The Christmas Tree (part 1)

The tree of life (Revelation 2:7).

This time of year, most people set up Christmas Trees even if they aren’t Christians. As a child, I loved going along with Dad to pick out a tree for the living room; as I got older, I sometimes wondered why millions of people in this country were in the habit of bringing a tree into the house? I guess it goes to show that we don’t think too deeply about long-held family traditions.

But a Christmas Tree can be more than just a simple holiday decoration. For the Christian, that tree can be a reminder of why Christ came into our world 2,000 years ago. From the very beginning of time, trees have been important in the relationship between man and God. In the Garden of Eden, God planted two very special trees—one offered eternal life, the other demanded that Adam and Eve respect God’s rules by leaving it alone. But our first parents made a tragic mistake; they wanted what was forbidden, and they were willing to break God’s law to get what they wanted. They failed God’s test of loyalty; they became sinners and were ejected from paradise as a result. Without access to the Tree of Life, they and all their descendants are now doomed to die.

In that ancient Garden, one tree was a test and the other was a blessing; by failing the test, the blessing was forfeit. Those trees are lost to history; there is no going back to set things right. Thankfully, God Himself set things right using another tree. He sent His Son Jesus to join us on earth as a human being. The Son of God had His own tree to face; that tree was the cross of Calvary. Jesus was hung on that tree by nails through His hands and feet. That cross was a tree of death; on it, Jesus endured the punishment that we deserve for ignoring God and His laws. But that cross was also a tree of life, because Jesus used it to free us from our sins and open the gates of heaven to us. In Galatians chapter three Paul writes, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." And so Peter tells us, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24).

When you look at a Christmas Tree, remember what it represents. Jesus was born among us to die on a tree; by that sacrificial death, He has forgiven our sins and reopened paradise to us. That is the meaning of Christmas.