The Christ of Christmas Past

by David Jeremiah

'Spirit!' said Scrooge in a broken voice, 'remove me from this place.' 'I told you these were shadows of the things that have been,' said the Ghost. 'That they are what they are, do not blame me!' 'Remove me!' Scrooge exclaimed, 'I cannot bear it!' He turned, and seeing that it looked upon him with a face, in which in some strange way there were fragments of all the faces it had shown him, wrestled with it.

'Leave me! Take me back. Haunt me no longer!' That dramatic scene from Dickens' A Christmas Carol comes when Scrooge is returned to his bed after a tour of Christmases from his past. He cannot bear the sorrow, loneliness, pain, and heartache to which the Ghost of Christmas Past has reintroduced him.

As a selfish old miser, alone in his old age, he had almost succeeded in forgetting his former years-until his Christmas Eve tour reopened painful old wounds.

Past burdens

He recalled the loneliness and bitterness of his youthful years at a boarding school, left alone at Christmas when his friends went home to spend the holiday with their families. He then saw old Fezziwig, the kindly businessman with whom he had apprenticed as a clerk.

On Christmas Eve, Fezziwig turned the shop into a party place to celebrate and feast, dispensing gifts and cheer to all his employees-something Scrooge had never done for Bob Cratchit, his employee. He heard Fezziwig's employees heaping praise upon their master, and was amazed at one man's ability to dispense such happiness to others.

He then saw the tears and the broken heart of the young lady over whom he chose a career in the solitary pursuit of money. And then he saw that lovely girl, now in her matronly years, happily married with a loving husband and a tumultuous household of happy children celebrating in their Christmas-filled home-and realized that, except for his selfish choice years earlier, he might have been the head of that happy home.

That last scene was more than Scrooge could stand. It was then that he cried out to his spirit-guide, ?

Remove me from this place . . . remove me!

I cannot bear it!

What was it that Scrooge could not bear? It was the same thing you and I cannot bear apart from the grace of God: the memory and reality of our own sins and failures. Scrooge was a man who knew no grace, no love, no generosity, no service to others.

His entire life revolved around his own hurts, his own self-pity, his own withdrawal into himself in an attempt to hide from his pain. Scrooge is me, and Scrooge is you, apart from Christ! Scrooge, of course, lived only in the imagination of his creator, Charles Dickens. But the character he became on the pages of A Christmas Carol is the character we all are in our own sinful, human nature.

And while Dickens wove a kind of humanistic redemptive thread into the fabric of his classic tale-Scrooge repents of his self-centeredness and becomes a reformed man-something more than repentance motivated by guilt is needed in the real world.

Past guilt, strain

Yes, Scrooge began to do good works-and that is commendable. But no amount of good works can erase the guilt and stain of failure and sin from our past. For that, something completely supernatural is needed: ? Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool? (Isaiah 1:18). Scrooge's good works could never have diluted his crimson red sins to the pure white of snow or wool-not even to a dark shade of pink.

The Ghost of Christmas Past took Scrooge on a tour that showed him why he needed to change-and change he did, to a degree. We need the same kind of revelatory experience to understand our need for change-to see that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But we also need to see that we cannot erase our spotted past by ourselves.

We need to be shown our need for a Savior.

Our Guide to the Past, Present, and Future Like Scrooge, we have a guide to show us the way-but our Guide is not an imaginary spirit.

We have the very real Spirit of the Living God whose specific ministry in the world is to reveal to us our need for a Savior: 'And when He [the Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment' (John 16:8).

If you are a Christian, dear friend, think back to what you realized about your life that led to your salvation. Only you and the Spirit know the sadness, the shame, the worry, the embarrassment you likely felt over sins committed. Even if you became a Christian as a child, you knew there were things you had done that were wrong-a stolen toy, an unkind word, a disobedient act.

Then multiply those by number and by degree if you became a Christian as an adult. It was the Spirit of God bringing those impressions to your mind, showing you that 'the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord' (Romans 6:23).

Salvation, forgiveness

While Dickens didn't explain salvation and forgiveness to us in his Christmas story, God clearly explains it in His. At Bethlehem, more than 2,000 years ago, a Savior was born who came into the world not to reform us, but to regenerate us; not to make us better, but to make us new; and not to shame us, but to save and sanctify us.

The Bible's Christmas story is what separates Christianity from every other religion in the world. It is the story of God doing for man what man could never do for himself: remove the burden of past, present, and future sins. The Real Christmas Story Think about the difference between Scrooge's Christmas experience and that of the one who embraces the Bible's Christmas story.

Which story

1. The problem. Scrooge's problem after his Christmas Eve midnight tour was the same as before: the burden of sin. The Christian's problem of sin has been taken away and nailed to the cross of Christ (Colossians 2:14).

The Christian's only remaining 'problem' is learning to live in freedom and gratitude for what Christ has done. 2. The person. After coming face-to-face with his failures, Scrooge was still Scrooge. A sinner with a better attitude is still the same old sinner. When the Christian faces his failures and finds forgiveness in Christ, he becomes a new person. He is born again-?a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new? (John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

3. The provision. For Scrooge's sins, there was no provision except a reminder. While the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, He then leads us to Christ, giving us the gift of faith that we might receive the grace of God.

Then, by that grace, we are able to walk in the new works that replace the old (Ephesians 2:8-10). 4. The prospects. Scrooge's prospects for the future were not bright. He was destined to live out the rest of his life on the treadmill of overcoming bad works with good. But the Christian knows he can never do enough good works to achieve holiness in the sight of God or peace in this life. His prospects are centered in Christ: (Romans 5:1).

So which Christmas story do you think holds the most promise for those brought face-to-face with failure and sin' While Dickens' A Christmas Carol will remain a classic, and while it admirably points out the difference between selfishness and service, its Ghost of Christmas Past could not take Scrooge where he needed to go. Only the Holy Spirit of Christmas Today can lead the sinner to Christ.

This Christmas, if you identify with Scrooge-if you are trying to make amends for your own failings and shortcomings-why not yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit instead? Embrace the Babe of Bethlehem who came to give you a gift you can never earn for yourself: the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. .

This article was excerpted from Turning Points, Dr. David Jeremiah's devotional magazine.