Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. He is also proof that God, who is our Heavenly Father, keeps His promises.
God knew when he gave us our free will, or the ability to choose for ourselves, we would need a way to recover from poor choices. He also knew we couldn’t adequately recover from these sins by ourselves.
God’s plan required a Savior who would take upon himself our sins, so we wouldn’t have to be burdened with them once we desired to abandon them. Jesus offered to become that Savior.
Jesus was God’s firstborn, and eventually His only begotten son. It must have hurt God so much to send His only son to atone for our sins, but God promised to provide us a way to return to Him. To keep His promise, He sent His son.
Since the beginning of time, God instructed His prophets, including Moses, Jacob, Job, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah to declare to the world that a Savior would come to redeem us. The Jewish people, and other believers across the world, looked for signs and prayed for this prophesied event.
Eventually, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to the young woman Mary and told her she had found favor with God, she would become the mother of the Son of God, and His name would be Jesus.
Nine months later, Jesus was indeed born of Mary, in a stable, in the city of Bethlehem, all as prophesied. God kept His promise then, and He keeps His promises with each of us today.
May we remember this Christmas Day that God does indeed keep His promises because He loves each of us, as does His Son Jesus Christ. That is why Christmas can be so Merry.
The Pastor’s Place features columns written by a different area church leader each month. Call 940-728-8284 for more information.