ARLINGTON, Va., December 24, 2011 – Christmas is such a wonderful time! It is a season when we can express our love for those close to us through gifts and in many other ways, and when we can enjoy the company of our friends and family.
Of course it is also the time when many celebrate the birth of Jesus, the messiah who came over 2000 years ago to save the human family.
Who is Jesus, the Christ? People the world over hold many different opinions and convictions as to who he really is.
To some, Jesus is God. They feel that out of compassion for the suffering of humanity, God expressed Himself as a human being and appeared on earth as a man in order to help people find the way to peace and happiness.
Others see Jesus as a human being, a man who by following God’s direction, fought for and attained his role as messiah. In this view, Jesus is not God, but he is the first man on earth to gain the divinity that God intended for all of His children.
Many sincere people feel that Jesus appeared on earth for the express purpose of giving his life as a sacrifice, in order to save fallen humanity. They feel that Jesus’ God-given mission was to offer his own life as a ransom, thus providing salvation for any man or woman willing to believe in him. These good people cite numerous verses from the Bible that seem to support the conviction that Jesus came to die.
Others cite evidence that Jesus’ intention was to live. They feel that Jesus passionately desired to live a long life on earth, teaching and demonstrating by his own example, how to create loving, effective families and societies, and peaceful nations. Their view is that Jesus wanted to bring about peace on earth in his own lifetime, and that his ultimate death on the cross was a tragic, secondary course forced on him by the inability of his contemporaries to understand his God-given mission.
Perhaps one of the best gifts that we can give to Jesus on the day marking his birth is to thoughtfully consider his life and mission, and to prayerfully ask for the insight to understand him more clearly. Since Jesus gave us so much, this could be one way of expressing our thanks.
True, many of us hold differing understandings of Jesus’ life and intentions. Yet we can be united in the sense that we love him. We can be eternally grateful that through his courage, sacrifice and devotion to God, he opened the way for us to build happy, meaningful lives.
Happy birthday, dear and beloved Jesus! And to all, here’s wishing that you have a beautiful, memorable and thoroughly merry Christmas.
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