“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭9:6-7‬

Christmas time is here… The lights, the songs, the cartoon specials on tv. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, you still celebrate Christmas in one form or another. Most spend time with family & loved ones. We experience & show kindness to our fellow man. We’re joyous & smiling, there’s just something about this time that changes us internally like we just spent a night with three ghosts! Some call it “the Christmas spirit”, others call it “the magic of Christmas”, as believers we know that it’s because we celebrate the fact that Jesus was born. Yes we know He wasn’t born on December 25th exactly, but that’s irrelevant.

The important thing is that Christmas reveals the reality of salvation for the world through Jesus Christ. God the son, left His throne. He willingly left comfort, left glory, left perfection to be born in sinful, imperfect flesh. The Salvation of the world was surrounded in frail skin, bones & muscle. Paul teaches it this way in ‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭3:16 “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

The angel Gabriel told Mary that His name shall be Immanuel, meaning God with us… He’s always been with us as we read in John 1.1-2; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

This weekend we celebrate the light of the world, the hope for our salvation, born of a virgin, away in a manger… We celebrate not the gifts we give, but the gift of God received so that you & I could walk the streets of gold forever & ever…

So if you’ve nothing to give for Christmas, give the gift of Jesus.