Jesus Christ is born. This is the time of year that focuses on the most miraculous birth known to humankind. As Christian believers, we acknowledge and celebrate the season fully aware that our faith is founded solely on God’s unconditional, sacrificial love and His gifting Jesus to the world as its One and Only Savior.
Jesus is not just a baby born in a manger. Jesus is God’s physical revelation — God in the flesh. Jesus is “Immanuel — God with us”. “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Matthew 1:23 NLT
It is a challenge wrapping our minds around this truth. It defies human rationale. To some believers, merely having the faith to believe seems insufficient, maybe too easy.
But make no mistake, this truth has it critics, naysayers and unbelievers. Our faith faces the test of time whenever we encounter people who do not share our beliefs.
So living by this truth is not always easy. Celebrating this truth can come across as a drag or reason for mockery by unbelievers.
We have to find ways to celebrate, not with silence but with sensitivity. We do not want to put God’s truth on mute. Believers who know from experience how God’s love works and makes the difference in their life have credible evidence.
Exercising one’s faith to believe in Jesus and how God presented Jesus to humanity has implications now on to eternity. The reality of God’s love and it’s effect on a person’s life is at stake. Consider God’s word from John’s Gospel.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17 NLT
Let this truth of God’s unconditional, gifted love be the reason you celebrate and share with others.