“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 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 1:20-21

This is the time of year when much of the world comes to a standstill in recognition of the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s also a time when peace and goodwill among men are rather glibly talked about. Though wonderful sidebars to the birth of Christ, they are not the reason why Christians celebrate Christmas.

To Joseph, the angel of the Lord said, “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) And to the shepherds, the angel of the Lord said, “Today, in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you.” (Luke 2:11) Through Adam, we were all born spiritually dead and incapable of behaving as we were designed to behave. Paul writes in Romans 7:23, “I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” This ‘law of sin’ works with a bias towards that which is wrong, and the acts of sin we commit are symptomatic of our corrupt nature.

We live in a world dominated by corruption, greed and prejudice, so it’s easy to blame things on the state of the world, but the problem is that the world is made up of people like you and me. Unless we understand that Jesus came into the world to save us from our sin, Christmas will not be much more than a sentimental occasion for celebration. To understand His birth, we need to leave Bethlehem behind and go about ten kilometres up the road to Jerusalem. It is there, at the cross of Jesus, the penalty for our sin was paid, and it is the only means by which the life of God may be restored into human experience.

The greatest need of every human heart is to be saved. Christmas is the beginning of the story of our salvation; a baby born in Bethlehem, sent into this world by a loving God to become the pure and flawless lamb to die in our stead. Christians celebrate the birth of our Saviour because as the angel of the Lord said to Joseph, “He will save His people from their sins”, and they know they are the sinners He came to save.

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the precious gift of Your Son who not only saved me from the penalty of my sin, but by Your Holy Spirit, lives in me. I pray that all over the world, people will be reconciled to You by realizing they need saving, and accepting Jesus Christ as their Saviour. That’s the true joy of Christmas and such an amazing gift to experience!

TO REFLECT UPON: How would I best describe what Christmas means to me? In what ways can I better implement the joy of Christmas into my life and the lives of others all year round?