The most commonly quoted verse in the Bible is John 3:16 which states “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The day God manifested this love for humanity in the person of Jesus is called Christmas. Christmas is celebrated on the 25th of December every year to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God. Christmas is now celebrated by people around the world, whether they are Christians or not.
Arising from John 3:16 are three components of the essence of Christmas. The first and most important is the love of God for humanity expressed by the clause “For God so loved the world”. We must all acknowledge that God created man in His own image and after His likeness and blessed man to be fruitful, to multiply, replenish, subdue the earth and have dominion. God so loved man that He boasted in Isaiah 49:15 that even if a woman forgets her sucking child, He will not forget man.
You can imagine how disappointed God was when man fell to the temptation of the Devil and disobeyed God. This led man to start living in sin, evil and iniquity. Man was consequently separated from God. Devil, also called Satan, was the most adorable angelic being called Lucifer who stood before God. He was so perfectly created that he became proud and sought to overthrow God by leading one third of the Angels in rebellion against God. He was defeated by God’s loyal Angels led by Angel Michael and was cast down to earth. In order to further humiliate the Devil, God created man and gave him dominion over the earth including the Devil. Devil was jealous of man and hated this arrangement. He deceived man to disobey the commandment of God which separated man from God and dethroned man from his exalted position as the ruler of earth. Man became a slave to Satan rather than a Son of God. 
God couldn’t let man, whom He created in his own image, be separated from him forever. He wanted to restore the sonship of man back to Himself. This requires deliverance of man from the bondage or slavery of the Devil because all have sinned and came short the glory of God. There was only one way out and this brings us to the 2nd component of John 3:16, “that he gave his only begotten Son”. God had to give His only begotten Son Jesus as a free gift to the world to defeat the Devil in the world thereby delivering man from the clutches of Devil. Jesus came down on Christmas Day and did just that. He was tempted the same way as the first man Adam but refused to yield to the Devil thereby destroying the power of sin. He voluntarily gave himself to be crucified thereby paying the price for all our sins since he had no sin. He died and resurrected the third day. He ascended to heaven after 40 days of resurrection and is now sitting at the right hand of God.
Jesus finished the work he was sent to do and has fully restored our sonship to God. John 1:12 states that “ … as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”. This brings us to the 3rd component of John 3:16 “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This means that whereas God loved the whole world, and gave Jesus up for the redemption of the world, it is only those who believe in Jesus that will be saved because it’s only Jesus who did not commit sin but paid for the sin of others. It is only Jesus who died and rose again and is alive forevermore. So when we celebrate Christmas, we are celebrating a God who is alive forever and thank God, this celebration will be forever because the celebrant lives forever.
While celebrating Jesus, we must reflect on the lifestyle of Jesus from birth. We note that people from all over the world love travelling home for Christmas. This is a welcome development because even the parents of Jesus, by God’s will, had to travel from Nazareth to their own native home, Bethlehem, when Jesus was to be born. It was prophesied long ago that Jesus will be born in his own city, Bettlehem. In order to fulfill this prophecy, God stirred the spirit of Caesar Augustus to issue a decree that the whole world should be taxed and everybody should go back to his own city to be taxed. The Parents went back to Bettlehem to be taxed and Mary delivered Jesus in a manger while at their own city. Since then, the spirit of travelling home became part of Christmas.
However, a lot of people have since lost touch with the essence of Christmas. To some, it’s a time to eat the best of food and wear the best of clothes. To some, it is a time to indulge in all sorts of drunkenness and immorality. Some people use the opportunity to celebrate party after party where men and women are afforded the opportunity to cavort with each other in sinful ways. I remember with amusement and nostalgia how we, as children, were taught that boxing day was a day set aside for fighting after Christmas the previous day. This led a lot of masquerades to indulge in equipping themselves with charms as defence for the boxing day fights which were always very fierce.
Biblically, the time of Christmas ought to be a time of joy with sober reflection and spiritual introspection. History simply means His – Story, the story of Jesus. Every thing bore witness that he was the Messiah. Dates of the world was calculated using him as standard. Before he was born became B.C. (Before Christ) and after he was born became A.D. (Anno Domini) meaning “in the year of the Lord”. Angels proclaimed him as Messiah on birth. The Bible is the first published book on earth and the highest selling. Jesus’s message was hinged on holiness and righteousness because he is a King, Prophet and Priest.
While celebrating Christmas, we must do it with all decency, holiness and righteousness. Every celebration should be done in moderation (Phil 4:5). It should be a season to ensure that the strong help the weak, the rich assist the poor, the able lifts the disabled and the informed educates the uninformed. As you eat in your house spare a thought for all the children in motherless babies homes and internally displaced camps and if God has shown you mercy by keeping you alive, extend such mercy to them by sharing your food with them. If you have excess clothing in your house, remember to send some of them to those kids and if you have a roof over your heads remember some people are sleeping on hard floors in the open. Unknowing to a lot of people, Jesus said when he was on earth that if you fail to assist these categories of people that it was him that was rejected and he will cast such people to hell (Matt 25:32-46). This admonishment from Master Jesus summarises the whole idea of Christmas. However, if you cannot afford these luxuries or even basic necessities during this Christmas, be happy, patient and thank God for life. Once there is life, there is hope and remember, the next Christmas is just around the corner after all Christmas is forever. Happy Christmas and God bless.