I was recently watching a show that was about a Christmas competition. I noticed a common theme among the competitors, and it was that they all said they loved Christmas. And these people didn't just like Christmas, they loved Christmas. For most of them, Christmas was their heartbeat.
However, as I was watching, I remember blurting out loud, "What do they love about Christmas?" We often hear that many people's favorite time of the year is Christmastime, but what is it about Christmas that everyone loves so much?
As I was thinking about this, I thought about what Christmas is really all about. Yes, the lights are pretty, the cookies are delicious, and the presents are fun, but what is it really all about? Why do we hang up shiny pretty lights, bake yummy cookies, and give and receive presents? I came to the conclusion that, just as life, Christmas without Christ, is empty and void.
And not only is He is the answer to the Christmas season, but He is also the reason Christians celebrate Christmas. It's because He was born that we hang up lights, bake cookies, and give and receive presents. They are acts that celebrate Jesus Christ's birth.
But I think that sometimes we get all caught up in the celebrating that we sometimes forget Who we are celebrating.
Hear this: There's nothing wrong with lights, cookies, and gifts. They're all a fitting celebration of our Savior's birth, as long as we don't forget the Savior who was born.
Jesus is the promised Messiah. His birth was prophesied in Scripture 700 years before it even happened. Jesus, the Son of God, being born is essentially this: God gave His One and Only Son to come into the world that He made so that He could provide a way for sinful humanity to come back to God. If Jesus was never born, we would still be dead in our sin and separated from God for all of eternity. There would be no forgiveness of sins, there would be no peace, and there would be no eternity with Him.
Jesus was born and laid in a manger underneath the stars He created, in the world that He spoke into motion, and under the care of the people He knew before the creation of the world. Think about that for a second. God was in complete control, and sending Jesus into this world, that we may come and know Him, was an act of sacrifice and undeniable love.
This Christmas, let us not get so excited in celebrating the Savior's birth that we forget that the Savior was indeed born. He was born for you and He was born for me. He was born to set the captives free, to give the blind sight, and so that we who were dead in sin would be raised to life in Him. This is love. And this is Christmas.
Every prophesy fulfilled.
Every promise kept.
Every soul rescued.
Christmas is God keeping His word. Christmas is proving that God is a God of love. When there was no way in the darkest of night, He came and He made a way. He opened our eyes and awakened our souls. Through Jesus' birth, and ultimately His death and resurrection, He allowed us to be brought from death into life through His Son.
Because of Christmas, we now can know an unending joy. When we believe that Jesus came to live a perfect life, completely God yet completely man, to take on our punishment and pay the debt we owed for our sins, and then to be raised to life forevermore, we receive a gift from our Prince of Peace that transcends all understanding. We receive forgiveness of sins and we become new creations in Him.
Indeed, the birth of Jesus is to be celebrated! For our Savior, our hope, our redemption, our freedom, our salvation...our Jesus has come!
Merry Christmas from all of us at 412teens.org! May you have the happiest of Christmas seasons as we remember and celebrate all that this season is!
"But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.'" —Luke 2:10-11
—Stephanie
Stephanie is a 21-year old with a passion to see believers grow and become passionate in their relationship with the Lord. She is a lover of sweat tea, sunshine, and the freedom that comes from Christ. In her free time, she can be found singing, playing guitar, writing or jamming out to Hawk Nelson, Phil Wickham, and worship music. Her dreams are to become a worship leader and a published author, while living a life full of fun and joy that comes from the Lord.