Christmas
is celebrated once a year all over the world. It is not
celebrated by Christians only. Non-Christians, people of other faiths,
even people of no faith at all, also celebrate it. In some countries,
it is celebrated nationally. In some others, it is celebrated as a
national holiday. It is quite correct to describe Christmas as an inter-faith,
international celebration.
But while it has become a worldwide, universal celebration, there
are many all over the world who neither know its real reason nor the
one
in whose name it is celebrated.
This article
seeks to explain the real reason behind the event and to help
point
to the one whose birth more than two
thousand years
ago is the real reason for the celebration.
There is indeed
a real reason behind Christmas celebration. The Scripture is
trite in this regard.
First,
Christmas is a time of real good news. When the angel first brokered the
news of the birth which has come to
be celebrated as
Christmas, he described it as good news (Lk. 2:10-12). According
to him, the good
news was that a Saviour was born to the world (Lk. 2:10-12).
The Saviour’s
birth which we now celebrate as Christmas is good news indeed
(Lk. 2:10-12). Christmas is therefore a day of good news, that
the world
has one who is her Saviour (Lk. 2:10-12). Therefore, as we
celebrate Christmas, we must never forget the good news behind
the celebration.
Second,
Christmas is a time when God fulfilled His promise to send the
Messiah to redeem the world. This promise is
stated in several
ways in the Scripture (see Gen. 3:15; Is. 7:14; Is. 9:6-7). According
to the Scripture, the birth of Jesus which the world celebrates
as Christmas actually fulfils a messianic promise that God had made
(see Matt. 1:22-23). As we celebrate Christmas all over the nations
today,
we should remember that we are actually celebrating the fulfillment
of God’s messianic promise. In other words, we are really celebrating
the arrival of the world’s promised Messiah more than two
thousand years ago. This means that Christmas is nothing but a
messianic celebration.
The messiah is already available. To lose sight of this in our
Christmas celebrations is to celebrate meaninglessly.
Third,
Christmas is a time to celebrate God’s love. By the
birth of Jesus, God demonstrated His love for fallen humanity (see
Jn. 3:16;
cf. Rom. 5:8). This love is both universal and unconditional (Jn.
3:16; cf. Lk. 2:10-11). This love must be received to justify God
giving
it (see Jn. 6:40). When received, this love results in everlasting
life (Jn. 3:16). Christmas celebrations must therefore remind us
of the birth of God’s love more than two thousand years ago.
It must also remind us that not only that love but its result is
still
available to all mankind today. To celebrate Christmas properly
today we must take due account of God’s love which is still
available to every human being right from the first Christmas celebration
more than two thousand years ago.
In
the fourth place, Christmas is a time to remember the salvation
of mankind. The Saviour of the world was born during
the first Christmas
more than two thousand years ago (see Lk. 2:10-12; Matt. 1:21).
After years of expectation, the birth of Jesus at that time marked
the
birth of Salvation for mankind (Lk. 2:10-12; Matt. 1:21). Therefore,
Christmas
celebrations today ought to be celebrations of God’s
salvation for mankind. It ought to be a celebration of the
saved. Wherever
Christmas is celebrated today, it is important to remember
that Salvation is
available for all mankind as a result of the first Christmas
event which took place in Bethlehem more than two thousand
years ago.
Fifth,
Christmas is a time of celebrating God’s
reconciliation with His estranged children. The fall of man (Gen.
3:1-19) brought
enmity between God and humanity. The birth of Jesus more than
two thousand years ago made reconciliation between God and mankind
not only possible
but real. Christmas is therefore a time to celebrate the peace
that now exists between God and mankind through Jesus Christ. Whenever
and
wherever we celebrate Christmas, we must never forget that
real peace is now readily available to human beings through
Jesus Christ
(see
Jn. 14:27).
Sixth,
Christmas is a time of a new order, a new way of life. The birth of Jesus more than two thousand years ago, which the
whole world
celebrates
every year, formally ended the old order of sin and evil (see
Matt. 1:29; Jn. 1:29) and introduced the new order of righteousness
(see
2Cor. 5:17). Christmas celebrations all over the world today
ought to be characterized by the reign of righteousness which the
first
Christmas in Judea more than two thousand years ago signified.
When we overlook
the need for the reign of righteousness even while we celebrate
Christmas today, such celebrations are at best improper.
Finally,
Christmas is a time for knowing God in a new way, as He is,
and as He deserves
to be known. Until the
birth of Jesus more than
two thousand years ago, we used to think of God as one who
is wholly other and beyond knowing. But when Jesus was born, He
brought
us
a
new understanding of God. According to the Scripture, the birth
of Jesus revealed God to mankind as the one with us (Matt. 1:22-23).
As we celebrate Christmas, we should no longer think of God as
one
who
is far removed from us. We should remember that Jesus’ birth
brought God within the reach of every human being. With His
birth, we can now know God as He really is, one with us (Matt.
1:22-23).
We cannot be celebrating Christmas today and still think of
God as the
unknown one
As we celebrate Christmas each year all over the world, it is most
necessary take full account of the real reason behind the celebration.
Any Christmas celebration that does not take account of the real
reason behind the event is a fruitless exercise, despite its fanfare
and the
resources committed to it. A Christmas celebration that is worth
celebrating is one that is done on the basis of the real reason behind
the event.