The Reason for the Season Part 4 of 4

My Fourth symbol of Christmas is Santa Clause:

From the online Wikipedia we learn that “Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle and simply "Santa", is a figure with legendary, historical and folkloric origins… The modern figure of Santa Claus is derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, whose name is a dialectal pronunciation of Saint Nicholas, the historical Greek bishop and gift-giver of Myra. Other names for the figure include De Sint ("The Saint"), De Goedheiligman ("The Good Holy Man"), and De Goede Sint ("The Good Saint") in Dutch…”

If I were to describe to a group of children at Christmas time a man dressed in red, with a beard, that knows if you’ve been good or bad, is kind, and loves children – most of them as well as their parents would picture in their minds a traditional image of Santa.  But these characteristics also describe the Savior Jesus Christ.  I love this picture of Christ:

To me Santa Clause is a symbol for Jesus Christ; in fact the German root of the name Kris Kringle means Christ Child.  Santa should remind us the real reason for the season! Go to this link and view a wonderful painting by Greg Olsen.  The way I view Santa is that he is a symbol of Christ. 

The Spirit of Christmas by Greg Olsen

Just as children hope that Santa will bring them something wonderful for Christmas we can have hope in Christ that He will bring to us peace, joy, happiness and show us the way forward.

I hope that during the remainder of this Christmas season that as each of you see these symbols of Christmas  around you that you will be quick to remember the true meaning of Christmas and that doing so will fill your hearts and homes with Hope.

The Reason for the Season Part 3 of 4

My third symbol of Christmas is Christmas Lights:

The tradition of Christmas lights has its origin in Germany where candles were placed to light the Christmas tree.  This tradition has evolved into spectacular displays of multi-colored lights and sounds.  To me this symbol of Christmas reminds me of how dependent we are on light.  Light is life, without the light of the sun every living thing on our planet would die.  Without the light from the sun, the earth would be a very cold, miserable, and inhospitable place to live.  Without the sun we could not see the beauty around us.

Jesus Christ taught – “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)  I think it is not accidental that there are many parallels that can be drawn between the Sun and The Son, meaning Jesus Christ the Son of God.  We are dependent on Him, for without Him we would die both spiritually and physically.  Without Christ, death would be victorious and life after death would be just a fantasy.  Without Christ and the gospel He brought and taught and His perfect example we would not know the way to true happiness, and our existence would truly be pointless and the world would be a very cold place.  Without Christ we would not be able to see the source of all our blessings and the miracles all around us. Truly, He is the light and therefore the life of the world, and the source of our Hope!

My fourth and final symbol of Christmas ... coming in the next installment!

The Reason for the Season Part 2 of 4

My second symbol of Christmas is a Wrapped Gift:

The giving of gifts at Christmas-time of course has its origins in the Christmas story – the wise men followed the star and came to visit Jesus, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But the greatest gift ever given was given by our Heavenly Father –

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”  (John 3:16-17)

Christ is the first gift of Christmas. Go to this you tube website and view this short video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzjFEMmM0Xs

What have we done to deserve such a gift?  Nothing! This gift is freely given to each of us because our Heavenly Father loves us with a love that is unconditional.  The gift of His Son is meant to bring us eternal joy and happiness so that we might return to live in our Heavenly home with our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. He is the source of our HOPE!

My third symbol of Christmas ... coming in the next installment!