The Hope of Christmas

“To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

What is your decision?

Will you receive Jesus Christ right now and trust in him alone for forgiveness and eternal life? The Bible says that is the only way to find peace with God.

• Accept Jesus’ offer to forgive your sins and become your Savior.

You may want to tell him in a prayer like this…

“Dear Jesus, thank you for making it possible for me to find peace with God! I do believe that when you died you were paying the penalty for my sins. I now receive you into my life as my Savior, so I can have forgiveness and never-ending life from God! Thank you for dying for me, and for the gift of eternal life you made possible!”

There’s no better “Christmas gift” than the gift of eternal life and peace with God through Jesus Christ!

• Admit your need—admit that you are a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness.

• Be willing to turn from trusting in anything else for eternal life and trust only in Christ.

• Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross, came back to life from the grave, and is your only way to Heaven.

To read the Bible, learn about Jesus, or find a church in your area, visit Crossway.org/LearnMore.

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Bible references: ESV.

The Bible says…

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them,“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. (Luke 2)

THE

HOPE OF CHRISTMAS

C

hristmas. For many, the word brings thoughts of fun with friends and family and the enjoyment of giving

and receiving gifts. For them, as the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” But for others, Christmas is a painful reminder of broken relationships, lost loved ones, or financial hardships, any of which makes the season the most difficult time of the year.

Whatever feelings we have this Christmas, the Bible explains that there is good news that can give us hope and joy no matter what our Christmas season is like. But before we can benefit by this good news, we must first understand the “bad news.”

The Bad News: We are all separated from God God did not create us like robots to automatically love and mechanically obey him. The first man and woman chose to disobey God and to go their own willful way. Each of us since then has been

The Bible says…

God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

“Christ…suffered once for sins, the righteous for the

“The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23

1 Peter 3:18

People have tried many ways to bridge this separation between themselves and God.

“God shows his love for us in that while we were

The Bible says…

is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.”

still sinners, Christ died for us…the free gift of God

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Proverbs 14:12

Romans 5:8, 6:23

“Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God.” Isaiah 59:2

raised on the third day.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

No bridge reaches across that separation…except one.

of sin and eternal life. But each person must

“Christ died for our sins…he was buried…he was

God has provided the only way to forgiveness make a choice.

The Good News: God has provided a bridge—the cross Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave. Though he was God’s sinless Son, he became a human and took our place in order to pay the penalty for our sin. By doing that he bridged the otherwise uncrossable gap between God and us!

The Choice: Accept or reject Jesus Christ In order to receive the forgiveness of sin and the eternal life offered to us by God, we must trust in Jesus Christ and receive him as our Savior.

Jesus says…

born sinful and disobedient towards God. All this

The Bible says…

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one

results in spiritual separation from him.

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between

comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

To read the Bible, learn about Jesus, or find a church in your area, visit Crossway.org/LearnMore.

The Hope of Christmas This tract illustrates that God offers hope and peace to all during the Christmas season through the gift of sending his Son. Bible references: ESV. Package contains 25 tracts.

9 781682 161173 CHRISTMAS