Christmas trees are, if possible, always of the evergreen variety.  These trees are green the whole year round.  When others shed their leaves and stand bare and brown for many months, spruce, fir, pine, etc. continue to be clothed in a lovely green.

1.  Before this earth or the sun or stars or any angel was created, the Lord Jesus Christ lived. (John 1:1-2). 

2.  He created all things (John 1:3).

3.  He upholds this entire universe (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 2:3; Matthew 28:19.

 He is truly God.  So this tree reminds us that the One who was born in a lowly manger so long ago was the Mighty God who clothed himself with a body like ours.

As the evergreen speaks of the divine nature of the Son of God, this red ribbon is a symbol of his human nature. 

1.  He had a body of flesh and bones and blood. 

2.  He was a member of the human race and, though he had no sin within Him, He "was in all points tempted like as we are" (Hebrews 4:15). 

3.  He became weary (John 4:6),

4.  Hungry (Matthew 4:2)

5.  Thirsty (John 19:28)

6.  His mind and His body grew and developed as any other boy's (Luke 2:52).

7.  He was truly man.

The bright lights upon our Christmas tree remind us of Him who said, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12).  Darkness hides but light reveals; it makes objects clear to our vision.

The Lord Jesus Christ came to reveal God in terms we can understand.  When we look at Him we see the Father.  "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father (John 14:9; John 1:18).  If we would know God the Father we must know God the Son.  Only as we get to know the Son, do we know the Father (John 10:30).

Light not only reveals--it also exposes.  The sunlight flooding a room makes visible not only the roses in the bowl but it also exposes the dust upon the table, the soiled spots on the rug, etc.  The Lord Jesus Christ not only reveals God the Father; he also exposes man with all his sin, ignorance and failure.  Being God, He knows us through and through (John 2:25) and clearly tells us our true state before God. 

He is the light we need to have shine in hearts and minds and lives.

On the very tip of our tree we place a star.  Of what does that remind us?  The star the wise men saw in the eastern sky when the Lord Jesus was born!  They journeyed to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east and are come to worship Him" (Matthew 2:2).

The star is the symbol of His kingship.  God promised David 1000 years before Christ was born that one from his family should sit upon his throne and rule his people (II Samuel 7:16).  God renewed that promise to Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus (Luke 1:32, 33).

He has never yet been seated on that throne but one day He will reign.  he will return to this earth and rule over all nations. (Psalm 72:11;  Matthew 25:31; Revelation 20:4).

The bright star, then, points forward to that wonderful day when the Son of God will reign as King of the whole earth and blessings will abound.

Gifts

Christmas means not only the tree and its ornaments, but the gifts it bears.  How we look forward to these!  With what joy we select and dress in beautiful wrappings gifts for the needy as well as for those we love.  And how we enjoy receiving all the beautiful boxes and packages, discovering what they contain.

But of all the wonderful gifts God has given man, the most wonderful, the most precious of all is the Gift of His Son.

We usually place our gifts on a tree but had you realized that God was the first to do so?  The tree was the tree on which He died.  "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (I Peter 2:24).  He could not have become our Savior except he had died.

Sin stood between God and man, and God said, "The soul that sins it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4, Romans 5:12).  We could not know God, we could not be with Him, because He is holy and we are unholy and unclean (Isaiah 64:6).

We needed someone without any sin of His own who would take our place as sinners and take our punishment which is death. So "the Father  sent the Son to be the Savior of the world" (I John 4:14; John 3:16).

God's love gift to you is His own dear son..

God has many wonderful gifts for us but they are all wrapped up in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).  We can have none of them apart from Him.

Let's think of five of these precious treasures which become ours when we receive the greatest gift of all, God's Son.

In order to take us out of sin and into the family of God, the Lord Jesus paid a tremendous price.  he poured out His blood and laid down His life. "Ye were redeemed...with the precious blood of Christ" (I Peter 1:18-19).  All who are His were "purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28).

A sentence of death rests on each unsaved person.  He is condemned to die (Ezekiel 18:4).  But the son of God has given His own life in the place of yours and mine.  He has paid our debt and set us free from death, from sin and from the power of Satan.  This red ribbon reminds us of the price He paid to buy us back out of this threefold bondage.

Eternal Life (green ribbon)

Because green is the color of living vegetation, it is a symbol of life.  We we receive God's great gift of His son we also receive the gift of eternal life.  This is not our human life continued forever, but a new and different kind of life.  It is divine, spiritual, heavenly, uncreated life.  It is the life the Lord Jesus possesses.  Because we become a part of Him we we receive Him, we are "members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones" (Ephesians 5:30, we share His very life.

"The gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23a).

God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in His Son; He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life" I John 5:11, 12. John 5:24).

New Nature (blue ribbon)

Not only do we have redemption and a new life, we also have a new nature if we have received the gift of God's Son. Peter tells us we are "partakers of the divine nature" (II Peter 1:4).  Being born again and having become a child of God we have new natures.  We are new creations (I Corinthians 5:17).  We have new desires and new interests.  We are different people.

Blue, the color of heaven, speaks of the new, heavenly nature God gives to everyone in Christ.

Righteousness (white ribbon)

God offers us righteousness--or rightness.  We are by nature sinners, unholy and unclean.  But when we receive Christ Jesus we become sons of God and saints.  We are clothed with God's own perfect righteousness "which is unto all" that is, is provided for all, and "upon all them that believe" (Romans 3:22).  We have a new standing before God.  No longer guilty and condemned to death, we are forgiven, cleansed, and accepted by Him.  this white ribbon represents the fact that those in Christ now appear before God as guiltless and as righteous as the Lord Jesus Himself.
 

Home  (yellow ribbon)

There are many precious gifts offered in Christ Jesus that we may enjoy right now, but here is one that is future.  We have the promise of a beautiful home in heaven when we leave this world.  Just before He went back to heaven the Lord Jesus said, " I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2, 3).

Paul said "to depart and be with Christ is far, far better" (Phil. 1:23, Weymouth) than to remain in this world, however pleasant our lives may be here.

In that bright, beautiful land our Savior is making ready for us a delightful, lovely home with Himself.  This yellow ribbon speaks of the gift of this eternal dwelling place for all who are His.

Now, when you see a Christmas tree, will you remember what it tells you about the Lord Jesus?  He is very God, without beginning or end, the eternal One. Will you receive His Son, Jesus as your Savior, today? 

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Midi Playing: "Into My Heart"

"Into my heart,
Into my heart,
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
Come in today, come in to stay.
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus."