The Outlaw Christ-Child: Why Christmas is Still a Revolution (EP 360)

Forget the sanitized nativity—Christmas is a beachhead, an invasion, a sentence of doom upon the dragon. Brian Del Turco unveils Christmas through Revelation 12 and G.K. Chesterton's vision of the cave as an "outlaw's den"—a fortress in enemy territory where the King returned to shake kingdoms from below. This isn't about warm feelings and Michael Bublé—it's about understanding that the incarnation set in motion an advancing process that continues through us today. Discover four practical ways to live in "365 Advent". Pull out the eggnog if you fancy, but remember this: the dragon rages, but you reign in Christ.

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See the full episode transcript below.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: The Outlaw Christ-Child: Why Christmas is Still a Revolution

Hey, dragon, you've been resisting, you've been fighting, you've been raging, but we have a message for you. Ho, ho, ho, from King Jesus.

Well, I have my little Christmas tree with twinkling lights that my daughter so kindly set me up with right here by my podcasting equipment. I'm ready to go. This is the first in a miniseries on Christmas. Welcome to Jesus Smart, the podcast. Brian Del Turco here. Thanks for connecting with me today.

The Central Miracle of Christianity

C.S. Lewis, in his book Miracles, writes that the central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation. That's sort of a theological word which simply means God became flesh. Jesus came into the earth in the form of a human being. Lewis writes that they say that God became man. Of course, this is true. Every other miracle prepares for the incarnation or exhibits the reality of the incarnation or results from this, the incarnation.

In the Christian story, Lewis writes, God descends to re-ascend. Now listen to this, because you and I are swept up in this. In Christ, He comes down, down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity. But He goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with Him. Isn't that powerful?

Paul put it this way in his letter to the Philippians: "I press toward the mark of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Beyond the Hallmark Christmas

Now, I live with a lot of ladies—one wife and many daughters. We have four daughters, two still at home. So I know a lot about Hallmark. I have memorized the script-writing templates of Hallmark movies. I can predict the outcome of a Hallmark movie.

I don't mind. I enjoy sitting with my wife on a couch during the holiday season while they have a Hallmark movie on, and maybe we're eating a little something. And quite often, I might have, if I can just be honest with you, earbuds in. And I'm listening to maybe a podcast or something like that, kind of multitasking, glancing up at the Hallmark movie once in a while, but then getting some good solid content as well. This is how I—these are my coping mechanisms. This is how I make it with four daughters.

So I don't mind doing that. But I'm always after a deeper, more militant message concerning Christmas. And I know that this may challenge some people. Maybe not. Maybe you're listening, and this doesn't challenge you. I hope not.

The Christmas Story from Heaven's Perspective

Let's consider the Christmas story as told from heaven's perspective in the book of Revelation. You know, we sing "Away in a Manger" and "Silent Night, Holy Night," and we think about the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. We put the Charlie Brown special on. We put the music on. If I hear another song by Michael Bublé, I don't know what I'm going to do. But all of these things are around.

But deep down, I'm understanding that Christmas is invasion. And this is how I like to try to keep Christmas well.

Consider from the book of Revelation, chapter 12: "The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child who will rule the nations with an iron scepter." Yes, take that, Michael Bublé.

"And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and his angels fought back, but he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring, those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus."

What is this account of the woman and the dragon and the birthing of the Christ child? I was having coffee with a fellow compatriot yesterday, and we concluded—I've done some study on it. Not a deep dive on Revelation 12, not super deep, but I see the woman there as a composite picture of first Israel, then Mary giving birth to the Christ child, and then the church as well, and the dragon making war. But we're overcoming.

The Outlaw's Den: G.K. Chesterton's Vision

Now, G.K. Chesterton—see, we have to read people from a hundred years ago. G.K. Chesterton, just hang with this here. He wrote in his book The Everlasting Man, in the chapter "The God in the Cave," that we need to take the fragrance of what happened in the birth of the Christ child. He calls it an explosion in the Judean hills 2,000 years ago. He sees the cave as an outlaw's den, as an outpost, a fortress in enemy territory. Yes, take that, Hallmark.

Herod's days are marked and the dragon's doom is sealed. Now listen to what he says:

"There is something defiant in this, something that makes the abrupt bells at midnight sound like the great guns of a battle that has just been won. All this indescribable thing that we call Christmas atmosphere." Just like the bells would ring maybe at midnight on Christmas Eve, he hears it as the great guns of a battle that has just been won.

He continues: "This Christmas atmosphere hangs in the air, something like a lingering fragrance or a fading vapor from the exultant explosion of that one hour in the Judean hills nearly 2,000 years ago. But the savor is still unmistakable, and it's something too subtle or too solitary to be covered by our use of the word peace. By the very nature of the story, the rejoicings in the cavern were rejoicings in a fortress or an outlaw's den."

Now this is how to keep Christmas well, right? Especially in our time and what we may face, friends, as we look at this next decade or two.

As an overcoming Christ follower, he continues, there in that image is a true idea of an outpost, of a piercing through the rock and an entrance into enemy territory. Yes. If I could just say, this is like D-Day. This is a beachhead. The King is back.

He continues: "There in this buried divinity, an idea of undermining the world, the world system, of shaking the towers and palaces from below." He sees the Christ child as underground in the cave, in the outlaw's den, shaking even as Herod—Herod the great king felt that earthquake under him and swayed with his swaying palace.

See, everything that can be shaken will be shaken so that what remains is the eternal kingdom of Christ. This is so beautiful.

Actually, give me my eggnog. Go ahead and put Hallmark on, but I'm going to be thinking and praying on these lines, and I'm going to be positively agitating people around me to consider these edges.

The Lord of Hosts

Now, my friends and angels, did you know that the compound name that represents Christ's nature most frequently in the Scriptures—do you know what it is? The compound name in the Bible that represents Christ's nature most frequently? It's "Lord of Hosts."

Get this: it appears nearly 10 times the sum of all the other compound names revealed in the Scriptures. Can you believe that? Do you think that God is trying to say something to us about the primacy of what His nature is, about the priority of what His agenda is?

Now listen, in Luke chapter 2: "In the same region, these shepherds"—and I hope they had their adult diapers on, because they probably had an adult accident—"shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened." I mean, no kidding. The sky unzips, there's like a veil that opens up, and the glory of the Lord manifests in white-hot light.

And the angel says to them, "Don't be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Now, if they didn't use their adult diapers yet, they may have right here in verse 13: "Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying"—a multitude of the heavenly host, there it is. These were militant angels that manifested in the sky that were escorting, in a sense, the seed of the second member of the Godhead coming into the hostile environment of the earth.

And they said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

You see, hosts are angel armies. Jesus is the Lord of armies. They, in a sense, were coming to honor and to acknowledge their commander coming in human flesh. These angels are terrifying warriors. I think on the top of our Christmas tree in the house, we have a bow. Imagine if a real angel appeared on the top of your Christmas tree. Now that would be a Christmas to remember. I just want you to see the sense of raw power and the King is back in Christmas. Hey, dragon, ho, ho, ho.

Advent Is Advancing

Advent is not just us looking back to a baby. Advent is not just the anticipation of celebrating Christ's birth each December. It is that, and let's try to celebrate it as much as we can with as much understanding as we have of the true nature of what that incarnation is.

But even beyond and even more, the truth of Advent is that Christ coming into our world produces a sentence of doom upon the dragon, a sentence of doom upon all darkness. And it has set in motion a process which is transforming everything. You see, Advent is advancing through time.

And this comes right down to our personal lives. Christmas is invasion, guys and ladies. Because I tell you, the Lord is raising up some Deborah-like ladies today who are like judges and who, in their feminine way, are militant in their faith. I love it. We need it. Let's go for it.

Those angels in the skies over the Judean hills were a multitude of heavenly hosts. They were angel armies. Traditional Advent is this anticipation of celebrating Christ's birth. And in the weeks leading up to Christmas, we prepare our hearts. It's all good, it's all solid. I want to go deeper in that.

But Christ's coming is not just a one-off event. It's not just punctiliar, a point in time. It is process. You see, the incarnation has set in motion a process. He continues to come in fullness and in power through the body of Christ. And He continues to come in fullness and power even in our own lives, in history, since the birth of Christ and in our day.

Paul talked about this in Ephesians 4:13. He talks about growing and developing and "the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ"—the incarnation as process within our lives. We simply have to build this into our worldview. It's going to affect how we pray, how we make decisions, the actions that we take, the way that we align with others in the body of Christ.

And even we look into the future, and we also anticipate His coming again when there will be a complete revelation of Christ, a total revelation of Christ this time in the future, coming in overwhelming rule and completeness. So Advent is advancing. It's progressing through time. It's advancing through those who yield to His presence in our day.

You Reign in Christ

Jesus is no longer a baby. He is now ascended and seated as a king. He is filling all things. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:22-23: "And He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

You see, my friend, the dragon rages, but you reign. The dragon may rage, but you reign in Christ.

This coming of Jesus Christ—the King is back into the earth—is an existential threat to Satan's kingdom. The serpent of old is not pleased about it, but he's doomed. And we just need to understand that this raging antichrist spirit was in the earth for centuries, even prior to the birth of Christ. Then the demonized King Herod tried to murder the Son of God. And that same spirit has slithered through history since the Nativity.

Even now, my friend, as a Christ follower, much of what you may be going through—don't take it too personally. It's not so much about you as it is about Christ and His kingdom in you and through you. And yet greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. You overcome because Christ has been born in you.

Living in 365 Advent

Now let me leave you with four practical points that we can consider moving on. The kingdom of Christ increases constantly in us and through us. I'm calling it "365 Advent." I'm talking about living in the possibilities of the incarnation each day of the year, living in the light of this vision for your life.

From Revelation 11:15: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever"—beginning to live now in the light and the potential of that which is coming.

First, renew your alignment with the now ascended Christ. Let's really know Him. Deepen our relationship with Him. If we seek first Christ and His kingdom, everything else that everyone else is seeking for will be added to us.

Second, harmonize with the heavenlies via worship, via the Scriptures, meditation, prayer, affirmation. We're not trying to get to victory. We have the ability to live from victory. We're praying down into situations from our place with Christ, seated with Him in the heavenlies.

Third, see the rule of Christ extended through our lives like a scepter, like a royal scepter. Like Moses lifting up his rod over the Red Sea, let's extend His rule over scenarios and situations and opportunities and challenges. Let's live up to our station in Christ.

Fourth, advance into new life seasons with great joy and anticipation—the advancement of the Advent. Let's advance into new life situations with great anticipation.

Keeping Christmas Well

All right, pull out the eggnog. Put the Hallmark movies on. Let Michael Bublé sing and croon till the cows come home. But deep, deep, deep down, it's this outlaw den. It's this "King is back," it's this invasion, it's this incarnation and what that means. And then His ascension. And we are swept up with that. And even now we are seated with Him. And let's live according to our station from a royal, exalted, authoritative plane. That is how we can keep Christmas well.

Hey, dragon, you've been dragging on situations in our lives. You've been resisting, you've been fighting, you've been raging. But we have a message for you. Ho, ho, ho, from King Jesus.

Thanks for spending a few with me today. I'll catch you next time in the second part of our Christmas miniseries. Share this with one or two of your friends. I think they'll enjoy this message. Maybe it might challenge them, and it might put some fresh inspiration in them for a holiday season that could be a little bit different.

Jesus is brilliant. We love that baby Christ child who came into that outlaw den, but we also love Him as now the cosmic Christ, the ascended Christ. We'll see you next time.