The True Meaning of Christmas

Hands up those of you that are feeling tired, stressed out and out of sorts in the run up to Christmas. I think that there are many of us out there who have become so caught up with ‘creating’ the perfect Christmas for ourselves and our family that we do not have the time to pause and think what Christmas is really all about.

So What Is Christmas All About?

I am sure everyone will have a different answer to that question. Some will say that no Christmas is perfect without the Christmas trees, the lights, the gifts, the traditional food and so on. But take a minute to stop and think about what Christmas really means to YOU. Take some time to experience the real Christmas, to fill your hearts with the wonder and the   mystery of an event that happened over two thousand years ago.

On that night a baby was born. It is something that happens every minute of the day, you may say, not much of an event. But on that night, the Creator of the Universe and all that is in it, humbled himself to the point of entering the world in the form of a tiny, helpless baby. God left his heavenly kingdom and came down on this earth, not in all his glory, but in the weak body of a little child. Totally dependent on his foster parents for everything until He became an adult. That is just something which fills me with awe. On that night, angels announced the birth of a Saviour who had been promised at the beginning of time. God took the form of a Man in the person of Jesus. I think that most of us miss the awesome wonder of the incarnation of God. Many of us doubt that it happened and even more of us refuse to acknowledge the fact that it did. But we do know that something momentous happened. We do know that angels appeared to some shepherds and told them to go in haste to Bethlehem to worship the Saviour. We do know that a bright star was seen in the heavens and that three wise men from the east saw the star and followed it until they came to the stable in Bethlehem. They read the significance of the sign in the heavens and realized that the baby in front of them was no ordinary child but God himself. They knelt in front of Him and offered Him gifts of gold (to acknowledge Him as king); frankincense (to signify that He was God) and myrrh (to symbolize his humanity and future suffering). These three men travelled for thousands of miles to kneel before the Saviour. These men were strangers. They were not brought up in the Jewish tradition. They were not waiting for the Messiah; and yet, they had the faith to follow a star and they found Him.