All of us at Turning Point would like to wish you a Merry Christmas. And thank you for spending this time with Dr. David Jeremiah as you celebrate the Savior's birth. But imagine for a moment, what if there was no Christmas? What if Christ had never been born?
How would that affect your life? Your hope. Listen as David examines those questions in his special uplifting message. Why there must be Christmas. And thank you for joining us today and.
Merry Christmas to all of you, from Donna and me, and all of us here at Turning Point. We hope this is a wonderful, blessed celebration for you. Whether you're with many or few, I pray this Christmas Day will bring joy and hope into your heart. We're going to talk about kind of a seminal message for this day. Why there must be Christmas, why Christmas is celebrated in the first place.
Why do we do what we do, what we're doing today, gathering with our families and Exchanging gifts and enjoying a great meal together and celebrating at church and candlelight services and choirs and all of the things that are part of Christmas. Why do we do that? Why there must be Christmas? And we'll get to it in just a moment. On this Christmas Day, I want to encourage you to make a gift to yourself.
A gift of a devotional that will help you stay focused on your faith all the way through this next year. The 2026 devotional, A Closer Walk with Jesus, is now available, and you can have your copy for a gift of any size to Turning Point before the calendar turns over at the end of this month. This beautiful leather-cover devotional will grace. Your home. your study But the words inside will change your life.
This is a wonderful way to begin every day with a devotional thought To get you focused in the right direction, you can have your copy of A Closer Walk with Jesus, the 2026 devotional. Just send a gift of any size and say, Please send me the devotional. And I hope you will, as I said in the beginning, give yourself the Christmas present. And make sure you use it every day. It's a gift that we'll give every day of the year if you'll take advantage of it.
Okay, let's get started with today's message, Why There Must Be Christmas. Jesus came from his home in heaven, and for a few years he made his home on this earth. He came to become like us so that we could ultimately go to heaven and become like him.
So much depended on his coming, so much would have been lost had he not come. Friends, I hope you know that Christmas is not an option. It's not just another holiday to celebrate. One of the many ways for us to find meaning in this season is to contemplate what the world and what our own personal lives would be like if there were no Christmas. What if Christ had not been born?
What would our world be like if no angel had appeared to a Jewish maiden with the news that she was chosen to be the Messiah's mother? What would the world be like if no angels appeared to the shepherds on the hillside outside of Bethlehem? telling them that a Savior was born. What if there were no Bethlehem inn where the weary couple lodged for the night of the baby's birth? What if there never were any wise men?
What if there never was a miraculous child? born to a couple named Joseph and Mary. What if Jesus had never come. When we contemplate the implications of such a terrible thought, We begin to understand Christmas as it was meant to be understood. First of all, if there is no Christmas, this book is worthless.
Here are just a few of the prophecies that are in this book concerning the coming of Jesus Christ. that he would be born of a virgin, that he would have his name called Emmanuel, that his birth would take place in Bethlehem, that he would be visited by the Magi and presented with gifts, and that because of his birth there would be a huge massacre of infants. These are just four or five of the prophecies that are in this book about the coming of Jesus Christ at what we call Christmas. Did you know that in the Bible, in the Old Testament, there are 366 prophecies about Jesus Christ? They're about his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, his second coming.
And there are about 40 or 50 of those prophecies that have to do with Christmas. Men like Isaiah and Micah and Jeremiah. prophesied that a child would be born. of the nature of the birth of Jesus Christ. They gave intimate details about his birth.
And if those things had not come true, this book would have been rendered useless. For how can you believe a book that is only half true if it supports itself to be the inspired word of God? Do you know those prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus were made 700 years before his birth? And you say, well, why would that render the Bible useless?
Well, the Bible claims to be inspired, it claims to be. authoritative. It claims to be inerrant. Years ago, there were a group of theologians who would write and say things like: Well, we believe the Bible is inspired, but not all of it.
Some parts of it are inspired, and some parts of it are not. And I used to wonder who was inspired to tell us what was inspired and what wasn't inspired, you know? If you only have a partially inspired Bible, there's not a whole lot of help to that because you never know which part is and which part isn't. The Bible claims to be totally inspired. from Genesis to Revelation.
So if The prophecies concerning Jesus Christ were not fulfilled as the Bible says they would be. The Bible loses its integrity. Without Christmas, The Bible's meaningless. If Jesus didn't come, We don't have a Bible. We just have a Interesting book.
Number two. If there's no Christmas, then we wouldn't know God. When Jesus became a man, he showed us. what God was like. He showed us that God was not merely a principle, a spirit, if you will, but a person.
Jesus was not an idea of God, He wasn't a picture of God, but Jesus was God Himself in human form. If Jesus had not come to this earth, we could not have a correct understanding of God. We could not know what God is like if He had not sent us His own Son to reveal Himself to us. One day Jesus and Philip were having a conversation And Philip said to Jesus, Lord, show us the Father, and it will be sufficient for us. And Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip?
He who has seen me has seen the Father. Jesus wasn't just an idea about God or a person sent here from heaven to tell us about God. Jesus was God in the flesh. When he was born in Bethlehem, he did not begin there. He had existed throughout eternity, but for a short period of time, he deigned to come to this world and this earth and become like us.
To show us in terms we could understand. Who God was. and what he was like. Matthew says, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel, which is translated. God with us.
Say that with me. God with us. I think the Apostle John explains it best. When he writes these words in the prologue of the fourth gospel, If you read this passage, you will notice that in your translation of the Bible, the word Word is capitalized because the word word in that text is a reference to Jesus.
So I'll just put Jesus' name in there so you'll really truly understand what this passage says. In the beginning was Jesus. And Jesus was with God. And Jesus was God. And Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us.
And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. full of grace and truth. I want you to zero in on that little phrase in this passage that says, and Jesus became flesh. and dwelt among us Jesus Became flesh, God became flesh and dwelt among us. When John uses the word dwelt, he describes Jesus' sojourn on this earth.
He uses a word that means to live in a tent. That's what the word means. Or, as theologians say, to tabernacle, Jesus tabernacled with us. Eugene Peterson paraphrases the verse this way, I love this. He said, and Jesus became flesh and blood and moved into our neighborhood.
He came down here to be among us, to be with us, so that we could know who God was. It was early July 2020. Mary Daniel had not seen her husband for 114 days. Due to coronavirus restrictions at the senior care facility where he lives. Her husband, Steve, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's seven years ago and moved into a care facility in Jacksonville, Florida.
She said she had been visiting her husband every night and would get him ready for bed. But with the coronavirus pandemic hit, health facilities restricted visitors to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to vulnerable patients. and the facility closed to visitors on March 11th. the last time she saw Steve. as a visitor.
Mary worried about her husband.
So much time alone was not good for an Alzheimer's patient. And she was desperate to find some way to stay connected. And then out of the blue, The care facility's corporate office called Mary and said, We've got a part-time job available. If you would like to take it. She didn't even ask what it was.
She was willing to do any job that they offered for the chance to get inside, and what they ended up giving her was a dishwashing position. She washed dishes. It's worth it to be able to visit him, and I can already tell the difference in his demeanor after three visits. I'm so grateful. I just wanted to be with him every day.
What Mary Daniel did for her husband because of her love for him. in a much more profound way, Jesus Christ has done for you and me. He loved us so much, he moved into our sick and dying world. not just to be close to us. but to rescue us and take us to his home in heaven.
If you know Jesus, You know God. That's why Jesus himself said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. You get to the Father through the Son. If you don't have Christmas, you really can't understand God. And if you don't have Christmas You're still in your sin and you're not forgiven.
That's a terrible thought. If Christ had not been born, we couldn't be forgiven of our sin. And the Bible says, she will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. If Jesus had not come into the world, there would be no such thing as the forgiveness of sins. The law was impossible.
To forgive sin. When the fullness of his time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. One day, John the Baptist saw Jesus walking across the landscape and he said, Behold, the Lamb of God. Who takes away the sin of the world. Listen to me, men and women, without Jesus Christ coming to this earth to be one of us, there is no such thing as being forgiven.
Do you remember the first time you ever realized that God hath fully and completely and totally forgiven you of all your sin? Do you know the joy and blessing? Of that guilt being lifted from your life, Christmas is so vital because without it, this book is gone. Without it, we don't know who God is. Without it, we can't be forgiven.
Here's the fourth thing. If there isn't any Christmas We can't get any prayers answered. The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 4 that we have a high priest. who sympathizes with our weaknesses. He was in all points tempted as we are.
Yet without sin. And therefore, we are told to come boldly before the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy and find help in the time of need. Because the Lord Jesus came to this earth and walked among us as one of us, When we pray to the Father, whose name do we pray in? In the name of Jesus. Because through Jesus, we have one who understands everything about us because he experienced all that we've experienced.
And we come and say, Lord Jesus, here I am again. I thought I had this managed, but I don't. Christmas reminds us that Christ chooses to enter into our suffering. Jesus already experienced way beyond anything we could ever imagine. And the Bible teaches us that one of the reasons he came to this earth One of the reasons for the incarnation, God in the flesh, was that we might have someone like us who has experienced our experiences and knows how to help us in our time of need.
So when I pray to the Lord Jesus, He's not some distant person who's never experienced my experiences. Listen to me, if you've been lonely, the Lord Jesus knew loneliness. If you've lost resources, the Bible said. He had no home. No place to sleep.
Everything you've ever known in your life, including everything you know right now, whoever you might be, Jesus has been there and done that.
So when you talk to him He knows what you're talking about. Christmas tells us that the primary interest of Jesus is always to help us. He's always about encouragement. He's always about grace. He's always about mercy.
He is here to help us. Jesus came into this world knowing what it would cost him, but it was worth it.
so that he could be our helper. And finally, If there's no Christmas We have no Bible. If there's no Christmas, we struggle to know God. If there's no Christmas, we're still unforgiven. If there's no Christmas, our prayers can't get answered.
And if there's no Christmas, there's no hope. If Jesus didn't come... To bring us eternal life, what is there to live for? Have you ever noticed the difference between people who know Jesus and people who don't? I mean, I know there's some unbelievers who are just Humanly happy all the time.
I've met some of them. But I've not very often met people who don't know Jesus, who have that settled joy in their heart. that makes it possible for them even to face the loss of a loved one. and not be filled with despair. When you know Jesus, you have hope.
Listen to what it says in Ephesians. At that time, you were without Christ. You were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise. having no hope and without God in the world. That's where we were.
But the New Testament teaches us that when Jesus came, He came not only to forgive our sins, but to give us the hope, not the hope-so hope, but the no-so hope. That one day we would spend eternity with Him. Colossians 1:27 puts it this way: Christ in you. The hope of glory. Jesus Christ is our hope.
Paul said that to Timothy. And Paul wrote that we who are Christians are looking for that blessed hope. and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. There's a section of the scripture In the first book of Corinthians. Where Paul is writing about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and he makes some very strong statements concerning its importance.
I hesitate ever to change anything in the scripture, but just for this moment. I want you to allow me the privilege. of replacing the resurrection of Christ with the birth of Christ. in this passage, and I think you will see. how important it really is.
And if Christ has not come. then our preaching is empty and our faith is also empty. Yes, we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that Christ has come. when indeed he is not? And if Christ has not come, Your faith is futile.
and you are still in your sins. That tells us how important Christmas is because Christmas is the celebration of the coming of Christ. It is a celebration of Christ coming to be one of us. To be a part of who we are, the Bible says he tasted flesh. that he might be one of us.
The obscure birth of this peasant child seemed insignificant. when it happened. But it reaches across the years to demand our attention. It suggests the importance not just for those who were involved in the events of that moment, but for all the rest of us, even from a distance of 20 centuries. The story of Jesus is ultimately not a narrative about its own time, it's a narrative about all time.
It is not simply about Mary and Joseph and the others. It concerns us just as if we had stood beside those shepherds that night. and knelt by the manger and marvelled at the newborn. Jesus has come. And he has come to bring us hope.
There's a Catholic priest whose writings I like to read. His name is Henry Nguyen. I don't know where he got the gift of writing, but he writes wonderfully well. And when it comes to the narratives of the New Testament, he's spot on. He tells the story of one day being in the Hermitage Museum in St.
Petersburg, Russia. And when he got there, he came to the painting called The Return of the Prodigal Son. It's an incredible painting. That tells the story of the prodigal son.
Now, let me define this for just a moment because often when we say prodigal, we think that means bad. Like for instance, if you have a child in your family and he's going south when you hoped would go north, oh, he's our prodigal.
Well, be careful what you say, because the prodigal is not a bad term. The word prodigal just means without restraint. Prodigality is Borderless. Whatever is being done is being done at full force without any restraint. I remember preaching on the prodigal son and actually telling you that the real story was, it wasn't the son who was the prodigal, it was the father.
He was the one who unconditionally embraced his son. He was the prodigal father.
So prodigality doesn't mean evil, it just means without restraint. When the son went into the far country in the story in Luke 15, He He went and, without restraint, he spent all the money that he had. Remember that?
So the word prodigal here does not mean evil. Back to my friend Henry Nawan, who was sitting watching and looking and staring at the portrait. And he said while he was staring at the painting, he gained new insight into the parable. The mystery that Jesus Himself became something of a prodigal for our sakes. He left the house of his heavenly father, and he came to a foreign country.
And he gave all that he had. And he returned through the cross to his father's home. All of this he did not as a rebellious son, but as an obedient son. sent out to bring home all the lost children of God. Jesus is the prodigal son.
of the prodigal father. I never thought of that before. I will never forget it. It brings new meaning to ourselves. to a parable that I have loved.
But it brings new meaning to the message we are preaching today. that Jesus came. to be one of us.
so that ultimately he could take us home. to be with the Father. And that's what Christmas is all about, and that's the prelude to Christmas that I wanted to share with you today. Before we Close our Bibles. One Last thought for you and for me.
I read about a pastor who Said uh His son just didn't understand gifts. He said, My wife and I would go out when he was a little guy and buy what we thought was the perfect gift. And the little guy would tear open the gift and end up playing with the box. See, they drove us crazy.
Some of you are smiling because you probably had similar experiences. He said one day we were talking about this, and we decided on the next Christmas we were going to find the gift of gifts that he would not be able to resist. And we shopped and we shopped and we shopped and we found the gift and we were so excited. We were more excited at that moment when the gift came out from under the tree than he was. And he was about to open it.
Much more excited than he would ever have been because we knew this was going to be the end. And he was going to fall in love with the gift. He ripped open the gift like a little boy would and actually got out the toy and began to play with it. I had such a feeling of victory. I went into the kitchen to get something to drink, and it was in there for just a minute.
When I came out, he was sitting in the box. I couldn't believe it. If you're one of God's children, You've been given the most awesome gift that could ever be given to anyone. It's the most gorgeous from every perspective. It's a gift of such grandeur that it's hard to wrap human vocabulary around it and explain it.
It's beautiful from every vista. It's the gift that every human being needs. It's a gift that, in all of your work and all of your effort, and all of your achievement, you could never have earned, you could never have deserved, you could never have achieved. It is absolutely without question the gift of gifts, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He brings. It's the gift of grace.
But I am deeply persuaded, having watched Christmas now over all these years. that there are many Christians who are content to sit in the box. and play with the wrappings. and the ribbons and the paper. and ignore the gift.
that they were meant to receive. And I just want to encourage you this year. Enjoy the gift. Enjoy all of the. wonderful things that go with it.
But don't get so caught up in the wrapping and in the box. that you forget the gift. that's inside. the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you will take knowledge of my words and do what I've encouraged you to do.
Let me just say, this is the end of the actual series, Why the Nativity. And while it's fresh in my mind, let me tell you about some resources you can get. For this series, as you prepare for the rest of this year and even for the Christmases to come, there is a book. Called Why the Nativity from Tyndall. I wrote this book several years ago, and that book has now become a movie which will be seen throughout the world during these days.
It's been shown many, many times already this year, and that movie is about the coming of Christ, the Incarnation. There's also a study guide that has notes and outlines of every single message we've done during the month of December. It's beautifully adorned with pictures from the movie and you can get this study guide from davidjeremiah.org. Thank you again for taking time on Christmas Day to be a part of Turning Point. We'll see you next time right here on this good station.
For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's special Christmas message, please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected. our monthly Turning Points magazine, and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio or call us at 800-947-1993.
Ask for your copy of David's new 365-day devotional for 2026, A Closer Walk with Jesus. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International, and New King James Versions, complete with notes and articles from Dr. Jeremiah's decades of study. Get all the details when you visit our website, davidjeremiah.org/slash radio.
This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow for a message to help you start the new year right on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah. I'm going to use a bottle of the same method.
