Celebrating the Birth of Christ: Emptying Self

There is profit in our celebration of Christ's birth -- great spiritual profit. Reading, hearing, and taking to heart the gospel of the birth of Jesus Christ are of benefit to the church. This is why Holy Scripture proclaims the birth. And it does. The Old Testament rejoiced in the birth of the coming Messiah: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son … " (Is. 7:14); "… unto us a child is born … " (Is. 9:6). So also does the New Testament make something of Jesus' birth. The modernists,...