The Cross of Christmas
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Realizing that the "hope, love, joy and peace" we celebrate at Christ's birth all lead to His atoning work on the Cross.
Text: Matt. 2:11
Date: 12/24/2025, the Christmas Eve service.
Series: "Your Word is Truth"
Occasion: Christmas Eve
Description:
As we celebrate the birth of Christ in this Christmas Eve Candlelight meditation, we will continue to concentrate on the various attributes of the Advent Season. Using the gifts of the Magi as a springboard, we will summarize what we have learned about the "hope, love, joy, and peace" we celebrate in the birth of Christ. But in particular we will notice how each of these attributes points us directly to the Cross and the Sacrificial, Substitutionary atonement of Jesus to reconcile His saints to the Father and make relationship with Him, and therefore "hope, love, joy and peace" possible. We will find in the words of the prophets and those who saw Jesus in His infancy that His Crucifixion would play heavily in fulfilling the promises of Advent. Jesus was truly "born to die" and this will be made evident as we celebrate the Cross of Christmas.
View:
Options:
I. Introduction, Matt. 2:11; Eccl. 3:1-2.
II. Exposition of the text, Matt. 2:11.
A. The context of the gift of Myrrh, Gen. 3:15; Luke 2:25, 30, 34-35.
B. Monitoring the gifts of the Magi, Isa. 9:6.
1. The gift of gold, 1Kings 9:14, 1Kings 10:10.
2. The gift of Frankincense, Lev. 2:16; Job 9:33.
3. The gift of myrrh.
C. The significance of the Cross in Christmas.
1. The hope of the Cross of Christmas, Eccl. 2:11; Lam. 3:24; Jer. 29:11; Zech. 9:12; Ex. 34:7; Isa. 59:9,11; 1Cor. 15:19.
2. The love of the Cross of Christmas, Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:23; Rom. 3:10,23; John 1:14; 1John 4:10; 2Cor. 5:21.
3. The joy of the Cross of Christmas, Deut. 28:63; Luke 22:42; Isa. 53:10; Heb. 12:2.
4. The peace of the Cross of Christmas, Isa. 32:17, 57:21, 59:8; Rom. 2:9, 3:15-17; Hab. 1:13.
D. The centrality of the Cross in Christmas, Luke 2:13-14; Hab. 2:17, 4:15; Rom. 5:1.
III. Conclusion
