

But it's really interesting that when you look at the word existed in Philippians chapter 2, it just shows that Christ existed as the eternal God. And so how is it then that the eternal God can become also man? Well, it's only through this miraculous virgin birth where the Holy Spirit came over Mary and caused Jesus to take on human flesh.

David, I think we'll want to talk about why the virgin birth was so necessary. We know that Jesus had to be our kinsman redeemer. He had to become man so that he could die for man.

And I think in Hebrews 2.17 we see it so beautifully said, He had to be made like his brethren in all things, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things pertaining to God in order to make propitiation for the sins of the people. So he had to become a human to be our kinsman redeemer. And if Jesus were not born of a virgin, he was not a descendant of Adam, and in Adam all die.

And we see that in Scripture, 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22, For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. And so Jesus could not be born from the seed of Adam. He had to be born of a virgin in order for that to take place. The supernatural, profound realities of what you've been discussing here of the virgin birth of God becoming man.

And it stretches the mind beyond what we can really, truly, fully comprehend, but we believe it by faith because the Word gives us enough evidence and enough explanation of what took place. Just to follow up slightly though, was Jesus conceived of Mary's egg, or was this a separate, like an implantation of a child in the womb of Mary, or is that not important to even ask? Well the Bible doesn't really give us any indication as to that, which way, one way or the other. But I think more than anything we have to stress the importance of the virgin birth, and David I think a lot of Christians overlook the importance of it, but it was indeed one of the greatest miracles of God. And anyone who doubts the virgin birth, they really have difficulty with the character of the Word of God, because the Word of God plainly teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin. It also calls into question the character of Mary. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, then Mary was a harlot and conceived Jesus out of wedlock.

And it also looks at the character of Jesus. If Jesus were not born of a virgin, then he had to be a descendant of Adam, and as I mentioned before, an Adam all die. And so this virgin birth of Christ is so important in the Christian faith, not only as a fulfillment of prophecy, but also so that Jesus Christ could become the sinless Redeemer that we all need. Yeah, and I'm glad you pointed that out, because oftentimes we look to the resurrection of Christ to be the point at which all of Christianity, and Paul mentioned this in 1 Corinthians 15, hinges on, if Christ didn't rise from the dead, we're just wasting our time.

There are most men to be pitied. I think the same thing could be said about the virgin birth. If Christ wasn't born of a virgin, if that's not true, then really everything falls apart for the reasons you just mentioned, Mike. Mike Gendron with us today, here on the Christian Real View radio program, a founder and evangelist with Proclaiming the Gospel.

He speaks all over the country, all over the world, actually. Their website is proclaimingthegospel.org. You can get connected with their ministry, or you can go directly to our website, thechristianrealview.org, where we have a link over to their ministry. Mike, you were Roman Catholic for the first, I believe, 35 years of your life. So you know a lot about the Catholic view of Mary, what they call the Immaculate Conception, and the virgin birth. How does the Roman Catholic Church deviate from Scripture with their teaching of the Immaculate Conception and the virgin birth of Christ? The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Mary was immaculately conceived, and this, of course, caused her to be born without sin, and then the Catholic Church goes on to declare that she lived a sinless life, and so they once again created another Mary.

They not only have another Jesus and another gospel, but they have another Mary. Mary was not immaculately conceived. She was conceived just like anyone else, and she was a sinner. In fact, we see in the Magnificat in Luke chapter 2 that she referred to Jesus as her Savior, and so the Roman Catholic religion elevates Mary to the point where she has a lot of divine attributes, including her sinlessness. They also believe that she was a perpetual virgin. She didn't have any other children, but the Bible clearly states that she did have other children. So the Roman Catholic view of Mary is just as distorted as its view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for clarifying that, Mike.

Here's another quote from your column. Deity and humanity came together in perfect unity. The majestic brilliance and glory of the eternal Son of God was concealed, to a degree, I'll add, by the perishable flesh of humanity.

This is another one. It's technically called or theologically called the hypostatic union of Christ, that He was 100% God and 100% man. This is another mystery. How do we understand the idea of Christ being 100% God and 100% man without running into the fact that saying, isn't that a logical contradiction?

Well, not at all. I think Paul explains it very well in Philippians 2 verses 5 to 8. He writes, Although he, that is Jesus, existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

This is in Philippians 2 verses 5 to 8, but in verse 6 it says he existed in the form of God, and the Greek word for existed denotes the continuance of a previous state of existence. So it stresses the essence of a person's nature, which is unchangeable, such that Jesus has always existed and will always exist with a divine nature as in the form of God. And so as deity and humanity came together in perfect unity, Jesus became like us with two exceptions. He had no human father and He never sinned. But other than that, He had to be like us in order to be our kinsman redeemer, in order to die as a substitute in the place of sinners. And David, as a Roman Catholic for 35 years, that is a doctrine that was never taught, the penal substitution of Christ. I knew that Jesus died for the sins of the world.

That was history. But when I found out Jesus died for me, that He died as my substitute, that He took upon my sin, my guilt, my punishment that I deserve, and He was immersed in the wrath of God so that I would not have to endure that. And then He gives me His righteousness in exchange for my sin.

That is just something that Roman Catholics need to be aware of. And that's why 2 Corinthians 521 has become my favorite verse because for 35 years I never heard it. Jesus who knew no sin became sin for me that I might become the righteousness of God in Him. To a condemned sinner on death row, that is the greatest news they could ever hear.

I call it the greatest exchange in human history, that Christ takes our sin and gives us His righteousness as a gift. And you know, that really takes care of the two things that keep people out of heaven. Finite man has an eternal sin debt that he could never pay off.

So Jesus, the eternal God, had to come and cancel the eternal debt. But then that only gets us out of hell. It doesn't get us to heaven. God's righteousness requires perfect righteousness and man has no hope since he's a sinner. But God, whatever He requires, He also provides. So He requires perfect righteousness and He gives us the gift of His Son's righteousness to all those who trust in Him. So that's the beauty of the gospel. Jesus Christ, God's perfect man, and man's perfect God, dying in the place of sinners so that we could have eternal life. So well said.

Thank you for that, Mike. So Christ had to be 100% God. So He could be perfect, sinless, and bear the sins of all those who would believe in Him. And He had to be 100% man because He had to be our representative, our kinsman redeemer. Is that correct?

That's correct. That, by the way, is why angels are not redeemed, the fallen angels. Christ would have had to become an angel to redeem angels, but He became a man to redeem mankind. I'm going to follow up on your last answer there, where you explained the gospel from your newsletter, which listeners can sign up for free at your website, proclaimingthegospel.org. You write, The incarnation of Jesus Christ was the ultimate condescension.

In other words, coming down to us. The Creator took on the form of the created, and the infinite became the finite. The Lord Jesus was born to die as a substitute for His people, just as you mentioned. As a bondservant, Jesus carried the burden that no other bondservant could carry. That is, the sin burden of everyone who would ever repent and believe in Him.

Next paragraph. The Lord Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He lived a sinless life of perfect obedience. Then, He offered Himself, the eternal God-man, and canceled the eternal sin-debt for those who repent of their sin and believe His gospel.

The perfect High Priest, which is Christ, offered Himself the perfect sacrifice to a perfect God, who demands perfection, and then declared in victory, It is finished. From John 19, verse 30. Because of the joy set before Him, this is from Hebrews 12, you just read this, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. As our High Priest, you continue to write, He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, Christ, since He always lives to make intercession for them. And that's a reference from Hebrews chapter 7, verse 25.

So build off your last answer there, Mike, for someone listening today, who's rushing through the Christmas season, running around with everything that distracts us from the real meaning of Christmas, what should they do with Jesus Christ? David, it's really an amazing study of Christianity today, but there are so many professing Christians that believe the only way to get to heaven is to do things in order to appease God. There are so many religions that teach a works, righteousness, salvation, but we actually published a gospel track entitled, You Can Never Do What Christ Has Done, for that simple reason.

If you look at all the faiths and religions in the world, you can really boil it down to two. There's those that believe in divine accomplishment, what Christ has done, and those that believe in human achievement, what man must do in order to appease their God. And so we need to inform people that good works and rituals can never satisfy divine justice. You know, divine justice can only be meted out when someone dies, because the wages of sin is death, and that's why Jesus had to go to the cross. He went to the cross to satisfy divine justice, because a holy and righteous God cannot let guilty sinners go free. Divine justice must be satisfied. And so I share with people that divine justice takes place in one of two places, either at Calvary's cross, where repenting sinners can put their faith in Jesus as their substitute, and he will satisfy divine justice by dying in their place, or you can say no thank you to Jesus, and divine justice will take place at the great white throne judgment, and that's when those who have rejected Christ's offer will stand before him and hear the words, Depart from me, I never knew you, and divine justice will be satisfied when they are cast into the eternal lake of fire. And so we need to recognize that God is a holy and righteous God.

He is a just God. He cannot let sin go unpunished. And so the only hope for a sinner is to come to the cross of Christ and put their faith in Christ as a substitute, and believe that when he died on the cross, he died in their place, satisfying divine justice on their behalf.

And that's the only way anyone has any hope of escaping the judgment of God. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, and that's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. You know, I have a ministry to Roman Catholics, and Roman Catholics believe they are saved by grace through faith in Christ, but the word alone is left out, and they believe it's grace plus merit, faith plus works, and Christ plus other mediators. So when we witness to those who are Roman Catholic, we have to stress the importance of grace alone. Paul said in Romans 11, 6, if it is by grace, it is not of works, otherwise grace is not grace. And David, you're familiar with the verses in Ephesians 2, 8, 9, two verses that have set so many Roman Catholics free, for by grace you have been saved through faith. It is a gift of God.

It's not of yourselves, so that no man may boast. And so Roman Catholics, when they read that, they recognize, okay, I've been trying to do things in order to appease God. Now I realize I'm saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. So those two verses have set many Roman Catholics free.

Yeah, really it is. It's not putting faith in our own works to be right with God, because we could never do enough to offset the sin we've already done, is putting faith in Christ's work on our behalf. Mike Gendron with us today, here on The Christian Rule, you thank you for explaining the gospel message, the good news of what Christmas is really about, that God sent His Son in the world to save sinners, to be the substitute for us on the cross. We'll take a short break for some ministry announcements. Would you like to support our mission to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and proclaim the good news of Christ?

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Transcripts and short takes are also available. We are glad you joined us today for this Christmas special on The Christian Worldview radio program. Our topic is How the Christ of Christmas is for Me and for You. Mike Gendron, the founder and an evangelist with Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries is our guest. And Mike, you say this in your newsletter, God seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. His crown of thorns was exchanged for the crown of a king. The suffering servant was exalted to be the king of kings. Then you quote 1 Timothy chapter 1. Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, the honor and glory forever and ever.

He is worthy, you say, of all our praise and worship now and forever. Mike, why is it important that Jesus wasn't just born, just didn't stay a baby. He didn't just live a sinless life. He didn't just die as a substitute sacrifice on the cross for our sin. He didn't just rise from the dead and 500 people witnessed him at one time risen from the dead. He didn't just ascend into heaven as the disciples, the apostles watched him do, but Christ now lives and reigns.

Why is it important to know where he is now? I'm glad you brought that up because he lives to intercede for everyone who believes in him. The Bible also calls him the good shepherd who watches over his sheep.

He is our advocate and our defense attorney. When the devil comes accusing us, the Lord Jesus stands up as our advocate and points to the cross 2,000 years ago and says paid for. So he lives and he's also going to return again in glory and he's going to come back with all of his saints. You know, David, the prophecies that you read out of Isaiah that he will rule and reign. He will rule and reign for 1,000 years and he will rule from the throne of David. And we see the genealogy given in Matthew where he would be in the lineage of David so that he could reign from the throne of David. We also see the genealogy of Christ in Luke's gospel. And it's really interesting as you compare the two because many people are not aware of the curse of Jeconiah. There was a curse placed on Jeconiah such that any of his offspring would not be able to rule from the throne of David.

And so when we look at the return of Jesus Christ, we know that he has fulfilled the prophecies, that he has fulfilled both genealogies. God had to devise a plan for Jesus to have the royal right to reign without going through the line of Jeconiah. So the virgin birth which bypassed the actual bloodline of Jeconiah through Mary's genealogy is how he circumvented that so that Jesus could have the bloodline of David through the genealogy of Mary. She, by the way, came through David through Nathan, not Solomon. It was Jeconiah that came through Solomon. So this is an excellent study for people to consider the curse of Jeconiah, the two genealogies that we see in Matthew. Matthew gives a descending genealogy that's from Abraham to David to Solomon to Joseph, whereas Luke's genealogy is ascending. It's the bloodline through Mary from Jesus through Nathan who was also the son of David. So maybe more than you asked for as far as why is it important that Jesus reigns now in heaven.

He is alive and he will return again to fulfill the prophecies given in Isaiah and many other Old Testament prophets to rule and reign all the nations of the world. What a glorious savior we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Very, very true. Thank you for that, Mike. And it's just so much more profound than we can even imagine, even what you're talking about Jeconiah, something that I hadn't heard or maybe hadn't forgotten about.

In God's sovereignty, all the pieces just fit perfectly together as you would expect from an omnipotent, omniscient God. Final question for you today as we head into Christmas here, Mike. For those listening that are going to be celebrating Christmas, what would you recommend that listeners do in the time leading up to Christmas and on Christmas Day? To make their family gathering or to make the time leading up to it a meaningful remembrance of who Christ is, his coming to earth, his life, his death, his resurrection? Well, David, many families get together over Christmas and when families get together, there's a lot of believers and unbelievers mixed together. So I would just encourage every believer to take advantage of this since it is the focus on Christ's birth.

Let's tell the story of Christ's birth his virgin birth, his sinless life, his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead, which shows that God was satisfied, divine justice had been satisfied so that sinners could now have a relationship and be reconciled to God through the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. I think we need to be bold during this time, maybe read the Christmas story to our families and even prepare for it so that the gospel is clearly presented I think more than ever. We know our days are numbered. We're living in the last days. We have to be concerned about our family members that are outside of Christ that have never been reconciled to him, that have never been forgiven and have never received the gift of eternal life.

We need to be aware and have compassion on them. So I would use this opportunity to share the Christmas story and make sure we give the gospel clearly and completely. One of the things we like to do is we go out on Christmas Eve to Roman Catholic churches and everybody is in the mindset of giving and receiving gifts. So we have a gospel track entitled The Greatest News Ever Told About the Greatest Gift Ever Given and the unique thing about this gospel track, it contains only scripture and we show how God is perfect, he is holy, man has a problem, all have sinned and then we see God's provision. He provided his savior and we give man's part to repent and believe and then God's promise is eternal life. So as Catholics come out of the sacrifice of the mass on Christmas Eve, we simply ask them, what's the greatest gift you've ever received? They will oftentimes point to their jewelry, they'll point to their children, they'll point to their cell phone or whatever and we simply say there's a greater gift than that and that's the gift of eternal life. And of course in Catholicism, they don't believe in the assurance of eternal life. Catholics only have conditional life so when we present this great gift of eternal life based on what we read in 1 John 5.13, John writes to those who believe in the name of the Son of God that you can know that you have eternal life.

We share that with Catholics that you can know right now by trusting in Christ alone that you can have eternal life and it will never be taken from you. And so it really is good news to share not only with family members but also with Roman Catholics who do not know the true Christ or the true gospel. May the Lord bless you, Mike, for caring enough, loving enough of your fellow man's souls and the Roman Catholicism you came out of to go out of your house and to give them the message from Scripture that can literally make them right with God and give them eternal life. So just God's blessings on you and your family, Mike. We thank you for coming on the Christian Real View radio program today and a Christ-centered Christmas to you. Well, it's always a joy to be with you, David.

So many blessings to you and your family this Christmas season as well. Well, I think you can tell that Mike is a sober-minded and sound follower of Jesus Christ. He's a regular guy who was saved from believing a false gospel to believing the true gospel of grace.

And he has dedicated his life to proclaiming that. He gave a meaty explanation of profound doctrines of Scripture today, the virgin birth and God becoming man and fulfilled prophecies of the Old Testament and the coming of Christ and understanding and meditating on these things and then being able to explain them to others is what deepens your faith in God and His Word because it all fits perfectly together and we praise God for that. Thank you for joining us today on the Christian Real View radio program. In just a moment, there will be information on how you can hear a replay of today's program and support this nonprofit radio ministry. Also, if you have questions after hearing today's program about what you must do to be saved through putting your faith in Jesus Christ, make this Christmas the one that changes your life and eternity. Go to our website, thechristianrealview.org.

Click on the page What Must I Do to Be Saved or just give us a call. Let's be encouraged here at Christmas. We may live in a challenging world but Jesus Christ and His Word are the same yesterday and today and forever. Have a Christ-centered Christmas, everyone, and until next time, think biblically, live accordingly, and stand firm. The mission of the Christian Real View is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We hope today's broadcast encouraged you toward that end. To hear a replay of today's program, order a transcript, or find out What Must I Do to Be Saved, go to thechristianrealview.org or call toll-free 1-888-646-2233. The Christian Real View is a listener-supported non-profit radio ministry furnished by the Overcomer Foundation. To make a donation, become a Christian Real View partner, order resources, subscribe to our free newsletter, or contact us, visit thechristianrealview.org, call 1-888-646-2233, or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. That's Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. Thanks for listening to The Christian Real View.