Christmas 2017

Building up to Christmas there have been many forwards on the electronic communication devices. And here was an article written in lighter vein which caught my attention. It was about the wise men bringing gifts to the baby Jesus, and how shoppers have begun cursing these men for bringing gifts and starting a trend of gift giving. This only caused me to go back to the nativity of 2017 years before.

Looking at the first Christmas attention should not be on the gifts brought to Jesus rather, it should be about Jesus, the biggest and most invaluable gift given to the world. That was a world of darkness that was a world which saw the segmentation; it was a world where the majority was made to feel insignificant or unknown. It was no different to the world we are living in today. Maybe the world has grown but the environment can be considered much worse than 2017 years ago.

Such a world was a world in need. It was in need of a leader, a great person who could alleviate humanity – the affected and afflicted from this environment to one which would see transformation and change.

It is in this backdrop that on this Christmas day we ought to unpack this precious and greatest gift that we have received to see what is inside it and how it is going to be of use for our day to day life.

Many whilst purchasing gifts, spend a lot of time thinking of the receiver. They may even go from shop to shop because they think what they are gifting will be liked and useful. That was the same that God did. He knew the need of the world and sends his one and only son Jesus, his way of showing his love on a people whom he created, not just as human beings but in his own image. Therefore Jesus who was there in the beginning and was involved in every act of God’s working now comes down to earth. Immanuel – God with us.

When unpacking this gift the first thing we learn, he is the light. Light is a natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible. John 1:9. The true light that that gives light to every man. By stimulating sight and making things visible, the light makes everyone as enlightened beings. Jesus, the light of the world illuminates, brightens up a dark and evil world.  It makes known the path to all who have been illuminated. It will dispel the darkness in your path; it will also reveal the evil that is lurking in every nook and corner. And all who are illuminated by that light are made to understand the light, it’s purpose, and it’s end objective for the illuminated.

The second thing you find when you unpack this precious and valuable gift is, this gift is a savior. A deliverer a person who will take you from danger to safety and will preserve you from further danger or destruction. To save, if it means you are taken from danger to safety, the work of Saviour is to make people who are the children of this world as children of God. John 1:12. Being a child of God is a right that every believer or follower of Christ has. That means you are saved or delivered or liberated from the bonds of evil, sin and darkness, to become God’s possession. So this valuable gift of God make people anew. Brings them into a new birth. In this birth, God is the parent and we are his children. This is not something you and I can take for granted.

The third thing we find in this gift is the glory of word become flesh. John 1;1. Here in God’s gift you find majesty which belongs to Christ; the kingly majesty, because he is the word made flesh, the son of God, the one who comes from the father. This glory is a revelation of the perfect inward or personal excellence of Christ. So even though Jesus was a man, in that man one could see the exalted state. That is because Heb 1:3 tells us that he is the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of God. And when you become a child of God, in everyone will be seen this same glory and worth.

Unfortunately not only the people of Jesus’ time, but even today, many don’t want to have anything to do with this valuable gift of God’s love.

Just as the people of Jesus’ time did not receive him, just as when we open a gift and it is not to our liking we put it aside or gift it to someone else, there are many who want to be Christian, but without Christ, without a light to illuminate their path, without becoming children of God, without radiating God’s glory.

But the good news is, Immanuel – God with us, God’s valuable gift to this world, still dwells with us and the world or anyone cannot take it away. Jesus is still illuminating our lives and showing us the path that he wants us to walk in.

Jesus is still saving us and persevering in making us the children of God. This Jesus is continuing to reveal his glory in our midst.

People of God, this Jesus is no more the baby lying in a manger. This Jesus, is the king of king’s and the Lord of Lord. The one who is seated at the right hand of God the father. The one who is ever adored by the angels and the archangels. The one who is always with open arms waiting for us to give our earthly ways and come to him. The one who is waiting to be born in our hearts today. If we allow him to be born in our hearts today, one day we too, in white shall wait all around like stars and crowned as his children.

So as we sink into the Christmas celebrations with our family gatherings, sharing of gifts and the fun and frolic may our prayer be

O Holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell. O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Immanuel.