Read John 20:30–31
‘But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’ (v31)
People like stories. There is something about a story that we can immerse ourselves in, imagine ourselves in, relate to.
Have you ever thought why we tell the Christmas story? Like the rest of the Bible, the Christmas story was written for a purpose.
Towards the end of John’s Gospel, John tells us that purpose, why he was inspired by God to write: ‘that [we] may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing [we] may have life in His name’ (v31).
The Christmas story is not just a nice, memorable story, with wise men, shepherds, angels and of course the baby Jesus, but rather it was written for a purpose – to show us God’s love and redemptive purpose for His created order, fulfilled in Christ as He grew to be the obedient servant (Phil. 2:6–8), taking the punishment that was ours on the cross, conquering sin and death (1 Cor. 15:55).
As we grasp hold of this, and by faith put our trust in all that Christ has achieved for us, we too can have life, life in His name. The hymn says:
Tell me the story slowly, that I may take it in –
That wonderful redemption, God’s remedy for sin;
Tell me the story often, for I forget so soon,
The ‘early dew’ of morning, has passed away at noon.
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, help me to tell Your story often, that others may also have life in Your name. Amen.’
AN ACTION TO TAKE: How would you share the Christmas story? Re-read it in Scripture, with a view to re-telling it to someone else.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: Psalm 107:1–3; Rom. 10:14–15; 1 Cor. 15:35–58; Phil. 2:6–8
