Billions of people celebrate Christmas or actually a certain person’s birthday. The arrival of this person started the time, you know BC and AD.
The shepherds in Bethlehem heard an angel proclaim that a saviour, the Messiah, had been born. These shepherds found and saw the baby Jesus in the manger. He is also called Immanuel, which means “God with us”, God who became man. But what does it mean that the saviour, the Messiah, had come? Is it only about Christmas presents, glittering trees and good food, sweets in abundance?
When we read in the Bible about the continued history of the baby Jesus, it turns out that Jesus’ heavenly mission was to save humanity from its sins – It also shows through Jesus’ teaching that all people are in debt before God, all people seem to have an inner poison that has caused suffering throughout world history. The outdated word “sin” can be described by many words, such as greed, hatred, selfish exploitation of others, envy, pride, lying and slander. The list can be made much longer and it is obvious, who is not guilty on this earth? Jesus’ mission was to save or “rescue” us from our own inner poison so that we can have eternal life.
How did Jesus proceed in his rescue mission? The Bible describes how Jesus, about 33 years after his birth, on the cross took on the sins of all humans like a giant magnet.
When Jesus suffered and died on the cross, he reconciled us all with God, so that we are forgiven for all our sins. The Bible tells us that Jesus took the very punishment for our sins. If we commit crimes in society, steal a car, abuse, smuggle drugs, etc. there will be a trial and then a verdict and a punishment. This is how justice works and how society is preserved.
But Jesus thus took our punishment so that we will be acquitted and pardoned, yes, “saved” on the day of reckoning and judgment and instead have access to eternal life in Heaven. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead, which means that Jesus lives and we with him. He fills us with his peace and love.
So Jesus did not remain either in the manger or on the cross, because he lives and has promised to be with us all the days, a light of life that leads right through the darkness. This is the mystery of Christmas, a salvation that only the humbly receptive can have revealed.
The Bible explains that this salvation – the “heavenly ticket” – is given freely by the grace of God. We cannot earn it by good deeds or good living. We cannot please God and pay off our sins. What God requires is that we humbly turn to Him and believe in Jesus and what He did on the Cross. For all of us – to all of us – Jesus is God’s gift of salvation, God’s “Christmas present” to you who choose to believe and receive.
Merry Christmas.
