The purpose of Christmas

Christmas is a party. Specifically, it’s a birthday party for Jesus, and birthdays are meant to be celebrated. That’s why we say, “Merry Christmas!’’ Ironically, at most Christmas parties, the person whose birthday we are supposed to be celebrating is completely ignored. He’s never even mentioned. Although Jesus is the reason for the season, he […]

Christmas is a party. Specifically, it’s a birthday party for Jesus, and birthdays are meant to be celebrated. That’s why we say, “Merry Christmas!’’

Ironically, at most Christmas parties, the person whose birthday we are supposed to be celebrating is completely ignored. He’s never even mentioned. Although Jesus is the reason for the season, he is often overlooked or merely mentioned along with Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, the Grinch, elves, and a long list of celebrated fictional characters.

Preparing for Christmas can be a lot of work, especially for moms. With the pressure of buying gifts, sending greeting cards, decorating our homes, putting up lights, cooking, attending parties, and cleaning up afterward, we have little time to actually enjoy the meaning of Christmas.

The first purpose of Christmas is celebration. We learn this from the angel’s opening statement to the shepherds of Bethlehem. God had wonderful news for us that would cause us all to rejoice, celebrate, and throw a party: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people’’ Luke 2:10 (NIV).

The good news of Christmas is worth celebrating for three reasons. It is personal: “I bring you.’’ It is positive: “Good news of great joy.’’ And it is universal: “For all the people.” It doesn’t matter who you are, what you have done, where you have been, or where you are headed – this news is for you.

The entire reason for Christmas is the love of God. God loves you so much that he came to earth as a human so you could get to know him and learn to trust him and love him back. Theologians call this the incarnation. God became one of us, a human being so we could understand what he is really like.

God has given us, as human beings, the capacity to know him in ways animals can’t. He created us in his image, which includes the ability to enjoy a personal relationship with him. Then he took the initiative to send Jesus so we could understand his love and our need for him.

Still, until Jesus arrived, our understanding of God’s love was limited. So God invaded earth! It was the greatest invasion in history, and nothing has been the same since. God could have chosen thousands of ways to communicate with us, but since he designed us, he knew the best way to communicate with us would be face-to-face.

If God had wanted to communicate to birds, he would have become a bird. If God had wanted to communicate to cattle, he would have become a cow. But God wanted to communicate to us, so he became one of us. He didn’t send an angel, a prophet, politician, or an ambassador. He came himself. If you really want people to know how much you love them, you can’t send a representative to communicate it. You have to say it personally. That’s what God did at Christmas.

The Bible tells us that God is love. It doesn’t say God has love, but God is love. Love is the essence of God’s character. It is his very nature. The reason that everything in the universe exists is because God wanted to love it. “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”

Think about this. If God didn’t want to love something, he would not have created it. Everything you see, and the trillions of things you can’t see, was made by God for his enjoyment. He loves it all, even when we mess it up with our sin. He still has a purpose for it. Every star, every planet, every plant, every animal, every cell, and, most of all, every human being, was created out of God’s compassion.

You were created as an object of God’s love. He made you in order to love you. His love is the reason you are alive. Every time your heart beats and every time you take a breath, God is saying, “I love you.’’ You would not exist if God had not wanted you. Although there are accidental parents, there are no accidental babies. The parents may not have planned them, but God did.

Because God’s love for you is unconditional, he loves you on your bad days as much as on your good days. He loves you when you don’t feel his love, as much as when you do. He loves you regardless of your performance, your moods, your actions, or your thoughts. His love for you is unchanging. Everything else will change during your lifetime, but God’s love for you is constant. It’s the foundation for unshakable confidence.

There is nothing you can do that will make God stop loving you. God’s love for you is based on his character, not your conduct. It’s based on who he is, not what you have done. The Bible says, “Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you would be able to know that love.”

One potential problem of our annual Christmas celebrations is that many people only think of Jesus as a baby. Their conception of him is only as a helpless newborn in his mother’s arms. If Jesus had never grown up to do what he did, he would have no power to transform our lives.

But the baby born in Bethlehem did not stay a baby. Jesus grew to manhood, modelled for us the kind of life that pleases God, taught us the truth, paid for every sin we commit by dying on a cross, then proved that he was God and could save us by coming back to life. This is the Good News. When the Romans nailed Jesus to a cross, they stretched his arms as wide as they could. With his arms wide open, Jesus was physically demonstrating, “I love you this much! I love you so much it hurts! I’d rather die than live without you!” The next time you see a picture or statue of Jesus with outstretched arms on the cross, remember, he is saying, “I love you this much.’’

Culled from www.christianitytoday.com