Christmas centers on Christ

There is one verse which is invariably repeated at every Christmas celebration and that concerns about the prophesy of the supernatural birth of Christ and His influence in history: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; and on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

In the midst of all the celebrations, exchange of gifts and merry making, the essence and purpose of his birth in a manger in Bethlehem might be overlooked. Religion and religious people existed upon this earth even at this coming and it was not His purpose to inaugurate another religion, but to empower people to live the "abundant life" to all those who believed in God.

When He landed on our terra firma, religion had already gathered poisonous moss as we see it practiced today. That is why He dared to call some of the religious leaders of the day as 'whitewashed sepulchers.' As we go through his Sermon on the Mount it becomes clear to us how far removed we are from healthy living as also the horrible deceit in which each and every one of us lives our lives.

Three factors pollute the life of the natural man here as per the Bible: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Sin is ingrained in all these and the 'fall of man' as a result of the 'original sin' distanced him from God. It is the contention of the faith that Christ came to reconcile man with God and His death on the Cross on behalf of the human race accomplished this purpose once for all. Christ's birth, death and resurrection are all planned in advance for the liberation of man and his transformation so that he could live to his full potential.

He presented to people a set of values that seemed to be in contradiction with the standards followed in the world. In the words of the late Malcolm Muggeridge: "It was the poor, not the rich who were blessed, the weak, not the strong who were to be esteemed; the pure in heart, not the sophisticated and the worldly, who understood what life was about. Righteousness, not power or money or sensual pleasure, should be man's pursuit. We should love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them that despitefully use us, in order that we may be worthy members of a human family whose father is in heaven."

Such living becomes possible when God's Spirit comes to work within man. Man's body, the Bible points out, is the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells within him. When a person accepts Christ by faith, this Spirit comes to work within and takes lordship of his life. This opens up immense possibilities. The man who is led by the Spirit of God (also called the Spirit of Truth and Spirit of Christ) becomes filled with His love and power.

Thus empowered, the Christian finds it possible to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself." This tallied with the deepest yearning of the human heartâ€"to love and be loved. And St John emphasizes that 'whoever does not love does not know God for God is love.'

Christmas is the celebration of this life of which a historian wrote: "Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed and Napoleon; without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all the philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of the school, He spoke words of life such as were never spoken before, nor since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator and poet. Without writing a single line, He has set more pens in motion and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussion, works of art, learned volumes, and sweet songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times…Born in a manger,. And crucified as a malefactor he now controls the destinies of the civilized world and rules a spiritual empire which embraces one third of the inhabitants of the globe."

So Christmas is not only a time to eat cakes and exchange gifts but also a time to ponder how we have failed to keep the standards of the One who came to give us abundant life and make amends for our failures. It is, letting our light shine a little more brightly…