For most people, especially in the West and other parts of the world, Christmas is one of the most important Christian and cultural holidays of the year. Every year, as the fall gives way to winter and the snow covers the ground with flashy lights on our streets and decorated Christmas trees from house to house, you know that Christmas is around the corner. Most people dress in reds, exchange gifts, feast and do all kinds of things to mark and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Yes! The true meaning of Christmas, for Christians, is the celebration of the Savior, Jesus Christ. However, one of the downsides of a routine is the tendency to lose the essence of the practice and get carried away in the motion of simply keeping up with tradition. One can be lost in the euphoria of celebration at the expense of the essence of the celebration. This is becoming true of Christmas as folks do things that contradict the person and the values of Christ in the name of celebrating Christ.

Such contradictory practices call for a great contemplation on the real essence of Christmas celebration. What is the true meaning of Christmas? What does it mean exactly to celebrate Jesus Christ on Christmas? Is it the gifts? Is it the annual economic boost? Is the celebration in the Christmas trees, the Christmas songs, the gifts and hamper exchanges or how our cities are lighted? Is there more to Christmas than all the euphoria that comes with it?

Celebrating Jesus Christ on Christmas means celebrating everything that Jesus represents. These are some of the ways to look at what it means to celebrate Jesus Christ on Christmas:

1. Celebrating Jesus Christ on Christmas is a remembrance of the reason He came to the world. The coming of Jesus was on purpose. Man had a problem – sin. It was a problem that none of the prophets or any of the laws could resolve until Jesus Christ came. When we celebrate Christ at Christmas, we commemorate the beginning of the end of this great problem of man – sin. Matthew 1:21 says, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Christmas is empty if we are not saved from sin because the purpose of His coming is not accomplished in our lives. It means His coming is in vain since we have not aligned our lives to this great purpose of God. Are you saved from sin?

2. Celebrating Jesus Christ on Christmas is a call to consecration. If we claim to know, belong to or even identify with Him, we cannot live carelessly. While we shouldn’t isolate ourselves from the world, we must not adopt the lifestyle or mentality of the world.

Christmas brings to mind that Jesus came to save people who live in the world but are not of the world. Celebrating Jesus during Christmas without a life that strikingly reflects Him is a waste. Remember that those who name the name of the Lord must depart from iniquity.

3. Celebrating Jesus Christ on Christmas is a reminder of God’s unconditional love to the world and the entire creation. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

We didn’t deserve God’s love yet he didn’t withhold it from us. Christmas reminds us and reveals to us the true definition of love. Unlike the world’s kind of love, God’s love is selfless and unconditional.

“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man, someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:7-8

4. Celebrating Jesus Christ on Christmas is a reflection of God’s magnanimity in giving up His only begotten Son as a propitiation for our sins. God didn’t just love us in words; He demonstrated it in giving us His only begotten son.

Humans think of giving when they have excess but God had only one Son yet He gave Him up for us. He didn’t hold on to Him. Christmas means giving. We must go out of our way to give sacrificially so that others may live comfortably in the same way Jesus gave up His life to give us life.

5. Celebrating Jesus Christ on Christmas should birth a hunger and a thirst in our hearts for more of God. As we celebrate Christmas, it ought to lead to a yearning in our hearts to experience more of the person and power of Christ. The truth is most Christians live far less than the realities that are written in God’s word. Sometimes, we often feel that some of the signs, wonders and glory experienced and written in the Bible are not meant for our generation yet Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do because I go to My Father.” John 14:12

After the shepherds received the message of the angels about the birth of Jesus, they didn’t just sit there. The message created a hunger in them. They didn’t want to base their faith on hearsay but on what they have seen and experienced. So, they said one to another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” Luke 2:15. Everything written in the word of God has come to pass but we may never see or experience them until we take proactive steps like the shepherds to seek Him out. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. If we didn’t see Him work in our lives as He did with the apostles and prophets, it is our fault.

6. Celebrating Jesus Christ on Christmas is a reminder of the great commission. Even though Jesus came to save the world from sin, there are still many who have not known Him. Some have not even heard of Him. The harvest is still very large and laborers are few.

Celebrating Him at Christmas should spur us to obey the great command to go into the entire world and preach the gospel Mark 16:15. One other beautiful thing the shepherds did after they saw Jesus was that “they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds” Luke 2:17-18.  Christmas presents us with a unique opportunity to make Him widely known just like shepherds did.

7. Celebrating Jesus Christ on Christmas is a reminder that He is coming back to this world. At Christmas, we celebrate His first coming to the world but He is no longer in the world physically though He dwells in us through His Holy Spirit. Soon, Jesus will come again a second time to consummate His marriage with the church, the redeemed. As we celebrate Christmas, we are reminded that He will soon be back for those who are ready for Him.

There are Christians who believe it is inappropriate to celebrate Christmas as there are speculations that December 25 is not the actual birthday of Jesus. Others said Christmas day used to be a day dedicated to the celebration of a heathen god. Irrespective of the biases we might have about the celebration of Christmas, our priority should be to remain focused on the reason for the season which is Christ Himself. We should never lose sight of what it means to celebrate Jesus Christ at Christmas. We should live in the consciousness of His presence and person as we share gifts and express love to one another and the rest of the world.

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