ASK a group of Christians the meaning of Christmas and you would get various answers. To some Christmas is about mirth and gaiety. To others Christmas is an occasion to share. To a few others, Christmas means choir and carols, Christmas trees and Santa Claus, plum cakes and puddings, red wine and lots of meat. Depending on your upbringing and what you had been exposed to as a child, an adolescent or adult, your perception of Christmas may change.
To the Bible-believing Christians, the meaning of Christmas is not a mystery. Nor is it too hard to find. If you open your Bible and read it with a seeker’s heart, God will reveal Himself to you. Hallelujah!
To understand God’s purpose for the birth of Jesus Christ, you need not look further than what Jesus Himself said about why He came into the world. Jesus Himself said several times in the Bible why He came into the world. You can call them the mission statements of Jesus Christ. We will examine
Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
What does that mean? The Law and the Prophets were the equivalent of the Old Testament. And, Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the prophecies. In the Old Testament, the birth of Jesus and his atoning death were prophecies. In the New Testament, they became a reality. Jesus Christ All of the Old Testament pointed to Jesus Christ. That’s why He said: ‘You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me’ (John 5:39). And again in verse 46 He said: ‘For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.’
All the promises of God the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That’s why Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:20: ‘For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.’
The Law of God given through Moses was perfectly kept only by Christ. All those who strove to keep the Law before and after Christ failed. He took all of the wrath of God upon Himself on Calvary. Jesus Christ is the mediator. Mathew Henry wrote: ‘Out of Christ, God is a consuming fire, but in Christ, a reconciled Father. This is the sum of the gospel, which we must by faith cheerfully embrace.’
The Law now says: Look to Christ for your righteousness for your works aside of Him will fail.
While talking about how and why Israel needs to hear the Gospel of Christ, Apostle Paul wrote: ‘ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes’ (Romans 10:4).
The message of Christmas is this: Not only Israel, everyone who is alive on earth needs to hear the Gospel. You cannot work out your own salvation by your works. Christ has already opened the way of salvation for you through His death. Simply believe it, accept that you need a Savior, receive Him into your heart and confess that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord. ‘…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved’ (Romans 10:9).
Jesus Christ came to bring light to a dark world
‘I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness’ (John 12:46).
Darkness is symbolic of the gross evils of the world. Those who live in the sin are said to be in darkness. Jesus’ statement that He came into the world as light so we may not remain in darkness was the fulfillment of a prophecy made in Isaiah.
‘I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
as a light to the Gentiles’ (Isaiah 42:6).
When Jesus left Nazareth for Capernaum, Apostle Matthew records another one of Isaiah’s prophecies came true. ‘The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned’ (Matthew 4:16).
The Gentile world is still in darkness in our times. If you doubt this, please read Romans 1:18-32. All the vices Apostle Paul mentions there still abound around us.
The light is not shined upon all, only those who believe on Him.
Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, once preached: ‘Some souls are in greater darkness than others. For those who are in a worse condition than others there is hope and light. In barbarous nations Christ has won great victories. In the worst hearts Christ has dawned. When these have beheld the light, they frequently become eminently useful to others. The conversion of the deplorably dark brings the highest degree of glory to God.’
The message of Christmas is not one of the lights that we hang on the Christmas trees or tie on our doors, it is Jesus Christ, the light of the world. The message we need to repeat to everyone without Christ around is this: ‘You need not live in darkness, misery, guilt, shame and hopelessness anymore. Come to Jesus. He will transform your life.’
Jesus Christ came to give eternal life
‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh’ (John 6:51).
‘And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son’ (1 John 5:11).
With each passing year, the message of Christmas should get louder and clearer. We need to tell those around us that the things they believe in will not help them in the day of trouble. The world as we know it is changing every day. The polities of the nations are changing, the rules of banking institutions are changing and the morals of every community is changing. What we once believed as rock solid, durable and unchangeable is all turning to be dross, dust and corrupt.
‘And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever’ (1 John 2:17).
When change has become the only constant, the Bible asks us to fix our eyes not on that which is worldly but that which is eternal.
‘As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal’ (2 Corinthians 4:18).
How does one get this eternal life? ‘And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent’ (John 17:3).
That’s the true meaning of Christmas. Our trust is in the One who fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. We have been translated to light from a world of darkness. Our story does not end with this world. We have another world that is prepared for us. New heaven and new earth awaits those who are in Christ. That’s an everlasting promise!
