Can you smell Christmas already? Can you hear the joyful songs about the Savior? What is Christmas? Is Christmas about the great gifts and meals, the gathering of families and the shopping sprees? Christmas is about a person. It is about Christ the Savior. While the world lay condemned by God as it languished in sin, Christ came to redeem and reconcile us back to God. God in His mercy send His only begotten Son to the world to redeem it. On that first Christmas day, in a little town called Bethlehem, God became flesh. God was made in the likeness of man and was born as a little baby in a manger/ stable since there was no room in the inn or any other places for His birth. Christmas commemorates the love of God to us by sending us a Savior. Even though He was a king, Christ took that lowly place in order to draw you to Himself. As the festive season begins, focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Remember, God loves you. It is because of His love for you that He came. Christmas is a time for you to get back into the Saviors love. It is for you that He came. Do you know Him as your Lord and Savior?
Each year the nation gives you an opportunity to think about Christ, the new born King, the Savior who left His high and lofty place in glory to come and die for your sins and to give you eternal life. As various institutions close down for the holidays and your employer gives you days and hours to celebrate Christmas, it is a gesture of grace and mercy from God. It is a special time for you to get back to the God who loves and cares for you. If God were to ask you, “What did you do with the days allocated for my birthday?” what would your reply be? You see, when you miss the reason for the season, the season leaves you empty in many ways. You will begin the new year on a low tone feeling hopeless and spend out. To focus on the Savior is to find the author of life. He who has the Son, has life but he who does not have the Son of God in his heart does not have life. (See 1 John 5:12). You can have life this Christmas season. Make it a special time when you ask the Savior to give you eternal life.
Why did the Savior come to the world on what we celebrate as Christmas? I do not want you to celebrate in ignorance. Christmas is indeed a time of celebration. In fact, the angels who announced the birth of Christ proclaimed it on that Christmas day saying, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10b-11) The reason for the celebration was the presence of the Savior who could break the chains that bound and separated man from God. Today, we celebrate God’s great love unto us too. The greatest gift ever given was a Savior who would save men from their sins. The greatest gift you can receive at Christmas is that gift of the Savior; One who will cleanse your sins and reconcile you back to God. Before you celebrate and or open your gifts this Christmas, search your heart to see if you have God’s perfect gift for you. Do you have Christ the true reason for the celebration?
For whom was the Savior born? Among the many songs that will be sung this Christmas will be “Joy to the world the Lord is come, let earth receive her king.” Why should the world be filled with the melodies that point to the birth of Christ the King during this month and season? To whom was the Savior born? Are we celebrating the birth of a baby thrown out there for whomever? Why are you celebrating? Think about it. The child, who is born, The Lord Jesus Christ, is God’s gift for you. Don’t leave Him for grubs as you focus on the non-essentials of the season. Look at God’s reason for sending His only Son to give us a reason to celebrate: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Christmas is a reminder that God loves you. It is a time to remember that God wants you to have eternal life. True joy only comes when you have the Savior born in your heart. Will you not have the Savior this Christmas?
Where do you stand with the Savior, Christ the King, who is born today? God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (John 3:17-20) Let this Christmas be a time of great tidings. Walk away from self, friends, and pleasures of sin back to the Savior. It is for this very reason that He came, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Don’t remain in a condemned state when the Savior is here to set you free. Take a step toward God and ask Him to help you.
God reveals Himself to man in various ways. He makes the truth about Him to be as plain as it can be so that man is without excuse. From the creation of the world, God displays His invisible qualities such as His eternal power and His divine nature so they are clearly seen and understood. Even as the world celebrates Christmas, you are presented with the truth of who God is. Allow your heart to set on a journey to know God. God who loves you wants you to know Him. He desires to fellowship and to develop a relationship with you. God’s ways are not complicated. Allow your heart to yield to the tenderness and the love He shows you on a day to day basis. Why would you miss out on God when He stands at the door of your heart and knocks season after season? Why should He cast you to the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth when you can sit, reign, and rule with Him in heaven when He comes back to take His children home?
Good works do not save a man and neither can they earn him a place in heaven. A few years ago, I witnessed to a lady who was on her death bed. She wrung her hands from time to time as I desired to know where she would spend eternity. She kept hoping against hope that she would make it to heaven. When I asked her for one good reason why God should open the gates of heaven for her, she gave an interesting reply. “I have done many good things most of the time,” she said. “I hope my good works will outweigh my bad ones when the good Lord puts my deeds on His holy balances and lets me into heaven.” Friend, it does not work that way. God has given us a clear way to heaven. That is the reason behind Christmas. Christ Jesus, who was born unto us, is the way, the truth, and the life. Look at God’s testimony about this in John 14:6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” It is by accepting Christ in your heart as you repent of your sins and ask Him to wash you with His atoning blood which He shed for you on the cross that you are birthed into the kingdom of God. That is your only pass to heaven. Good works do not save. Instead, good works characterize the lives of those who know God.
God does not have grandchildren. God only has children. Look at what God has to say about His children. “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:10-14). It is this same God who became flesh and dwelt among us that was born unto us as a baby at Christmas time. Those who believe and receive Him are given power by God to become the sons of God. Those are God’s children. You cannot get to God on the account of another. You cannot ride on your parents’ or grandparents’ tickets. In order to see God and gain entry into heaven, you must be born again.
Who is this Savior who is born today? The Prophet Isaiah testified as he let us know who the Savior was. He said, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) God has sent a Wonderful Savior unto us. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the earth. He is gracious. He is kind and compassionate. It is not His will that any of us should perish. The wonderful Savior has come that you may have life and have it more abundantly. It is for that same reason that He gave up everything in order to win you to Himself. There is no one who will love you like the Wonderful Savior. No one will aid and help you carry your burdens like Christ.