Ruth and Billy Graham at Christmastime in 1980.
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By Billy Graham
Billy
Graham knew the true meaning of Christmas.
He’s
no longer here on earth, but the wisdom he shared lives on.
This
Christmas season, his words can help us look back in history to the birth of
Christ — and look forward to His return with hopeful anticipation.
“There’s so much more to Christmas than what we see and
hear on the radio and television. The whole thing is about Jesus.”
“That baby who was born to Mary was more than just another
man — He was God in human flesh. He came into the world for one reason: to make
it possible for our sins to be forgiven, so we could become part of God’s
family forever.”
“Don’t leave Jesus in the manger; don’t remember Him only
at Christmas. Instead, learn to walk with Him every day, as you pray and read
His Word and ask Him to help you.”
“I’m afraid many people today have lost sight of the
original meaning of Christmas. Instead, it has become more and more secular and
commercialized, focusing mainly on gift-giving or holiday parties or family
gatherings. These aren’t necessarily wrong — but far too often we lose sight of
the true meaning of Christmas, and we fail to reflect on the greatest Christmas
gift of all: God’s gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, for our salvation.”
“On that first Christmas over 2,000 years ago, God did
something that we can barely grasp: He became a man. Think of it: The God who
created the universe stooped down from Heaven and became a human being!”
“This Christmas season, when the world seems to be in
turmoil — wars are breaking out in different places, crime is rampant, many
things are happening that are great sins in the sight of God — but in that crib
is the Person who would grow up to save us, and He did.”
“Mary and Joseph were just as familiar with the facts of
life as we are. But they also realized something was happening that had never
happened before: God alone would be the child’s father. In other words, this
child would be absolutely unique — not only because He would be born of a
virgin, but because He would be both fully man and fully God. God was coming to
live among us!”
“Christ didn’t only come into the world that first
Christmas night in Bethlehem, but He wants to come into our lives today, and every day of the
year.”
“At Christmas we celebrate the fact of Christ’s coming into
the world. He was born as a helpless baby to a poor woman and her husband in an
insignificant part of the Roman Empire. And yet that baby was different from
every other baby who had ever been born, or ever would be born — for He was God
in human flesh. From all eternity He was God — but on that first Christmas He
entered time, and He walked among us. As the Bible says, “The Word was God…
[and] the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:1, 14).
“As
this Christmas approaches, I pray you will look at Jesus — as He is revealed in
the pages of the New Testament — with an open heart and mind. When you do,
you’ll discover not only that God is real, but that He loves you and wants to transform your life.”
Continuing
the lifelong work of Billy Graham, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
exists to support and extend the evangelistic calling and ministry of
Franklin Graham by proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to all we
can by every effective means available to us and by equipping the church and
others to do the same.
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