There are two people. He’s debonaire with a trench coat and a fedora. She’s beautiful with incredibly deep eyes. They are standing face-to-face. A haze engulfs them. It is obvious that they love each other because the scene drips with emotion, but there is also sadness in the air. And while she is also wearing a hat, it is his hat that draws our attention. And rightly so, because it is the iconic take-away for this actor and for this movie. But you already know which movie I am talking about. You correctly identified “The Sound of Music” and “Jaws.” And now you are three for three. He is Humphrey Bogart. She is Ingrid Bergman. And the movie is none other than “Casablanca.”
How did you know this movie? Because iconic moments stick with us. I would like to argue that the first Christmas was an iconic moment. I would also like to say that to understand the first Christmas, you have to grasp the next three iconic Christmas moments. Let me explain.
If the one determining factor of what makes Christmas, Christmas, is God with us, then the first real Christmas on earth took place in Genesis 1 where God created a people for himself and blessed them with his presence. But something else happened in that chapter. There, God says (verse 26): “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness. . . .” Now, what is amazing about this single act of creation is that God didn’t need to create humanity in his image. God had created all sorts of things–beautiful things, wonderful things–that he declared good, but were not made in his image. But when it comes time to create humans, God abandons all his previous creative plans and strikes out on a brand-new path. He creates humanity in his image. God had singled out humanity for a special honor, a unique and special purpose. He imprinted his image upon their souls.
Now, the Greek word translated, “image,” here might surprise you. It is the word, “Eikon,” (we spell it “icon,” but the Greeks spelled it “Eikon”). This was the first gift of Christmas, and everything that Christmas would ever be was present in that gift–love, family, joy, oneness and blessing. In other words, on our first Christmas, God gave us the gift of a relationship. And that truth is wrapped up in the word, “Eikon.”
See, an icon is an important and lasting symbol that represents something. We just read that we were created in the image of God. As a result, we represent God. Oftentimes, when we hear this phrase, “the image of God,” we think it is some sort of code for what separates us from the animals. But Genesis 1 makes it clear that the emphasis is not on what makes us different from the other parts of the creation, but what makes us similar to God. The good news is that it doesn’t take us long to see several similarities. God walks and talks with Adam and Eve in the garden. He assigns them tasks or, better said, they partner with God in his overseeing of the creation. God grants them the right to rule. God delights himself in the couple, and they delight themselves in him. But most importantly, God appoints humans to be his representatives on earth and to act as his vice-regents on earth.
Now, people in the Old Testament world would have easily understood this. In fact, they were reminded of it regularly. As they went around the country, they would see huge statues of their king. We would call them statues, but they would have called them “images.” These Eikons did more than just act as propaganda. They were the king’s representatives and not just figuratively. When you stood before this image, it was the same as standing before the king himself. Defacing the image of the king would be considered a crime against the king’s person. It was the same as the idols in the temples. Those images represented the god whose name the idol bore. To worship the idol was to worship the god. To pray to the image of the god was to pray to the god.
But in Genesis 1, God doesn’t erect statues on earth to represent him. He gives that honor to us. We are made in his image and called to represent him on earth. We are to go through all creation and declare we are God’s people; this is his world, and that God desires something from us. Now think about that. First, God calls us as his people. He invites us to partner with him. He creates us as a special aspect of all creation and he seeks to bless us. All of that speaks of a relationship. Second, God commissions us to care for his world and to value its beauty and productivity. We act as his representatives, his stewards over all of the world’s riches. That implies a relationship. Third, God desires something from us. He desires that we act as his vice-regents on earth; that we represent him on earth; that we advance his purposes on earth; that we reflect his glory and that we delight in him as our creator. And that requires a relationship. And yet, we must not overlook the simple fact that God could have done all of this without us. God could do all of this by himself by simply speaking the word, but he chose to use us because he values us and wants a relationship with us. He wants to be with us.
But let’s not rush on. Yes, God desires something from us, but what he wants from us may be surprising. Many people will read Genesis 1 and conclude that what God wants from us is our obedience. After all, what stands out from that passage is the big command where God instructs the couple to “be fruitful and increase in the earth.” Unfortunately, that is how most people read that verse, but that is not what God said. See, God’s big command is given an even bigger preface. The whole verse says, “God blessed them and said be fruitful and increase. . . .” And there it is. The big command of Genesis 1 is really a blessing! More than that, I think it is clear that, in front of every command in the Bible, is this same understood preface. Why? Because God’s goal is for us to find ourselves in him. He wants us to flourish. He wants us to delight in him and in his gifts. And that is why every command is prefaced with these same words, “God blessed you and said, don’t lie,” “God blessed you and said, “don’t steal.” “God blessed you and said, love your neighbor.” Why? Because living in relationship with God brings blessing and joy and fulfillment. All of God’s commands, from the least to the greatest, are meant to enable us to flourish. And we flourish when God is with us.
That was our first Christmas, and it was perfect. We were made in God’s image so that we could enter into a relationship with our Creator King and delight ourselves in him, to others, to the creation and even to ourselves. Our first Christmas was perfect.
But then, the wheels fell off. We rebelled against God and went our own way. And our sin broke our relationship with God. We are still God’s representatives, but instead of being able to do that well, everything we do is polluted by sin. Instead of being fully-empowered Eikons of God, we scrape by as badly marred Eikons. As a result, from our first Christmas until now, our Christmases are soiled and smudged.
And then one day, Christmas came to us in the midst of our winter. Jesus took on human form and dwelt among us. God was really with us. And he came as the perfect Eikon to restore all Eikons.
John says it this way (Jn. 1:18): “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” And if we needed any more proof, Paul writes (Col. 1:15). “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Jesus comes to restore Christmas by being the perfect Eikon–he lives in right relationship to God, to others, to himself and to God’s world. And then, as God’s perfect representative, he went to the cross and died for us to restore us to God. This is the gift of Christmas–the restoration of all that we lost
But there is one more Christmas, but it is still future. One day, all will be put to rights, and all of us will be able to step out of our sin and death and misery and bask once more in our calling to be God’s Eikons; and this time we will do it without any stain of sin. There is coming a day when God’s kingdom will come and his whole world will once more sing his praises. This will be our true Christmas because God will be with us and will never be lost from us again.
So, when did Christmas begin? Obviously, we see Christmas in Genesis 1. God was clearly with us. And just as obvious, we could say that Christmas came in Matthew 1. And just as obvious, we could say that Christmas will come at the inauguration of God’s Kingdom on earth. So, which of these is the answer to our question, “When was the first Christmas?” All of the above, because the truth is you can’t have Christmas without all three. We were made for Christmas. We lost Christmas. Christmas was restored to us, and our perfect Christmas is coming. And Christmas begins when we come to Jesus by faith and set our “iconic self” free to enter fully into the celebration of God with us.
