Often in the high stress days that surround Christmas, we tend to forget the most fundamental focus of this event. It is that God loved the world so very much that He sent His Son into this world to deliver people from sin, shame and meaningless lives to a life of peace, purpose and joy.
God took on human flesh, in the womb of a virgin, so that He could be born into the world of mankind. He did this expressly to restore what had been lost back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose disobedience and so broke their fellowship with Him. At that moment in Eden, God could have just washed His hands of the whole thing, and started over again with two more responsible and obedient people. But instead, we witness His amazing love for us in that He chose to restore and reconcile what was lost back then.
And the wonderful truth is that He still, in this Christmas season of 2017, loves people so very much. Many people see themselves as pretty unlovable because of the things they have done or the failures in their lives; failed personal relationships, addictions, really unpleasant attitudes and some very bad deeds done in the past.
We all, to one degree or another, have experienced some or all of the above items. But to restore us back into a life-giving relationship with our wonderful Creator God is why the baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem ages ago. That innocent little One would, some 35 years later, die a terrible death on a Roman cross to pay for the sins of all people in all ages. Now that is love.
Since Jesus paid it all that day on the cross, all that remains is that those who need a savior (which happens to include us all) need accept God’s gracious offer of salvation and to place their trust in Him, and when they do that, they will be set free from failure (sin) and given eternal life. Probably the greatest Christmas verse ever is John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”