At Christmastime, it is all too easy to get caught up in Christmas Lists, Ugly Sweater Parties, and Gift Wrapping. So here are 15 quotes from some of our favourite authors and theologians that will help realign your heart to the true meaning of Christmas.
1. Bigger than our whole world
“Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.” – C.S. Lewis
2. Hope for a Ruined Humanity
“The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity – hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory – because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message the world has ever heard, or will hear.” – J.I. Packer
3. Born Anew
“For this purpose Christ willed to be born, that through him we might be born anew.” – Martin Luther
4. God Had to Come to You
“Christmas is the end of thinking you are better than someone else, because Christmas is telling you that you could never get to heaven on your own. God had to come to you.” – Tim Keller
5. That Life Might Die
“Man’s maker was made man that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother’s breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that Truth might be accused of false witnesses, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.” – Augustine of Hippo
6. The Condescension of the Magnificent God
“The only people who soul can truly magnify the Lord are…people who acknowledge their lowly estate and are overwhelmed by the condescension of the magnificent God.” – John Piper
7. Nothing in Fiction is so Fantastic
“The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation.” – J.I. Packer
8. To Enable Men
“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God.” – C.S. Lewis
9. Infinite and an Infant
“Infinite, and an infant. Eternal, and yet born of a woman. Almighty, and yet hanging on a woman’s breast. Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms. King of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph. Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter’s despised son.” – Charles Spurgeon
10. Hope Despite our Unending Failings
“Christmas means not just hope for the world, despite all its unending problems, but hope for you and me, despite all our unending failings.” – Tim Keller
11. What He Is
“He became what we are that He might make us what He is.” – Athanasius
12. All Our Ideas Are Wrong
“The Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all. God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment. No evil can befall us; whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
13. The Perfect Gift
“Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life.” – Corrie Ten Boom
14. Down to Come Up Again
“God descends to re-ascend… He goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with Him.” – C.S. Lewis
15. The Increase of Peace
“Christmas means that, through the grace of God and the incarnation, peace with God is available; and if you make peace with God, then you can go out and make peace with everybody else. And the more people who embrace the gospel and do that, the better off the world is. Christmas, therefore, means the increase of peace—both with God and between people—across the face of the world.” – Tim Keller
