Christmas is almost here, and many of us have been focusing on the birth of Jesus in our classrooms and homes. As we do this, let’s use this opportunity to also focus on how all the events and details surrounding His birth point to the faithfulness and truthfulness of God. For example, have your children consider these two verses written about 700 years before the birth of Jesus:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
—Micah 5:2
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.—Isaiah 7:14
These are two different prophets of God, writing hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, with specific details regarding His birth. Details fulfilled, exactly as told. Why emphasize this aspect of the Christmas story? Because, if our children are to come to saving faith and grow and mature in that faith, they need to have an unshakeable confidence in the truthfulness of God and His Word!
Christmas is the reassertion of the foundation of all truth and goodness and beauty, because Christmas means: God is truthful. God’s truthfulness is the constant in a universe of flux. God’s truthfulness is the unwavering absolute. If we forsake God’s truthfulness, the anchor is up, the rudder is loose, the keel is broken, and the ship of life (political life, social life, educational life, scientific life, family life) is simply at the mercy of the wind of human wishes. So I say it with all my heart: demonstrating the truthfulness of God is a great blessing. Give that blessing to your children. Say to the next generation again and again: God is truthful; God keeps his word; God does not lie; God can be trusted! That’s one blessing of Advent. Receive it as a wonderful Christmas gift, and give it to as many people as you can.
(John Piper, The Dawning of Indestructible Joy–Daily Readings for Advent, pages 32-33)
Here is a free, simple 10-minute family devotional to recall the blessing of Jesus’ birth with your children: God’s Promise Is Born (from God’s Gospel, the Making HIM Known series, courtesy of P&R Publishing).
