Origin of Christmas

 Origin of Christmas

History tells us:

Christmas originated as a Christian holiday celebrating Jesus Christ's birth, formally set on December 25th by Pope Julius I in the 4th century, replacing or incorporating existing Roman pagan winter solstice festivals like Saturnalia and the birthday of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) to blend traditions and ease conversion, adopting customs like feasting, gift-giving, and evergreen decorations from these earlier celebrations, with its traditions evolving over centuries.

Christian Roots:

Jesus' Birth: Christmas (Christ's Mass) honors the birth of Jesus, though the Bible doesn't specify the date, notes History.com.

Official Date: The Roman Church established December 25th as the date in the 4th century (around 336 CE or AD).

https://christcrosscrucified.com/

Why do Christians celebrate Christmas like the pagan world with feasting, decorating and gift-giving? Is not this giving homage to false gods? Does not the Bible teach that we should have no other gods before the Lord God Almighty? 1 John 5:21 states: Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Most Christians say that they are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas but the celebrating the birth of Christ does not date back to Christ’s birth. Where in the Bible do you see family or believers celebrating Jesus’s birthday? Can you find in the Bible where they celebrated Jesus’s first, tenth, sixteen or twenty first birthday or any of His birthdays?

Shouldn’t we be living by the Word of God? When it comes to celebrating and worship we should only do what the Bible teaches and nothing added to it. In Jesus day the pagan world celebrated birthdays, not believers in the Messiah. Look at the birth of Christ mentioned in the book of Matthew in the Bible. The Heavenly Host and the Shepherds praise God.

Many people believed that the Wise men were there but they did not show up until Jesus was about one year old. The Bible does not teach us to form a tradition of celebrating Jesus’s birth every year. Read Matthew 2:11 – The Wise men came into Joseph’s house and called Jesus a Young Child. The Wise men were not in the stable when Jesus was born.

Does the Church need to repent of her many sins? The first three chapters of Revelation in the Bible states that the Church needs to turn from false teaching and traditions that are not of God. If a teaching or tradition does not go back to Christ and the Bible then it is not of God.

Has the Church been deceived by the devil? Why would the devil want Christians to celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus? The devil wants the Church to focus their attention to baby Jesus because baby Jesus could not heal the sick, proclaim the Gospel and do many miracles to save the lost. Most of all, the devil wants our attention to be drawn away from the Cross. Focusing our attention on baby Jesus draws Christians away from our Salvation provided for us by the crucifixion. The Bible teaches us to remember the death of Christ, burial and resurrection, not the birth of Christ.

The Bible teaches us that we are being saved daily (Acts 2:46-47) by the work of the Cross and that is what our focus should be! Church Revival Prayer!

Bill Naugle