When I was a kid, my mom didn’t usually put the tree up until about ten days before Christmas. Some of my friends’ moms would put it up Thanksgiving weekend, but there weren’t many. I don’t remember a single person who had it up before then. And if you go back as far as when my dad was a kid, the whole Christmas season only lasted about two weeks, if that.

These days, Christmas begins in July with “Christmas in July” sales and Hallmark Christmas movies. By the time we get to December, things have reached a fever pitch. Christmas day may or may not live up to all the hype in our kids’ eyes. Not to mention the fact that the “hype” has nothing to do with Christmas anyway. Not the REAL Christmas.

In thinking about Christmas themed books to recommend to you in this Christmas season, I decided to refer you back to THE book. The Bible. In it, the joy and wonder of Christmas is revealed in a Savior who came to save us from our sin and restore fellowship with our Creator.

The Bible contains many Old Testament prophecies about a Messiah who would redeem his people. The Greek word for Messiah is Christ, which is the word we see used in the New Testament. Every single one of those prophecies was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born.

I think the Christmas season is the perfect time to revisit those prophecies and share them with our kids. After all, we want them to know and love the Christ of Christmas above all else. I encourage you to share these scriptures with your kids and grandkids in the days leading up to Christmas. They serve to remind us of what Christmas is all about and how grateful we should be for what Christmas truly represents.

The Bible tells us the Messiah (Jesus) would be born of a woman. In the Garden of Eden God told the serpent (Satan):

“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (NLT, Genesis 3:15)

In Isaiah we learn that Messiah would be born of a virgin:

Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well?  All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). (NLT, Isaiah 7:13-14)

Messiah would be born in Bethlehem:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. (NLT, Micah 5:2)

Messiah would be descended from the tribe of Judah:

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor. (NLT, Gensis 49:10)

The prophet Balaam declared a star would announce the appearance of this ruler:

I see him, but not here and now. I perceive him, but far in the distant future. A star will rise from Jacob; a scepter will emerge from Israel. (NLT, Numbers 24:17)

The prophet Daniel indicated the exact time when the Messiah would come in Daniel 9:

Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven [483 years] will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times. (NLT, v. 25)

It was this information that led the magi to look for a star (or some heavenly sign) at the time of Jesus’ birth.

The Old Testament even foretold that Jesus would spend time in Egypt and alludes to Herod’s efforts to kill Jesus by decreeing that all young males two years old and younger were to be executed.

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.” (NLT, Hosea 11:1)

This is what the Lord says: “A cry is heard in Ramah—deep anguish and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted—for her children are gone.” (NLT, Jeremiah 31:15)

Our children need to understand we celebrate Christmas because we recognize and rejoice at the birth of our SAVIOR. Without Christmas, there is no cross or Resurrection Morning. And without those, there is no hope for us. Jesus came to us as a child, lived a sinless life, died on a cross for our sins, and rose again as a conquering king. THIS is what we celebrate at Christmas.

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! (NLT, Isaiah 9:6-7)

Bible scholars disagree as to the actual number of prophesies about the Messiah (Jesus Christ). The number ranges anywhere from 200 to 400. But something scholars CAN agree on is the statistical probability of even eight of those prophecies either accidently or deliberately being fulfilled in one man is 1 in 10¹⁷. That’s one in one hundred million billion!

Christmas is a celebration of Jesus CHRIST. It can be easy to lose sight of that in all the hoopla that surrounds the holiday season. Let’s make sure our kids and grandkids remember the real reason for the season. It’s all in The Book!

Wendy Hinote Lanier is a former elementary teacher, a certified public speaker, and the award-winning author of more than 50 books for children on topics related to science, technology, social studies, and the arts including the Christopher Award winning The Dog That Gave My Brother Words and the Moonbeam Gold Medal and Selah Award winning Too Many Pigs in the Pool.

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