Merry Christmas
Matthew 1:21-23, "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
I don't know about you, but I love Christmas. Not only do I love decorating the tree and giving presents to my loved ones (and getting some myself). But more importantly I love that Christmas is literally a celebration of Christ, that is what Christmas means. Many people know that Christmas is about Jesus' birth, but it's valuable to know why we celebrate His birth. Here are a few reasons...
She, speaking of Mary, brought forth a Son and they named Him Jesus (Jehovah-Shua) which literally means God is Salvation, because He would save His people from their sins. Jesus was sent by God (John 3:16) to be God in the flesh (John 1:14) so He could save us from our sins. This is the most important reason we celebrate Christmas, and the other two from this passage are quite significant as well. But this one informs us of how we get saved, become forgiven, and have eternal life through Jesus Christ. We believe in His death and resurrection for He came to save us from our sins.
This was all done to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who is quoted in the next verse. Jesus' birth fulfilled hundreds of prophecies, this is wonderful evidence for the existence of the One True and Omniscient God, but also gives us the additional benefit of confirming the accuracy and reliability of God's Word.
Finally, the prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 is that a virgin (Mary) would give birth to a Son (Jesus) who would be Immanuel, God with us. This is what we are told happened when Jesus was born in John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." God became flesh to dwell among us. Then, after Jesus' death and resurrection He sent His Spirit (John 14, 16 and Acts 1:8) to dwell in all believers so that God would always be with us.
Here are just three reasons we celebrate Christmas, vital and amazing reasons, but only three of the many we are taught in Scripture. With that I pray that you would celebrate Jesus this Christmas, put Him at the forefront of everything you do. This doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't have presents, drink eggnog, or eat way too much. What it means is that in the midst of all our celebrating, we must celebrate Him!
