But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree – Galatians 3:13
One of the traditions of Christmas all around the world is the Christmas tree. During the Christmas season, we see them in homes, shops and in the city beautifully decorated. Most of us spend time, effort and money to get the best tree for our homes and to decorate them as well as we can. These trees are decorated with lights, baubles and tinsels with a star or an angel on top and underneath are various gifts that should only be opened on Christmas day. Indeed, they make our homes and neighbourhoods beautiful and fill the atmosphere with the aroma of Christmas and for many, it wouldn’t be Christmas without a Christmas tree.
But for all the effort and money we spend acquiring and decorating these trees, the best they can do for us is beautify our homes. They have no real impact on our lives. If a home is filled with hopelessness and fear, even the presence of the best decorated Christmas tree can neither produce hope nor beautify the lives of the inhabitants of that home with faith.
As I considered these things, I remembered another tree. A tree we do not often associate with Christmas, yet this tree is central to the Christmas story. It is a tree that has all that our normal Christmas tree lacks; a life giving tree planted on Calvary’s hill. On this wondrous tree, Heaven kissed the earth with love and compassion. On this tree the Son of God was slain, His feet and hands fastened and bruised. It was on this tree that love and mercy found me, cleansed me and filled my heart with joy unspeakable. This old rugged tree has continued to break me so I can become a fruitful branch bearing eternal fruits for the Lord of Glory.
This tree is not decorated with ornaments and tinsels but with brokenness and suffering. It’s branches are not wrapped in lights but with nails and stained with blood. But on it hung Jesus the Son of the Living God, despised and rejected by men but bearing on His body the sins of the whole world. This is not a beautiful tree by an stretch of the imagination but its outworkings decorates the most wretched sinner with righteousness and glory. It gives beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. It is the only tree that can produce trees of righteousness which display the glory of the Lord. This tree is the cross on which the Prince of Glory died.
Underneath this tree, you will not find beautifully arranged presents but depraved soldiers casting lots for the saviour’s garments. Underneath this tree, callous men who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God”. Underneath this tree, religious leaders scoffed at Him and said – “He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him”. But If He harkened to them and came down, humanity would be lost forever. Glory be to God that He stayed on for in so doing, lost sinners gained an interest in the saviour’s blood. If He did come down, His birth would have meant little to us and I doubt if there will be anything to celebrate at Christmas.
When we think of Christmas, our thoughts would normally go to the birth of Jesus and not His death but the Saviour was born in order to die. And in dying and resurrecting, He conquered sin and death and gave eternal life and gifts to men. Unlike the gifts under the Christmas tree which are perishable, the gifts purchased by the blood of Jesus are imperishable and of eternal value. Anyone who comes wholeheartedly to this tree will find these gifts:
1. Salvation – if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9)
2. Justification – And by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses (Acts 13:39)
3. Peace – Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1)
4. Access to God’s grace – Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand (Romans 5:2)
5. Hope – Thank God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that in his great mercy we men have been born again into a life full of hope, through Christ’s rising again from the dead (1 Peter 1:3)
6. All Spiritual Blessings – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
If you have a Christmas tree at the centre of your home, I ask not that you throw it away but Christmas will be meaningless until you have the cross of Christ at the centre of your heart. For the Cross of Jesus Christ is the perfect Christmas tree.
May the Lord Bless you