Christmas is celebrated worldwide by Christians to mark the birth of Jesus Christ, as the Son of God who came to save the world. But irrespective of what we may believe about Christmas, there are those who do celebrate it for some other reasons.
Majority in the unsaved world today as an example, do celebrate it for social realignment with families, friends, and peers. They typically see nothing significant in the celebration, apart from the opportunity that it gives them to socialize and catch up with their loved ones.
Some of them however do ascribe to the belief, that Jesus came to prepare a special people for God, who will one day go to heaven. Christmas season is that period of the year, when many unsaved people are generally open to hear the gospel of Jesus as the resurrected Christ; and many of them do make the decision to receive Him into their lives as Lord during the Christmas celebration.
There are others who may not be so sure of their own salvation in Christ, but they do however love to align with the believers during this season, so as to justify their self righteousness and make themselves feel good and satisfied about their lives.
Another group of people do think that they do need that social environment that the Christmas celebration creates, in helping them to reaffirm and realign with their destinies in life. This group does not ever want to be left behind. They really want to go to heaven to be with the resurrected Church. But unfortunately their social engineering endeavors seems to be much more important to them, than a real and personal encounter with Jesus, their Savior.
There is another group of people that believes that Christ was born, as God’s special messenger primarily to lay the foundation for the Church. And by celebrating with only those of their denomination, they often try to use the Christmas celebration to legitimize their denominations as the only true Church. It is however interesting to note that many in this category of people are not even committed to the doctrines of their denominations.
There are also those among the social liberals in our unsaved world, who do believe that Christ came only to improve humanity through the works that He did. This group believes that by participating in social works within their communities, they are actually doing the works of Christ and making the world a better place to live in. A personal relationship with Jesus to them is like going too far into religious fanaticism.
The last group is made up of seminarians and theologians who will also say that Christ came to give us a code of conduct, or set of rules to live by and make us better human beings in a world that is so full of evil.
THE BIBLICAL PURPOSE FOR CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS
But what actually is the purpose of celebrating the birth of Christ? Apostle John, the younger brother of Jesus revealed to us the primary purpose of His coming when he wrote:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 NIV
We can see here that the primary purpose of His coming is to give us eternal life. Eternity with God is available to everyone who believes in Jesus as the resurrected Son of God. Eternity with God in this sense means abundant or a fulfilled life in Christ (John 10:10).
Jesus explained this further:
“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.”
John 5:26 NIV
The Zoe life has always been in God, the Father since the beginning of creation. That Zoe life of God was the life that was given birth to when Jesus was born. He became at birth the Word of God personified:
“And the Word became 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 1:14 NKJV
John explained this further:
“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”
John 1:4 NIV
The word “light” as used here by John in the original Bible translation is a word that stands for “development or the evolution of mankind”. In other words the light itself is the life of God, that God gave to us when we received Jesus. When we received Jesus into our hearts we received the very life (Zoe) of God in us. That ability to live an abundant or fulfilled life was imputed to us, when we received Jesus. This is the new birth that we experienced when we got saved.
From that moment of our lives as Christians we became responsible for using that “light life” (Zoe), to develop or evolve into being whom God created us to be in this new life.
Jesus declared again of Himself:
…“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.””
John 8:12 NKJV
The “light of life” begins to evolve and develop in us from the very moment that we turned away from darkness. We begin to experience this new life and Jesus starts to reign in our hearts as Lord. We totally surrendered our lives into His hands, to guide us and lead us as we develop or evolve into being who we were created to be in the new life.
This is the greatest miracle that can ever happen to anyone. It opens the window of opportunities for other benefits of the Zoe life or eternal life into our lives. Whether we live in that abundant or fulfilled life here on earth is up to us. We do have the light or Zoe life in us to live eternally with God already.
What we do with that “light life” in us is absolutely our own decision. Whatever we decide to do with Him affects our ability to enjoy the abundant or fulfilled life here on earth. And that decision may also affect our ability to enjoy eternal life with God.
LET THE LIGHT LIFE SHINE
Jesus again said:
“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.”
Luke 11:33 NKJV
This is a direct reference to the light life of God in us as believers in Christ. The Zoe life in us is seeking continually for expression through us.
Paul described it in this manner:
“For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.”
Romans 8:19 NKJV
The Zoe life in us is waiting on us to be revealed. What are you going to do about that light life of God in you? Celebrating Christmas without the operations of the “light life” of God in us, makes Christmas itself meaningless. The “light life of God” leads us into doing the works of Christ. So let Him shine!
ETERNITY IS FOR ALL BELIEVERS IN CHRIST
Eternity with God, the Father became available to all mankind in the “light”, on that night when Christ was given birth to. Many people put their faith in Him during His life and ministry here on earth. Eternity is available up till now for those who are seeking it. We can’t get to live eternally with God by getting a one way ticket to Mars or to the Moon. By receiving Jesus into our lives, a door becomes open for us into eternity with God.
The angel that appeared to Joseph told him about the child in the womb of his betrothed girl (Mary):
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21 NIV
Jesus was born to save those who will become His followers from their sins. It is absolutely impossible to follow Jesus while still holding on to our past sins and the “little foxes” or idols of our lives.
Following Jesus is not something that Christians do when it is Christmas season only. It is an eternal covenant decision. A decision that guarantees us eternity with Him in that Zoe life with God.
Jesus was not born to start the Church or any denomination either. On the contrary, He came primarily to give us access to eternal life with God. Jesus was born to save us from the consequences of sin in our lives, which is eternal separation from God. He said:
“…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10b NKJV
Abundant life is eternal life, and it is the fulfilled life of God in us. Eternity with God is available today for anyone, who does not only wish to merry around during Christmas. It is available for those who will dare to believe in Christ, and start living as if they are on the way going to heaven to be eternally with Jesus.
Saying Merry Christmas is not therefore a socially or religiously correct cliché for the season. We say it because of the joy of salvation that we had experienced; and because of the light life and resurrection of Christ in our lives. Joy is therefore expressed in singing, dancing, laughing and shouting before God. God is always pleased to see us being joyful.
JESUS – OUR DELIVERER
The secondary purpose for the celebration of Christmas is directly linked with the primary purpose. We cannot enjoy the benefits of being Christians without first having eternal life with God. Just as we opened up our hearts to receive Jesus as Lord, we must open up our hearts to receive these benefits that His birth opened up to us.
Apostle John (the younger brother of Jesus) again wrote:
“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
I John 3:8 NKJV
It is important to note here that we cannot experience the Zoe life here on earth if we are still living in our sins. The god of this world is the devil (2 Corinthians 4:4), and his job is to keep us away from the benefits of eternal life.
Jesus on the other hand was born for the purpose of destroying the works of the devil. By destroying the works of the devil, the benefits of the kingdom of God became available to us. Some of these benefits are highlighted in Psalms 103:1-5. They include healing, perfect peace of mind, prosperity (spirit, soul and body) and the list goes on.
WHAT IS IN YOUR CHRISTMAS?
We do celebrate Christmas because we are celebrating that victory of Christ Jesus over the devil and his works. We are the ones that Christ has given the task of enforcing that victory here on earth. That is our responsibility as His followers.
His last command to us is what every believer in Him lives for. He said:
…“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.””
Mark 16:15-18 NKJV
Are you a believer in Christ Jesus? As you celebrate Christmas this year, note that these last words of Jesus are His last command on earth to you, before He ascended into the heavens. What are you going to do about it? Obey Him or just live for yourself?
BE GRAFTED INTO THE BRANCH
As we celebrate this Christmas the words of Paul to the Romans are very important, for us not to fulfill the lust of the flesh in some religious or social orgies:
“And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”
Romans 11:23-24 NKJV
Jesus is coming back again, just as He promised. It is not a prank or some conspiracy theory. It is the gospel truth. Eternity with God is real also, just as eternity in hell is real as well. We only get to decide to follow Jesus, while we still have the “light life” available to us here on earth. Where are you planning to spend your eternity? The choice is yours today.
But my candid advice to you is to GET ENGRAFTED INTO THE BRANCH.
Jesus said:
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
John 15:4-7 NKJV
A decision to abide in Christ is a decision to be engrafted into Him for eternity. Jesus explained the benefit of abiding in Him:
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.””
John 8:31-32 NKJV
Choose life today so that the light life of God may abide in you, and set you free forever. Have a JOYOUS, GLORIOUS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
