by Gabby Beddingfield
Christmas is right around the corner! Even though Christmas Day hasn’t quite reached us yet, many people have already decorated, planned family gatherings, and bought presents to give to others. It’s the Christmas season!
When asked what Christmas means to you, what is your answer? Some may say spending time with their family, others may say giving presents. But, when you know Jesus and you are one of God’s children, Christmas goes beyond the presents, family gatherings, decorations, and sleeping in. For me, Christmas is a reminder of our God’s love, his gift of his son Jesus, and the salvation, hope, freedom, and new life we have through Him.
Driving down the road around Christmas time, have you ever seen a little barn with a manger inside? In the manger lies a little baby. Standing around the baby is a mother and father. There are also some camels with other men. Over the barn is a large star. There may also be some angels around the barn. You may have never seen this exact scene, but you’ve probably seen some variation of it. If you’ve never heard the story of Jesus, this is probably just some crazy decoration that your neighbors put in their yard that means nothing to you. “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Have you ever heard that one around Christmas time? Again, if you don’t know about Jesus, this is just a meaningless saying to you. Or maybe it strikes your curiosity and gets you wondering.
Let me tell you something: Jesus is the greatest gift we could ever receive. God, the Creator of the universe, who created you and me, sent His son Jesus to this earth. Jesus was sent to this world full of evil and sin to live a life as both completely God and completely human. He walked on this earth, endured hunger, temptations, and great amounts of pain. He went through life without ever making one mistake. Jesus never sinned because He is God. Yet He still endured pain, temptations, sadness, and the other trials that humans go through in this world. He felt these things because He walked on this earth as completely human as well.
Then, Jesus died like humans do. But, He experienced a terrible death. Not only was He beaten and mocked, He was nailed to a cross to die. There’s more. On that cross, He bore all of our sins, all the sins of the world. All of our sins went on Him and He died bearing them. He was then buried in a grave. Now let me tell you something spectacular: that’s not the end of the story. Just a few days later, Jesus could not be found in that grave. Jesus had risen! He was alive! And He still is alive today! Jesus defeated death! And we can be made alive through Him.
John 3:16 (CSB) says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
That is marvelous news! We can be saved and set free from our sins if we just believe in Him! We can have eternal life with Him if we believe in Him; we come to Him as we are, broken and sinful, we choose to believe in Him, and He saves us!
So that one night, when Mary gave birth to the Savior of the world, we were given the greatest gift we could ever receive! And let me tell you something else: while this may be why we celebrate Christmas, it should be why we celebrate every day! Jesus was born into the world and then died on the cross bearing our sins. And then He rose from the dead and conquered death! He is God over all, and if we simply believe in Him, we are saved by Him, and we become His children when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior.
If you have chosen to believe, accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and given your life to Him, you are a part of His family, and you are His child. We have life through Him, and it’s not just a gift we get to experience on Christmas. It’s a gift that we get to hold onto every day and forever. So, let’s remember that Jesus is the reason not only for the season, but for every day we live!
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