Everyone knows that Christmas’ colors are red and green. These two diametrically opposed colors do not seem like the obvious combination. Gold and red or Green and silver seem like more obvious combos. So what do these two colors mean? For many it seems clear-cut (no pun intended), the green is for the evergreen trees and holly, the red represents Santa’s suite or the fire of a warm hearth. These guesses are far off, the green is for holly and evergreen, but it originates in a Medieval play where there was a paradise tree in Eden that was green and this later would encourage the Germans to cut down trees for Christmas. In fact, the obsession with a tree may not be so pagan as the naysayers claim, our ancestors lived in paradise and there was a trees of great importance, “The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” (Genesis 2:9) and, “And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:22). There is the two trees, the one of knowledge of good and evil that brought the curse on all mankind and the tree of life which allows humans to live forever. Christ later dies on a tree to give us eternal life through faith in Him, “But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law by becoming a curse for us. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” (Galatians 3:13-14). Thus the green of Xmas harkens to the reality of the fall and the reality and hope of everlasting life that awaits us, hence evergreen and everlasting, the tree represents the everlasting that awaits us, the hope of glory with Christ.
The color red, found on holly berries, candy canes, and poinsettias represents the blood of Christ Jesus. Red points us to the fact that Our Lord Jesus was born so that He could grow up and pour out His blood for our sins, “and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins/ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past/ God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand,” (Romans 3:25), and “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin,” (1 John 1:7). The God Man’s blood being our covering is quite amazing when you understand that God describes sin as red, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18). The red blood of Christ removes the crimson stain of sin and makes us white as snow and harkens to the old testament when the lamb’s blood protected the Israelites from the angel of death (Exodus 12:7), just as the Lamb of God’s blood protects us from eternal death (Hebrews 2:9, 14-15). It was with a lamb’s blood that Moses sprinkled the people and elders and they ate with God (Exodus 24:8-11) and it is with the Blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ that we shall eat with God at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:4-8). Other significant symbolism is that Jesus wore a scarlet robe at His crucifixion (Matthew 27:28), which connects to the prophet Isaiah words that sins are scarlet (Isaiah 1:18) and so Jesus bore our sins in His body and made us white ad snow. When Christ returns His Robe will be dipped in blood (Revelation 19:13), this making Christmas red have both Advent meanings of His first and second coming, for Jesus’ first coming He was born like all of us of blood and water (1 John 5:6), and is returning with a robe dipped in blood (Revelation 19:13):
Finally, perhaps the most epic reason red and green are used as Christmas is that both colors surround Almighty God “At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. 4 Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit[b] of God. 6 In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. 7 The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. 8 Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
9 Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), 10 the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,
11 “You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.”(Revelation 4:2-11). The One who appears as Ruby and Jasper and is encircled by a rainbow of emerald (Revelation 4:2-3), the Christmas colors of red and green, is the Lord God Trinity surrounded by Cherubim and Elders! Our traditional Xmas colors actually encompass our Lord Jesus! Therefore, the colors to belong together after all and then we behold them we can think of the Alpha and Omega, the Almighty One surrounded by these two colors! So see the pagan theories by anti-Christmas preachers is debunked by Scripture! God made special trees, died on a tree for our sins, His blood is red, and both colors surround Him on His throne! You now have Scripture evidence to support the reds and greens, the trees and ornaments of Christmas. Amen.
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