Christmas is a widely recognised holiday around the world. A simple Google search of the word “Christmas” produces 706 million results (as at the time of writing this piece).
Christmas means different things to different people. It can mean an opportunity for retailers to make profit; a chance for people to get new clothing items or other forms of presents; a day to indulge in gluttony or get “wasted” on intoxicating substances; a chance for families to spend quality time together sharing meals and catching up e.t.c.

Christmas is a day some Christians choose to celebrate the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to earth as a baby; a day God took on the nature of man as Jesus Christ, the anointed of God and Saviour of mankind.

John 1:1-2 LITV “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
“And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.” John 1:14 AMP

JESUS, Saviour of mankind? Why does man need saving, you may ask?

In the beginning, God created man after making provision for ALL THAT MAN WOULD EVER NEED (what a loving Father!). He gave MAN DOMINION OVER EVERYTHING IN THE EARTH, so man could rule in the earth as God rules in heaven.
Genesis 1:26-31 LITV
And God said, let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth.
And God created the man in His own image; in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female.
And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the seas, and over birds of the heavens, and over all beasts creeping on the earth.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant seeding seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree seeding seed; it shall be food for you.
And to every beast of the earth, and to all birds of the heavens, and to every creeper on the earth which has in it a living soul, every green plant is for food. And it was so.
And God saw everything that He had made and behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning the sixth day.
Genesis 2:8-10 LITV
And Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden to the east; and He put the man whom He had formed there.
And out of the ground Jehovah God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The Tree of Life was also in the middle of the garden; also the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it was divided and became four heads.
Genesis 2:16-17 KJV
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

That dominion on earth given to man was lost when he handed it over to Satan, by disobeying the command of God and yielding to the temptation of the serpent.
Genesis Chapter 3 KJV
1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

The devil therefore became “the god of this world” (no wonder a lot of it is in a mess).
2 Corinthians 4:4  AMP For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers’ minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God.
John 12:31 KJV Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Luke 4:5  KJV And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luke 4:6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

However, the devil doesn’t have to be “your god”.
Sin led to spiritual death. God was not lying when He told Adam he would die when he ate the fruit. Adam died a spiritual death (yes, there is more than just physical death); he was alienated from the presence of God. A sinful nature cannot dwell in the presence of God, because God is Holy (holiness is a state of being wholly pure, sacred; consecrated; blameless).

Genesis 3:8  KJV And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
1 Peter 1:16  KJV Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

The life of a thing is in its blood. The bloodline of Adam was contaminated with sin and therefore all born into the world are subject to have a sinful nature.

The Eternal Father God is a long-term planner, never makes anything for failure (as long as His specifications, terms and conditions as stated in His word, the Bible are adhered to). He had prepared a “lamb to be slain before the foundation of the world”
Revelation 13:8  KJV And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

THE LAMB IS JESUS!
Jesus had to come into the earth therefore through the proper channel as man, but undefiled by the sinful nature mankind was subjected to because of the sin of Adam and Eve.

When all the prophecies needed for the purpose of the coming of Christ had been spoken (from the way He was to come Isaiah 7:1; the kind of life he would live Isaiah 53; and the kind of death He would die and for what reason John 3:14-15;12:31-32), Jesus was conceived.
This way anyone who cared to find out could check out the claims of Jesus and the manner of life He lived, if it tallied with what God had spoken through His prophets.
Hebrews 1:1-2 KJV “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds”
God wants us to prove all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

God found a young lady that was pure (as in not defiled by any man), as pure as a lady for her age could be to carry the eternal Word of God, the Lord Jesus in her womb. That way, God could come into the world through the proper legal channel, as man because that is the way He made it so from the beginning.
Psalms 115:16 KJV  The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

Due to the corruption of all human bloodline, only one whose blood was not subject to such “corruption” could redeem mankind.
Romans 5:12  KJV Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Therefore, the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and brought forth the SPOTLESS SON OF GOD: JESUS CHRIST. FULLY GOD, FULLY MAN!
Luke 1:35 KJV  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

As man, the Lord Jesus Christ could take back the dominion Adam gave away from the devil and hand it back over to the human race, thus making all who believe in Him sons of God and fellow heirs to the promises of God (John 1:12).
He also came to reveal the person of God to us, because He existed with the Father from the beginning (John 1:2).
John 1:18 AMP No man has ever seen God at any time; the only[e]unique Son, or [f]the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known].

He also showed us how to live on earth the way God wants (which is for our own good by the way), in constant fellowship with our Father God, as light in the world and salt of the earth, having dominion over principalities and powers, showing forth that God is love to the world amongst other reasons.

Not all Christians celebrate Christmas however, with some holding the opinion that the date, December 25th was a day pagans worshipped the sun-god e.t.c.

Jesus said to His disciples then and to us (believers in Him) His disciples now, to proclaim the gospel to EVERY CREATURE. If there is a date where Christ can be preached, GO FOR IT.
When Apostle Paul was imprisoned as he records in his letter to the Philippians (Chapter 1:12-18), he mentions how some preached Christ out of envy and strife, but others out of a good will and ends by saying as far as Christ is being preached, he rejoices.
We can follow that example, since the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write that. Since the word “Christmas” contains the word “Christ”, we can take advantage of this widely celebrated day and proclaim CHRIST to the world, it may be the closest chance some people get to hearing the gospel!

The sooner we get it done, the sooner Christ returns.
Mark 13:10 KJV  And the gospel must first be published among all nations
Matthew 24:14 KJV  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 

However, if your convictions are still against Christmas, we are called to walk in love  “…and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also.” AMP, Philippians 3:15 ending. GOD BLESS YOU

MERRY CHRISTMAS 🙂

© Lydia for PneumaWord