Tonight we celebrate our Savior stepping into our world as a baby. We celebrate our Christ in a cradle. Sometimes in the sweetness and innocence of this moment, we miss the fact that the battle begins to turn in our favor at Jesus’s birth. Without the cradle, we have no cross and no empty tomb: we have no salvation and no hope.

But alas, Jesus came, taught, walked, healed, and loved here on earth. And when the time came for his mission to be fulfilled, he took our sins on his shoulders and paid the ultimate price for our rebellion to bring us redemption. He rose again on the third day and rules now–giving us victory over death and sin itself. We need the cradle of Christ because it leads to the cross and the empty tomb.

Colossians 2: 13-15 explains it this way:
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

As we light the Christ candle this evening: We acknowledge Christ’s cradle, His cross, and the empty tomb.

Father,
We praise you for your unfailing love. We thank you for sending Christ that we may be reconciled to You through His death. And we thank you for the victory we can claim because of His resurrection. We thank you for this Christmas and the very first one some 2,000 years ago.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.