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December 25 – It’s About the Cross (A Christmas Carol Advent)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Video

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyR0lwO-nXc

History

This song was written and performed by Go Fish and appears on their Christmas album called Snow which was released in 2006.  We actually kicked off our Christmas Song Advent with a Go Fish song (Christmas With A Capital “C”) and it seems appropriate to end with this one which reminds us that Christmas may be about the birth of Christ, but in the end we must never lose sight of the cross!

Commentary & Analysis

This song isn’t as well known, but I couldn’t think of a better way to finish off this Christmas Carol Advent than with this song from Go Fish.  This song reminds us, on Christmas Day, that this holiday is actually quite secondary to the death and resurrection of Christ.  Over the last 25 days, we have looked at a number of songs celebrating the manger, the angels, the shepherds and the wise men.  Those are an integral part of Christmas celebration, but we should never lose sight of the cross of Christ where God paid the penalty for our sins so that we could be reconciled to him forever.  It’s about accepting him as our Lord and savior so that we can, through his death, be born again into the kingdom of God.  While we celebrate a babe born in the straw, we must remember the stone that was rolled away to find an empty tomb “so we can have real life someday.”  The second set of verses turns from the traditional, and biblical facets of Christmas, to remind us that the current trimmings (family, presents, snow, decorations and the feelings they all elicit), while nice are also not what Christmas is really about.  No matter how much we enjoy Christmas, and we should, we have to remember that it is only the beginning of Christ’s time on earth, and it was the end of his time here that gives us the opportunity at eternal life.

Questions for further Reflection / Devotion

The following questions are meant for your reflection and or devotion.  Feel free to meditate on them, discuss them with your family or others or post your responses here.  I would love to hear from you.

  1. Why do you think we, as Christians, spend so much more time and money celebrating Christmas rather than Easter?
  2. How can you spend time focusing of the cross this Christmas?
  3. How can you balance the joys of family and all the trimmings (which are not bad things) with the Biblical purpose of Christmas?
  4. Many families read the Christmas story ever Christmas morning or some time during the Christmas season.  What tradition can you start this year to shift some focus from Christmas Morning to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ?
  5. “It’s about God’s love, Nailed to a tree, It’s about every drop of blood that flowed from Him when it should have been me.” I challenge you this Christmas – every time you look at the Christmas Tree in your house, remember the tree Jesus was nailed to and what he did for you and me!

Lyrics

It’s not just about the manger
Where the baby lay
It’s not all about the angels
Who sang for him that day

It’s not just about the shepherds
Or the bright and shining star
It’s not all about the wisemen
Who travelled from afar

Chorus:
It’s about the cross
It’s about my sin
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It’s about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday

It’s about the cross
It’s about the cross

Verse 2:

It’s not just about the presents
Underneath the tree
It’s not all about the feeling
That the season brings to me

It’s not just about coming home
To be with those you love
It’s not all about the beauty
In the snow I’m dreaming of

Repeat Chorus

Bridge:

The beginning of the story is wonderful and great
But it’s the ending that can save you and that’s why we celebrate

It’s about the cross
It’s about my sin
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It’s about God’s love
Nailed to a tree
It’s about every drop of blood that flowed from Him when it should have been me

It’s about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
So that you and I could have real life someday

It’s about the cross
It’s about the cross

Return to a Christmas Carol Advent index page.

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