CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS IS RELEVANT

Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25th as a religious and cultural celebration. Christmas is a compound word originating from the term "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English “Cristemasse”: Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah", meaning "anointed", and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist.[1] Christmas is now celebrated by people around the world, whether they are Christians or not. It's a time when family and friends come together and remember the good things they have.

It is a fact that Jesus was not born on December 25th, but it is believed that the choice of that date for the celebration of the birth of Jesus was amde to Christianize a pagan festival in Rome. The festival Dies Natalis Solis Invicti which means "the birthday of the Unconquered Sun", was inaugurated by the Roman emperor Aurelian (270–275) to celebrate the sun god. According to this theory, during the reign of the emperor Constantine, Christian writers assimilated this feast as the birthday of Jesus, associating him with the 'sun of righteousness' mentioned in Malachi 4:2. The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor)[2].
It is also true that Christmas is not in the bible and that the bible doesn't tell Christians to celebrate Christmas, but I want us to consider the following.
  • What's God's command to us?
Before His ascension, Jesus Christ commanded Christians in Matthew 28:19 to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." To be able to make disciples, Christians are to "Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). Jesus Christ did not give a clear-cut direction as to how to go but told Christians that the Holy Spirit would direct them.

Making the world His disciples is critical because, following the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, humanity became separated from God (Isaiah 59:2), dead in our sins (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:3), unable to please God (Rom. 3:10-11), and will suffer damnation (2 Thess. 1:9)[3]. The only way to escape this judgment is by receiving Christ. According to John 14:6, Jesus has said that “… I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Mankind can only come to the Father through “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9).
  • How will the world get to know Him, receive Him and have faith or trust in him?
Romans 10:17 states that “so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So, the first step of making the whole world Jesus’ disciple is for the world to hear of Him, after which they can have faith in Him. Christians have an obligation to tell the whole world about Jesus. My humble question therefore is, who doesn't hear about Jesus Christ on Christmas day? Jesus Christ is made known to almost the whole world by celebrating Christmas, because Christmas is not mentioned without Christ.

Others argue that it's a satanist day; yes, it was, but who created and owns the day? It is obvious God created and owns every day, as written in Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Satan took over mankind when men willingly disobeyed God and obeyed satan. Did God allow him to take it without doing anything? No! He made an effort to take back what belongs to Him, hence the coming of Jesus Christ. God created everything in this world for us (mankind in his original state as created, Christians now) and our comfort, so we have every right to take whatever we want as long as it's not against the bible and that, it's geared towards expanding the kingdom of God!

It is true that people misbehave and do all kinds of evil during this celebration, but is there any day that people don't do all kinds of evil? Weekends are the days people live their most promiscuous lives, but which church does not meet on weekends? So, should churches stop worshipping during and meeting during the weekends because others have chosen to do all kinds of evil? Absolutely No! The bible entreats us to set a day aside for His worship as stated in Exodus 20: 9-10 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: …”

In conclusion, I believe the celebration of Christmas is very relevant because it does not contradict the scriptures but helps in achieving the believers’ mandate of “making the whole world God’s disciples.” Though some people feel uncomfortable with Christmas because they think it is somehow tainted by the pagan festivals held on that day, I believe that the gospel does not only transcend culture, but it also transforms it. I also agree with the theologian who, in A.D. 320 answered this criticism by noting, “We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.”

Brethren, let us not forget that the bible warns us in Matt. 10:16 to "… be as shrewd as snakes...” because Rev. 12:12 tells us that “…the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short”. So, he is doing everything possible to prevent the spread of the gospel. Let us find every possible means, as long as it does not contradict the biblical principle of spreading the gospel to populate the kingdom of God and depopulate the kingdom of satan, because that’s our core mandate. I don’t think God will fault us for setting a day aside to let the whole world hear and know about His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Below are some of the ways I think one can make Christmas about Jesus Christ:
  1. Thank God for sending us Jesus Christ.
  2. Examine your relationship with Jesus Christ and, if necessary, make amends.
  3. Give to those who cannot repay you, just as Jesus Christ did.
  4. Read the Scriptures and have a family discussion about them.
  5. Start some traditions that point to Christ.
[1] Martindale, Cyril Charles (1908). "Christmas". The Catholic Encyclopedia. [2] https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/25th.shtml [3] http://carm.org/what-gospel

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