¡Feliz Navidad!

During this time of the year it is common for many preachers in the to church speak constantly about “the true meaning of Christmas.” From my point of view this is pretty obvious. However, with the growth of commercialization and the secular in Latin America, it probably is reasonable to think on this subject a bit.

With this in mind, I share with you a few ideas that occurred to me this morning while I was thinking about the reality of Christmas and, at the same time, in my missionaries throughout Latin America:

In Christmas we celebrate the objective fact of the birth of Jesus as man. Every time we celebrate Christmas we declare again the historical character of the incarnation of Christ. In other words, we declare the humanity of Jesus. For many evangelical Christians it is easy to believe in the deity of Christ. It seems to be a bit more difficult to live with the reality of His humanity.

I have no doubt that Christmas is also a time for reflection. It gives each of us the opportunity to meditate on the gift of salvation that God gave us in sending His Son as redeemer. Of course, this type of meditation should take us to the eventual point of asking ourselves whether we have made the decision to follow Christ as His disciples, willing to reflect both the character and the priorities of our Lord in our lives and in our ministries.

For me Christmas is also one more opportunity to worship God. The song of the angels when the God-Man was born was “Glory to God in the highest,” lifting up the name of the God of Israel. Christmas is a time for worship because God chose us “in Him before the foundation of the world,” “for the praise of the glory of His grace,” as it says in Ephesians.

Our worship is a song of redemption that comes from to our mouths from the deep places in our hearts. Our song should reflect the reality we see in Revelation 1, where we read: “He loves us, and by his sacrificial death he has freed us from our sins and made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father. To Jesus Christ be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 1:5-6)

Christmas is also a promise because “…this hope is what saves us.” (Romans 8:24). Christmas is a fulfilled promise: it is the child “who is born” from Isaiah 9; the king who was going to be born in Bethlehem from Micah 5; it is the humble Messiah from Zechariah 9. However, we should also remember that Christmas is an open promise for the future: It is a promise of salvation, of santification and of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Christmas is a historic reality, a very personal time of reflection; it is a time of praise and promise. Christmas is all this and more.

My great desire for you is that you might enjoy the reality of Christmas not just during these holidays, but in all of the coming year. May God bless you richly during this holiday season.