Christmas: A Time to Reflect, Celebrate and be thankful for Christ

Christmas is a time to celebrate, reflect and be thankful for the love God showed us through the birth of his son Jesus.

Why we celebrate Christmas in a nutshell...
In the beginning, God created man, placed him in the Garden of Eden to live and to tend to it. He gave man everything he needed and told him he could eat freely from any tree in the Garden, except for this one tree. He called it 'the tree of knowledge of good and evil'. And told man, eating from the tree would simply lead to death.

Man failed to listen to God's warning and ate the fruit of the tree. Just like God warned, their eyes were opened and they became aware of what was ‘good and evil'. That act of disobedience was how sin entered into the world and man began to experience hardships and death. It led to the world's demise and caused a separation between God and man.

What God did for us through Jesus...
God so loved the world, that he wanted to make things right with man again. The Bible describes God’s love this way,

‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 3:16)

So, God sent his son Jesus to the earth in the form of a man, to experience everything man had experienced and to understand man alittle more. Hebrews 4:15 describes it this way,

‘For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.’ (Hebrews 4:15)

Since the consequences of man's sin was death, Jesus took on the consequences of man's sin (i.e. death) and he died on the cross for man. He even endured the harrowing pain and the humiliation that came with it for us. That selfless act of Jesus, was what reconciled us back to God. Isaiah 53:5 explained what Jesus did for us:

‘He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.'
(Isaiah 53:5)

And from that moment forward, God wiped away our sins. On the condition that, if anyone believes in what Jesus did for us, on that cross, God will not remember their sins. This was why JESUS said in John 14:6,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
(John 14:6)

And because of JESUS, instead of man dying without hope, as the Bible describes (below) in Genesis 3:17-19,

“Since you… ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust
and to dust you will return.”
(Genesis 3:17-19)

Now, when man dies and leaves the earth, man would live-on in  eternity with God. And that is why, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, because he restored our relationship with the God who made us .So this year, whether you have a lavish or an intimate Christmas, do spare some thought for Jesus, thanking him for all he's done.

Have a merry Christmas everyone,
From my humble heart to yours!
Luv Kemi West xx