I Corinthians 1:18ff. Without the cross, Christmas has no meaning. Jesus would simply have been a baby like any other baby born to poor Jewish parents. Even though He was the virgin born Son of God, without the Cross it would have been pointless. It would have had no meaning beyond His generation. It is the stable, standing in stark contrast to the cross that forms the point of intersection that joins time and eternity. It is God Himself taking the form of man in the flesh and living for a time among us. As God He had the perfect holiness and ability, as man He was qualified to redeem man. Nothing but another man would be able to die for a man. No one but the God-Man executed on a cruel cross could break the curse of sin -- the curse that had our name on it. Let us not err by separating the cradle from the cross. Let us not err by letting Him remain as a mere babe in swaddling clothes. Let us not err in failing to see the significance for us in our personal lives, because without both, there is nothing left but to face a lost and Christless eternity. It is the fact of the incarnation, not the date that it is remembered that is important. It is "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." I Corinthians 1:24b, 25.

No Cross-No Christmas