I just LOVE Christmas! I love the music, the great spirit of giving that surrounds it, and the joy of seeing loved ones and friends enjoying themselves in the days of a “break” from the daily grind of life! I recently read the story of a young mother, who, after reading the Christmas story to her young son, saw a puzzled look on his face as he sorted it all out.  After much thought, the boy said with a grin, “Let me see if I’ve got this straight…Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, but I get the presents?… Wow, is this a great religion or what?!”

Well, it’s obvious as we look around that not everyone really understands, or believes, what Christmas is all about…They may not even know the “ABC’s” of Christmas!  It’s good for all of us to see through the tinsel and fantasy to the truth of the great story of Bethlehem.

Perhaps no verse in the Bible presents these “ABC’s” like II Corinthians 8: 9, which reads “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” There it is in a nutshell -  three simple, yet profound truths – the “bottom line” of Christmas!

First, “He was RICH.” We see some “rich” people in this world, – the average rich, the medium rich, the super rich, and the incredibly rich- from “wealthy” to “multi-millionaires” to “billionaires.” We might say the “average rich” fly first class, the “medium rich” charter a jet, the “super rich” own the jet, and the incredibly rich own the airline.  Jesus owns more -  He owns the skies! The Bible says “He as rich,” speaking of what He had before He left heaven to come to earth! Before Bethlehem, Jesus was the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, worshiped by the angels, and sharing the glory of the Father in Heaven…The accumulated wealth of those on earth with the greatest riches, power, influence, skill, genius, wisdom, insight, and ability could not come close to the riches of the Savior.  That’s part of the story, but Christmas begins with what happens next:

“He became POOR.” He Who was rich in eternity became poor in time. Not “He was made poor,” but “He became poor,” of His own will – He, the richest of all, chose poverty. He left heaven for a remote village to join a despised race and be born to a peasant girl in a stable. This incarnation is the heart of the Gospel, and of Christmas…He wrapped Himself in flesh at that manger in Bethlehem.

There’s the “A” and “B” – Rich to Poor.  The “C” of the “ABCs” is the truth we must know to discover the true meaning of Christmas. It expresses the purpose of Christmas that so many miss! –

“That we might be rich” That’s the grace that is expressed in this verse – the undeserved favor of the Savior, leaving all, to take our sin, and to give us His righteousness.  We come to God as paupers with empty hands, bare pockets, nothing to offer, and no claim of any goodness…He forgives our sin and makes us rich beyond measure!  C.S. Lewis said it this way: “The Son of God became a son of man in order that the sons of men might become the sons of God.” What a privilege to be His child, and it’s all because of Christmas, when “He who was rich… became poor that… we might be rich.”

At this season of giving, let us who are “rich” in Christ share the “ABC’s of Christmas” with those who desperately need to hear the truth of what really happened in Bethlehem.