The True Meaning Of Christmas Is To Celebrate The Birth Of Jesus Christ
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”B00006BTCN” locale=”us” height=”350″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AU9k4iSUL.jpg” width=”350″]Christmas is one of the most beautiful seasons in the Church that allows us to reflect on the love, the extreme love that our Heavenly Father has for us all. If we celebrate Christmas the way it was meant to be celebrated, if we understood and lived the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, our lives will be transformed.
From the very beginning of time, God’s plan, God’s desire was for us to spend all eternity with Him. But sin enter the human race and spoilt God’s plan for the entire human race. Because of sin, death and eternal damnation entered the picture, and this was not what God wanted for us. This must have pained the heart of God. Genesis 6: 6 says “Yahweh regretted having made man on earth, and his heart grieved.”
But God did not give up on us. He never gives up on us no matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done. No matter how great our wickedness, the mercy of God is always greater. And so the true meaning of Christmas is based on the mercy of our God – the birth of Jesus Christ His Son, Mercy came down. He promised to redeem all men and He kept His promise by choosing the descendants of Abraham to be His own special people. In His great mercy, God established the Covenant at Sinai with Moses, within which were the Ten Commandments (Exodus Ch 19 & 20).
In spite of all that God did for the Israelites and the Covenant He made with them, they did not live up to the Covenant. But God remained faithful as He always is. And so at last, He came among us in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ, and established a New Covenant in His Blood and by His death on the Cross.
God came and lived amongst us with a very specific goal in mind. Even though His state was divine, He did not hold on to His equality with God. Rather, He – the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity – gave it all up and became like a slave. And that was not all. He was even more humble to the point of accepting death on a cross which was at that time, the most humiliating and the most painful and barbaric way to die. But He accepted it all because He knew that by laying down His life for us, He was making a way for us to enter Eternal life. This is why my friend, we celebrate Christmas. This is what Christmas is all about. This is what the true meaning of Christmas is.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ who came with a specific goal; to be the Saviour of the world. When this message hits home, when it really registers in your heart and mind, you can’t help but fall on your knees and worship the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
It was through Jesus Christ, through His suffering, His death and His resurrection that God freed us from the power of eternal death and damnation due to sin. This is why, “there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
No wonder the Heavens rejoiced at the birth of Jesus and why the multitude of angels sang “Glory to God in the highest heavens, and peace to all of good will!” The singing of the angels, the joy of that first Christmas must have been a reflection of the joy on our Heavenly Father’s heart knowing that at last the most important part of His plan of salvation that will re-unites us to Him, His Son Jesus Christ, had just been born. God rejoiced at the birth of Jesus! the shepherds and the wise men on that first Christmas day showed us how we should celebrate Christmas – worshiping Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
God longed to be united with us His children. Like the father in the story of the prodigal son who constantly gazed out into the horizon looking for his son, God, for centuries, longed to be reunited with us. In Isaiah 49: 15 – 16, you could sense the deep emotions in God’s heart when He said, “even if a mother forgets her baby, I will never forget you. See, I have you inscribed in the psalm of my hands.” Even though God is angered when we sin and turn away from Him, His desire is not to punish us but for us to return to Him with all our heart as is recorded in the book of Hosea.
This is why we celebrate Christmas. The true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of the extreme love of God, who never gives up on us, but gave to us all that He had so that we can be one with Him; so that we might live. Reflecting on this, we can’t help but thank Him for all that He has done and worship Him, not just for the twelve days of Christmas, but our whole life through.
I pray that you will have a truly Merry Christmas from January through to December, every day of your life celebrating the love of God in Christ Jesus His Son.
