The ADVENTure of Christmas (8 of 12)

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Christmas. Quick! What colors just flashed into your mind? There is a good chance it was a barrage of green, red, white, silver, and gold. Why do we associate these colors with the Christmas season? (Well, technically, white is not really a color--it's the absence of all color, but oh well.)

The God we serve is an incredibly creative and vivid God who expresses Himself not only through written words, but also through the very works of His hands. Over and over again in Scripture we see constant allusions to colors, nature, and word pictures as God uses His craftiness to communicate with us.

But why have men (to all the lady readers, I mean that in the broader sense of humanity, not the male gender) chosen these colors to represent this season?Are they arbitrary decisions or do they have meaning and purpose? Or are they a mixture of the former and the latter? As in a previous post in this series, we see that the ever-green tree has been used for centuries and centuries to represent life. Might it be that we could see the eternal life we have through Christ in that rich color of deep green? Red obviously calls to mind the blood by which Jesus made His great love for us plainly known. It is by that blood that we're washed white as snow--so the allusion of purity there is obvious as well. Gold reminds us also of purity in addition to the Kingship of the Suffering Servant Jesus. The silver may call to mind the price paid to Judas' for the betrayal of his friend Jesus--after all, it is His death and resurrection that brought salvation, not merely His human birth.

Whatever images and thoughts are called to mind by the colors of this holiday season, let us take time to enjoy them and recognize the intricacy and creativity of God.