As we are in the run-up to Christmas, I thought I would compile a set of posts and articles that i have read on Christmas themes. I hope they help you as Christmas is upon us.

The Willing Humiliation and Great Exaltation of the Son

‘Paul doesn’t stop with Jesus’s willing humiliation; he also points us to Christ’s exaltation. Humble Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father as the reigning King.’

He Dawns as Everlasting Father

‘Everlasting Father. This name probably seems like the strangest. Is Isaiah saying Jesus is the Father? I thought Jesus was the Son. In fact, Isaiah calls him that in the same verse: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.” So, why turn, just twenty words later, and call him “Father”?’

4 Things Jesus Came to Do

Mark Dever outlines four things the Bible tells us Jesus came to do.

No Matter the Challenges This Christmas Season, Remember That God Is with You

‘Life can be hard in very real ways. While our problems may be many and varied, there is one main solution: Jesus. And Jesus—no one and nothing else—is at the heart of Christmas.’

What if Charles Wesley Had Written Joy to the World?

I really enjoyed this one: ‘What if Charles Wesley turned Psalm 98 into a poem, too? Would it come out equally Christmas? Good question! And I’ve got the answer. Charles Wesley didn’t work through the entire Psalter in quite the methodical way Isaac Watts did, but he came pretty close. So when somebody gathered all the Wesley-Psalms they could, they published The Wesleyan Psalter, which is “nearly the whole book of Psalms.” And Psalm 98 is there.’

Why Is the Son Called ‘Everlasting Father’?

‘Every Christmas, churches around the world celebrate the incarnation of the Son using titles taken from Isaiah 9:6: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” But why should the birth of a son be celebrated with the title “Everlasting Father,” and why does this Son bear this title?’

From the archive: Making a case for an actually merry Christmas

‘We do not worship a gnostic saviour, but one who came physically in a real body. We worship a saviour who has given us a world to enjoy and who is leading us to a material New Creation full of things to enjoy there too. We worship a saviour who instructs his disciples not to judge one another over these things, but to enjoy his good gifts to his glory. Let’s reject gnostic Christmas and enjoy the trappings – such as we want to celebrate – to the glory of the Lord Jesus who gives us such things to enjoy.’