Christmas begins with Christ!

 BY Argie Simonis 

Christmas is coming. It is a holiday celebrated by all Christians around the world. We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, which marked the whole History, even the year itself, since the calendar is divided into an era BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini= In the year of the Lord).

Why do we celebrate Christmas? What makes Christmas one of the most important holidays in Christianity?

"And the angel said to them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

And this shall be a sign to you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:10-14

The peace that the heavenly host sang for was not peace between men, but peace between God and men.

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34

The angels rejoiced that the war between God and man was over.

More than 300 prophecies were fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Many of them at His birth:

"But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Emmanuel = God with us

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelled 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

- We celebrate the Savior, because we needed salvation.

- We celebrate Christmas with gift-giving because of the “indescribable gift” that God gave to us

"Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift." 2Cor. 9:15

- We celebrate Christmas with festive lights because the Light of the world has come to us

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men." John 1:4

"Then spoke Jesus again to them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

- We celebrate Christmas with carols and choirs because they are expressive of joy and follow the examples of Mary and Zacharias and Simeon and the angels, all of whom extoled the Lord.

- We celebrate Christmas by decorating evergreen trees with stars and angels and tinsel because of the eternal life Jesus brings (John 4:14)—and stars and angels and beauty were all associated with Jesus’ birth.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve fell, dragging all mankind with them into the darkness and death of sin. And what did God do? He did not tell us to find our own way out of the chaos we were in. He went down to where we were and picked us up. This is the meaning of Christmas — God comes down to save us, to do whatever it takes to save us from certain death.

We celebrate Christmas because it was at Christmastime that the Savior of all mankind came to save us from the hopeless situation we were in. God did not stay in heaven; He came down to where we are so we can be with Him in eternity!