Christmas

The vast majority of people in this land will enter into the winter festivities which we call Christmas. People of various religions (not just Christian) and no religion will join in the general atmosphere of the festival. Lights, decorations, buying of presents, the singing of Christmas carols, food and drink, parties, time off work and the sense of anticipation, all make for a welcome relief to what might otherwise be a drab period in winter.

Christmas has its origins in the Christian church, dating from at least the 4th century; a time when the coming (Advent) of Jesus was to be both remembered and celebrated. Christians believe that at a particular point in time (about 4BC) and in a particular location (Palestine), the Son of God came into this world as a man. He came to carry out God the Father’s purpose, after which he would return from whence he had come. Up until a few decades ago, most people in this country would have been aware of what that purpose was, but these days such understanding of the Christian faith can no longer be assumed. So what was that purpose or mission which God assigned to Jesus – a mission borne out of God’s love for the world of men and women.

The apostle Paul summed it up as, ‘to save sinners’. The Christmas angel used a few more words when he told Joseph, ‘he (Jesus) will save his people from their sins.’

Allow me to make that relevant to us as 2014 draws to a close. A ‘sinner’ is the term used of people who do not have the capability of perfectly keeping God’s laws. Such people will, to varying degrees, commit sins simply because they are by nature sinners. I am one of them. Now, because sins are fundamentally an offence towards God, they are liable for his judgement. To be saved from sins means to be saved from the penalty a just God will otherwise issue.

Christians understand that the proper response to all of this is to be like the shepherds, who believed the message concerning Jesus, and to be like the wise men who sought him in order to worship him. If we embrace such a response we will be given the assurance that we too belong to his people, the very ones he came to save.