For God so Loves the World
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light: those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them has the light shined. — Isaiah 9:2
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. — John 3:16
Author
Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas
Summary: God loved the fallen world so deeply that he took the initiative to draw near to us through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. More important than the date of his birth is this act of reconciliation: the humble child would give his life to bring us back to the Creator. Christmas is worship and an opportunity to open our hearts to Christ. Through spiritual rebirth, God replaces our heart of stone, puts his Spirit within us, and transforms us—not merely so that we may call ourselves Christians, but so that Christ may live in us. Celebrating Christmas as Christians requires us to allow his Word to change us, to live in his presence, to pray for the lost, and to reach out compassionately to those who suffer, recognizing that apart from him we can accomplish nothing.
For God so loved the world...! We will never be able to fully comprehend these simple words of the apostle. God loved the world fallen through sin, the world created by His voice and His hands. He loved it so much, felt such compassion and mercy, that He conceived the miracle of the incarnation to usher in the time of the reconciliation of all people with Him. God with us is more than the fulfillment of a prophecy; it is the most extraordinary expression of God’s love. Did it take place around this time 2,000 years ago? The date is not what matters, but the event itself: a birth conceived in heaven by the infinite and perfect mind of God, and the delivery of a child in humble circumstances, whose heart would be given over to death so that all of us might once again be reconciled with our Creator.
God’s love broke every mold when Jesus Christ was born. With the child Jesus, humanity was born anew. God lives among us! Do you have eyes to see Him? Our efforts to draw near to Him were so fruitless, and our sin kept us so far from His presence, that He takes the initiative and, out of love, chooses to draw near to us.
This Christmas, like every Christmas, is another wonderful opportunity God gives you to draw near to Him. He is calling you, right beside you, knocking at the door of your soul to win you over. “...if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in...” (Rev. 3:20). God is good. We do not deserve such compassion; nevertheless, He continues to visit us day after day. Is not a Father delighted to be close to His children? How wonderful it is to be aware of the many ways in which the Father has drawn near to us! When Christ comes to you, wins you over, and brings you to surrender after the many rebellions you committed against Him and the times you denied Him for personal convenience or out of self-sufficiency, your whole mind and heart bow down in worship. Christmas is worship.
Christ is among us to transform us through the new spiritual birth that you and I have experienced. Like Jesus, we too have been conceived in the Spirit and born through the miracle of conversion. Only when we have been born of the Spirit does our heart cease to be made of stone. There is no other way to understand Christmas: this reality that God is among us and wants to win the heart of every creature made by His hands and His mind, and to place His Spirit of life in Christ Jesus within every heart of this fallen humanity. God promised it through the prophet Ezekiel hundreds of years before the Messiah was born. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my precepts and put them into practice” (Ezekiel 36:26–27).
Today we can enjoy a full relationship with God because of the child of Bethlehem. We can live in His presence if we have understood who we are in Christ, thus embracing our privileged identity. He was not born merely to give us the designation “Christians,” but to live in us and transform us to the measure of His fullness. To celebrate Christmas in a Christian way is an attempt to respond to the closeness that God has made possible through His birth, life, death, and resurrection. But we must allow ourselves to be transformed, allow the child of Bethlehem to be born within us, help Him grow, and permit His Word to penetrate our innermost depths and reveal those corners of the soul that still have a heart of stone. Christmas can inspire us to begin to change. We already know that we cannot do it alone, because apart from Him, we will never be able to accomplish it.
Is Christmas also a tradition, and do the ungodly take advantage of it to give free rein to their passions? Well, that is a matter that concerns God. Our part is to pray for the lost and testify to the salvation that came to us when our brother Jesus was born. Christmas must also draw us closer to the lost, the forsaken, the beggars living in misery, the mothers who mourn their children, and the children who mourn their parents. For this reason and this purpose too, God has promised always to be among us. God bless you!