Have you ever heard a sermon or Bible class discussion on Christmas in the Garden of Eden? Christmas actually originated there. In Genesis, the first book of Moses, when our first parents, Adam and Eve, succumbed to the temptations of Satan and disobeyed God, they thereby became imperfect, no longer holy as God created them. They became subject to both physical and eternal death as God had warned.

Along with that punishment, God promised them Christmas (see Genesis 3:15). He promised a Savior who would crush the head of the serpent (Satan), thereby destroying Satan and his tempting power over us. Note that God said this Savior would be the offspring of a woman—not of a woman and a man, but of a woman only. Therefore, God foretold of a virgin birth, which Isaiah also prophesied in Isaiah 7:14. Only one virgin birth has ever been recorded, that of Jesus. Could any mere human being destroy a powerful spirit-being such as Satan? Wouldn’t this offspring of a woman, though human, have to be God also? Isaiah7:14 and Isaiah 9:6 confirm this truth.

Throughout the Old Testament, this promised Savior was called the Messiah. His Greek New Testament title of “the Christ” has the same meaning as “the Messiah.” When we call ourselves Christians, we are actually calling ourselves “Messians.” Christmas is a shortened form of Christ Mass or Christ Worship, so Christmas is Messiah Worship.

The entire Old Testament, written by many men moved by the Holy Spirit, speaks about the coming Messiah. Job, who apparently lived about the time of Abraham, said that he knew he would see the Redeemer as eternal God whose resurrection from death meant that even though his body had decayed in the grave, he would be restored to life and would be in the presence of God (Job 19:25, 26). God’s Christmas promise in Eden was fulfilled when Jesus was born thousands of years later.

Did Adam need to “celebrate” Christmas in Eden? Most people seem to think that if their good deeds outweigh the bad, they are safe, or, as the Muslim Quran says, “Those whose good deeds are heavy on the scales will be the ones to prosper, and those whose good deeds are light will be the ones who have lost their souls” (Qumron 7:8, 9).

But God says differently. Through Moses He said, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). Just as Adam and Eve were no longer eligible to live in the perfection of the Garden when they became imperfect, so no unholy sinner is eligible to live in the presence of the holy God in His holy heaven. Therefore, God the Son came into this world to make us eligible for heaven. He came to be our Substitute, living a holy life in our place and taking the punishment of our sins in our place. No ordinary man could accomplish this. The work of salvation had to be done by our infinite God in order to have enough value to cover the sins of every person who has ever lived and ever will live. Many people, however, refuse to believe this, even refusing to believe that a Trinity (three individual Persons comprising one God) is possible. Such rejection of these truths keeps one out of heaven.

At Christmas we hear about a baby lying in a manger. We are to worship this Baby because He is God’s Son who became flesh (John 1:14). Jesus is God’s Son, equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, who was born into this earth as the promised descendant of a virgin, to live and die as our Substitute as God told Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) and as Isaiah 53 foretold.

King David declared what this Messiah would give us: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity [i.e., does not count his sins against him]” (Psalm 32:1-2). David knew that all people are imperfect because they all are descendants of imperfect Adam and they all fail to live perfect, sinless lives. Therefore, forgiveness of our sins through Jesus is the only way of salvation—the only way we can stand sinless and holy before God. Since no one can claim to be perfect or sinless by themselves, forgiveness through God’s Christmas gift, Jesus, is the only hope for everyone.

So at Christmas time, we Christians (Messians) worship the divine Messiah who was promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden, and we rejoice in Him.

Fred Schmugge is a retired pastor who lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.