Silver and Gold, Silver and Gold…..I can’t read or write those words without hearing Burl Ives singing that great tune during the beloved children’s classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I love the sights of Christmas, the tinsel, the lights shining off of new fallen snow. Too bad we don’t get very much where we live, but I still love it. There is just something that is extra festive during this time of year; and yes we do see the silver and the gold on the Christmas tree, but the colors that steal the show, the colors that are synonymous with the Christmas season is red and green. The red and green on the packages, the red bows on the green wreaths, the fact that this color combination lets me know that I actually match for a change- all of this drips with the yule tide feelings of Christmas. So, where did this color combination come from? What do they represent? Do they have a biblical representation? Let’s find out.
It isn’t very difficult to see how the red and green of the winter months came to be associated with the Christmas season. You need to look no further than the plant life that bloom during this time. During a period of the year where other plant life has died away from the cold of winter, things that prosper and even bud are things like holly leaves with their red berries and green leaves. Another traditional part of the Christmas plant life is the ever popular Poinsettia with its star shaped red leaves. And of course there is the evergreen fir or pine tree that bring about that woodsy strong aroma of Christmas into our houses. These colors are not just colors of convenience, they are deep in their biblical significance as well. Each of these colors represent the circle that our spiritual lives travel and they represent what is necessary for that fulfillment.
It is easy to see what we can associated the color red to. This of course is significant to blood, more importantly we can relate it to the blood of Jesus. This began with original sin and Adam and Eve. When they brought sin into the world, they also ushered in all of our deaths. The blood of all mankind, lay on their hands in the Garden of Eden. Since man is the reason that we have death, it would be necessary for man to overcome it and deliver us from it. This is a big reason that God decided that He would be come man incarnate and send His own Son to live on this planet as a man, for the Father knew that we as humans could not pay such a price. This man Jesus would in turn, shed His blood on a cross and then rise again to break the curse that sin and death held over us. 1 Corinthians 15:21-21, 45 tells us
For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive…..Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”;[e] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
All that death and all that blood that Jesus shed led to our other color in the Christmas season….green. Green is the association with life and growth. Just like the holly bush, the great evergreens, or the poinsettias that grow during this time, the green reminds us that through the blood of Jesus we have life. We go through the cycle of life and as we die to this worldly life, Christ’s love and Christ’s redemption allows us to share new life in heaven- much like the new life of a green plant. Romans Chapter 8:19-23 reminds us
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
So this Christmas season as you look at the beautiful sights of the green and red decorations, never forget that it was the blood of Jesus that allows us to gain new life in the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because of the red, we are free to become the green in the life cycle. Also, while you mingle about- it was the manger that started it all. Without the manger, there is no persecution of Christ. Without the persecution of Christ, there is no blood. Without the blood of Jesus, there is not death and resurrection. Without the death and resurrection, their is no new life and no hope. Thank the Lord for the red and the green of Christmas.
In Christ Alone,
Rev. Bro. Coach.
Sources:
Angie Mosteller: http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=1538.
RBC 