Happy Birthday to Jesus?!

Okay, okay, I've gotten a little flack from my last post about ruining (or rocking as I like to think) everyone's Christmas story, mostly in jest, but I'm glad it got people actually thinking about their view of the Christmas story. So, on to the next post!

As it is still the Christmas season, I can't help but write about another Christmas post. Thinking back on my Christmas memories as a kid, I always remember how my family would get up on Christmas morning and before opening gifts, my dad would read the Christmas story. After reading the story, my mom would bring out a cake that had a lit candle on it, and we would all sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. After all, it was his birthday, right?!

For those that don't know, on Sunday nights I am teaching through the letter of Colossians with the high school students. One of the reasons that Paul writes this letter to the Christians in Colossae is due to the fact that Gnosticism was causing confusion with Christians. From what we understand, Gnostics believed that there was secret knowledge that God passed down through certain beings or individuals. They probably taught that Jesus was one of these special beings that had a piece of the secret knowledge. Paul was writing to the Colossians to totally refute the Gnostics and their teaching. One of the ways Paul accomplishes this is through lifting up Jesus Christ and who he is.....GOD! Not only is He the image of the invisible God (1:15), the whole fullness of deity dwells within Him (2:9).

You might be asking, well what does this necessarily have to do with singing Happy Birthday to Jesus? Well, on one of our Sunday evenings during our study in Colossians, I asked the students, did Jesus ever exist before that first Christmas morn? Surprisingly, several students said no! (And some of you reading this might have answered no as well.) I was surprised, because YES, Jesus existed before leaving Mary's womb on Christmas morning. Scriptures clearly speak of his existence. Colossians 1:16 states "for by Him (Jesus) all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him (Jesus) and for Him (Jesus)." Jesus was there for creation, so yes, Jesus existed before Joseph and Mary. Not only does Paul speak of Jesus' existence in the beginning, but John does as well in his gospel. He writes "in the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. (1:1-3)." As Christians, our whole theology of the Trinity, rests in the fact that all three persons of the trinity, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit have always been. God never had a beginning; He never had a birthday.

Does this mean that I'm trying to say that Jesus never had a normal birth when he put on flesh and entered onto the earth? No! I believe that when Mary gave birth to Jesus, whatever day it was, I'm sure it looked, felt, and probably even smelled like a normal human birth! The point that I'm trying to make is that when Jesus came on the scene in Bethlehem, that was not the first day that Jesus existed. He has always been, and He will always be. The thing that we must remember is that Jesus Christ knowingly and willingly stepped out of heaven, humbled himself by putting on human flesh, and allowed himself to be born as an infant. He is the only person that was born by choice.

I told my students that Jesus is the only person that has been born, by human standards, but has always existed. So, do I think my family and your family should stop singing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas morning?.....Naa, as long as we realize and as long as our children realize that Jesus may have been born onto the earth that Christmas morning, but it was only by His choice did He allow Himself to do it. Jesus loved us in spite of our sin so much that He gave up His throne in heaven and humbly put on our flesh so that he could die as our sacrifice!

May we never forget that we when we celebrate Jesus on Christmas morning, we celebrate a God that was, and is, and is to come!