What does Christmas mean to you?
One day I was searching for some Christmas songs on YouTube and I found this comment. It said, “It doesn’t have to be December for people to see the beauty, love and joy of the birth of Jesus Christ.” This comment helped open my eyes to discover what I might be missing in my Christian life during this Christmas season.
Christmas is undoubtedly one of the biggest holidays in which Christians and non-Christians around the world celebrate in their own ways. Unfortunately, many Christians do not recognize this holiday for the true meaning of this day.
What could possibly be missing in us?
Perhaps the reason Christians take Christmas rather casually is that they have become desensitized to the annual retelling of the story about the birth of baby Jesus. However, Christmas is not meant to be a one-time seasonal remembrance of His coming, but a continual reminder throughout life. Just as the gospel is not only the saving power in the moment we accept Jesus, but an enduring essence of our faith and life, Christmas offers the message that Immanuel God has given us unbreakable peace and everlasting joy in every moment of our lives.
Matthew 1:23 (ESV): “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
What should we remember from Christmas throughout the year?
Because His Son came into the world as God’s manifested love and brought us the life of the Light, our everyday life is filled with hope and joy in Jesus.
John 3:16–19 (ESV): 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”
The love of God is at work not only in the moment when we are saved, but in every single moment of our lives. The darkness in our lives we were not able to overcome before, is now defeated. Upon the coming of our Savior, this battle was already over. The power of sin and evil cannot prevail before the Light of the world. In His work and sacrifice, we receive the victory. It's a life-changing moment for all of humanity, and Jesus alone is worthy to receive all the glory. Everything that he has done was done by His deep love for us.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “Let it never be forgotten that Jesus gives all that is needed for our salvation.” Yes, this sacrificial, unconditional, and humble King is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus wants us to live this newly given life in remembrance of His love, which is simply everything we need. When we are in great need, Christ in His love fills us with acceptance, encouragement, hope, motivation, and guidance to go on. He provides meaning and joy in life so that we no longer merely survive but fully thrive with the hope and joy to press on. Each day becomes a great testimony speaking of what God has done, is doing, and will do through us. Things we were never able to see and experience become possible through the Son. When we walk through the valley of our spiritual life or face uphills in our personal life, we are to remember this message of Christmas. Though the enemy tempts us to think that we are too far away from God to ever make it back to Him, Jesus brings Himself deeper and closer within us. It is not us who find Jesus, but Jesus who finds us in the midst of the darkness.
In His presence, every pain and brokenness, every failure and mistake, every tear and cry turn into an opportunity to experience “the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:7) We have been freely given the triumphant and glorious life that can only be found in Jesus. Is there an offer greater than this? No, absolutely not. Therefore Christmas should not simply be a seasonal celebration of festive parties, presents, and time spent with loved ones. It must be a daily and eternal commemorative reason to worship our King Jesus and remember that He indeed has already begun His good work in us and for us. Let us prepare to worship King Jesus once more and offer ourselves as acceptable and pleasing sacrifices to God on Christmas Day and all the other days of our lives.