Remembering Christ on His Birthday

Christmas will come and go again this year as it has done through the years. We know what others may think about Christmas, and we can guess what they may say. Its either "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays". Over the years, Christmas Day has been degraded with all the commercialism and secularism. Christmas is perhaps the most beautiful but most abused holiday. We need to remember the true meaning of Christmas. We all need to take the Scriptures as our guide and refuse to be pressured into conformity to paganism practiced in the name of Christ. The theology of Christmas too easily gets lost under the happy wrappings. As everyone celebrate Christmas, whether we accept or reject Christ, we all need to personally determine the meaning of Christmas. That Jesus Christ has come and we need to keep in mind of the radical difference between today's world and the world into which when Jesus was born. We need to remember that Jesus came from eternal pre-existence as God, He empties Himself and enters human existence as a poor, helpless new-born baby. Whatever Christmas may be today, that first Christmas was the celebration of a miracle. We need to recognize that the person of Jesus Christ that makes Christmas. Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, God taking on humanity whose name is Immanuel, God with us. Christmas is not the whole story. It is but the beginning because "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." (John 1:14). Christ became man. He did not cease to be God. However, though still possessing them He willingly laid aside the exercise of His divine attributes (Philippians 2:7) from the time of his human birth to His resurrection. Without Christ, nothing else matters.