What is Christmas?

Most of us were probably born in the 1980s and all we know about Christmas is so much influenced by the Western culture. When we hear the word ‘Christmas’, we will immediately think about Christmas tree, Santa Claus, presents, snowy environment, etc. Do we actually know what Christmas really means? I hope this short writing will answer this question. Let us think about the following points:

How is Christmas originated?

Christmas is indeed celebrated by the Christians as the day when Jesus Christ was born

The exact time for Christmas day was not known, but for sure it was not snowy and cold at that time as Jesus was born in the Middle East. J

The date 25 December was taken from a Roman festival called Saturnalia, which completely had nothing to do with Christianity as it was a pagan celebration. The date was chosen to be the Christmas Day after a lot of pagans converted into Christianity in the 4^th century CE.

Why Christmas is celebrated by the Christians?

The Christians celebrate Christmas to remember the time when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down to earth and became flesh; he is the ‘Second Person’ of God the Trinity (three persons in one person) and so he is God himself.

Jesus Christ’s being crucified on the cross was to appease God’s wrath towards the sins of mankind; we believe that the true God should be just and consistent; on the other hand, God is also love and loving, so he doesn’t want to just go ahead and punish his creation; this way, God should find a way to help humans but not to go against his own character of being just.

What is that Jesus Christ was trying to do?

Humans have been sinful since Adam and Eve committed the first sin, which is not merely about eating fruit, but also more about going against God, who created them; the most evident thing to observe is that everyone cannot escape, even from the simplest sin, namely the sins of heart, e.g. hating other people, thinking badly about others, etc.

Jesus Christ, as the Second Person of the Trinity, being God himself, conceded his rights to be obedient to God the father, the First Person of the Trinity, out of love to die on the cross and appease God’s wrath.

Whoever believes in Jesus Christ and his sacrificial deed will be made peace with God; the manifestation of this restored relationship would be eternal life; after this physical death, those believers will be together with God forever and ever.

What is the effect for us?

The greatest pain and joy are not heaven and hell; heaven and hell are not places but conditions; hell means God-men relationship is broken forever, but heaven means God-men relationship is restored and kept forever.

Is it not wonderful to have our relationship with God restored back completely? J If you were an electrical lamp, what would be better for you than to be connected to the electrical source. So, when you think about Christmas, think about Christ that was born to restore that God-men relationship. Would you believe in him? Only you can answer this, but I just want to wish you Merry Christmas! J God be with you and I hope you will know him personally.