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As Christmas draws near once again, should we not consider what the message behind this feast is? The message is the Good News, also known as the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And this Good News must be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. It is news of hope in the midst of a wicked world. In its historical context, this is what it entails:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and all things in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible. He created man, both male and female, in his own image, and gave them dominion over the earth. However, by one man, sin, which is nothing but disobedience to the Creator, entered into the world, and death by sin, for the wages of sin is death. All men consequently face death, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And all men will face God’s judgement, because He is righteous, and righteousness demands justice. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but “now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained” (Bible). The judgement will not only be for what we perhaps perceive as “heinous sins,” such as murder, but any act or thought that does not measure up to the perfect standard set by God’s law, will be judged by Him in all fairness. The judgement that awaits man does not refer to the physical death that we all face, but to what is called the “second death,” which at least metaphorically is also called the “lake of fire”.
So God sent out His Spirit to convict the world of these things: of sin, of righteousness and of judgement. This conviction, however, would have left us in desperate hopelessness if it was not for the Good News, which started at the events that Christmas is all about: God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to this world to reconcile man to God, to pay the penalty for our sins. And so Jesus Himself proclaimed that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (Bible). This is the Good News, the hope of salvation and of everlasting life!
When Christ came – which is what is celebrated at Christmas – it was the promised Saviour of the world that came. However, the salvation was not merely in his miraculous birth and the humility that surrounded it, for that only marked the beginning of his work as the “God-man”. His work of redemption, of saving people from their sins, and the hope that comes with it, happened through the events that transpired while He was on earth. The core of the message of Good News is succinctly summarised by these words: “that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (Bible). Several people bare witness of these events, for “He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once …” (Bible). Not only that, but long before He came, it was foretold that it would happen, as written down in the book of the prophet Isaiah: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Bible).
Having the Gospel of Jesus Christ before us, we are then exhorted to “give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through the angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” (Bible). With the exhortation also comes the open invitation: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money on what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live …” (Bible).
What Christmas celebrates is the inaugaration of a new era and the pinnacle of human history.
