Interpretation of the Bible / Matthew 1:22-23
Christmas is more than just a date on the calendar. It is a celebration of the most spectacular event in human history. Christmas is a time to celebrate that God loves us and that He is always with us.
Man was created to have fellowship with God. God created us in His image so that He and we could enjoy personal relationships. Sin robbed us of that fellowship. That is the fellowship Jesus came to restore to this earth.
God could have chosen many ways to communicate with us, but because He created us, He knew that the best way to communicate with us was face to face. That is why He became one of us. He did not send an angel, a prophet, a politician, or an ambassador. No! He came Himself!
If you want someone to know how much you love them, you do not send a representative to communicate with them. You go and tell them! That is what God did at Christmas!
The Bible tells us that God is love. Love is the essence of God’s character. It is His very nature! We were created to be the object of God’s love. He created us to love us. His love is the reason we are still alive. Did you know that God was thinking about us before He created the world?
Because God’s love is unconditional, He loves us on our good days and our not-so-good days. He loves us when we feel His love and even when we don’t. He loves us despite our behavior, mood, actions, or thoughts. His love doesn’t change!
Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied that He would be born as Emmanuel – God with us, to save humanity from its sins.
One of the problems with Christmas is that many people think of Jesus as if He was just a baby. Their idea of Him is that of a helpless newborn in His mother’s arms. If Jesus had never grown to do what He did, He would not have had the power to change our lives.
But the baby born in Bethlehem did not remain a baby. Jesus grew up, became a man, and showed us a way of life pleasing to God. And let us not forget that this was God himself!
He paid for our sins by dying on the cross. And then he rose again! This is the Gospel! Good news!