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Message for Christmas Celebration

by Fram Jehangir
Preamble: Christmas means different things to different people. To some people it is a time to exchange gifts, do shopping, go holidaying, celebrate and nave a good time: eating and drinking. To them it is a holiday season. But for true Christians it Is a time for reflection and celebration of the incarnation of Christ the Savior. Christians, do rejoice too. but in a different way For. to them the Christmas event is a holy sea son.
A Time for Loving: Christmas Is a time for loving and many people around the world express their love for their friends and relations, may be once a year, through sending Christmas cards or exchanging gifts. God's greatest Joy Is sharing: sharing of His love. His life. His heaven. In Psalm 103: 11-12. King David exhorts: "As high as the sky is above the earth, so great Is His love for those who honour Him. as far as the East Is from the West so far does He remove our sins from us", Romans 5:8 says: "But God has shown us how much He loves us — it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!" There are many other passages in the Bible which reflect God's love and salvation for us even though we do not merit it. But all of these dimensions of God's love for us would not have been possible if God did not come to earth, incarnate In Jesus Christ, to show us the way. and know and love the Father: thus reconciling man to God.
A Time for Giving and Receiving: Christmas is a time for giving and many people give generously to their families, friends, and to the poor: but God gives us His precious gift — Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Christmas Is also a time for receiving. John 1:10-12 says; The Word was In the world ...yet the world did not recognize Him. ... Some, however, did receive Him and believed in Him; so He gave them the right to become God's children "When we accept a gift, we accept the love of the person who gives that gift. If we reject the gift, we reject love. When we receive Christ Jesus, we become children of God.Preamble: Christmas means different things to different people. To some people it is a time to exchange gifts, do shopping, go holidaying, celebrate and nave a good time: eating and drinking. To them it is a holiday season. But for true Christians it Is a time for reflection and celebration of the incarnation of Christ the Savior. Christians, do rejoice too. but in a different way For. to them the Christmas event is a holy sea son.
A Time for Loving: Christmas Is a time for loving and many people around the world express their love for their friends and relations, may be once a year, through sending Christmas cards or exchanging gifts. God's greatest Joy Is sharing: sharing of His love. His life. His heaven. In Psalm 103: 11-12. King David exhorts: "As high as the sky is above the earth, so great Is His love for those who honour Him. as far as the East Is from the West so far does He remove our sins from us", Romans 5:8 says: "But God has shown us how much He loves us — it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!" There are many other passages in the Bible which reflect God's love and salvation for us even though we do not merit it. But all of these dimensions of God's love for us would not have been possible if God did not come to earth, incarnate In Jesus Christ, to show us the way. and know and love the Father: thus reconciling man to God.
A Time for Giving and Receiving: Christmas is a time for giving and many people give generously to their families, friends, and to the poor: but God gives us His precious gift — Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Christmas Is also a time for receiving. John 1:10-12 says; The Word was In the world ...yet the world did not recognize Him. ... Some, however, did receive Him and believed in Him; so He gave them the right to become God's children "When we accept a gift, we accept the love of the person who gives that gift. If we reject the gift, we reject love. When we receive Christ Jesus, we become children of God.A Time for Reconciliation: Christmas is also a time for reconciliation. When God created the world and the universe, all was in "shalom" with God and with everything else. Then came the Fall and everything lost snalom. In His love. God has alwavs pursued the restoration of shalom to His universe, through His Son. who is the Prince of Peace. The miracles of Christ were shalom-signs that promise the creation restored to wholeness. To those healed. Jesus said: "Go into Shalom". It was shalom the disciples offered as they went two by two. To reject shalom was to reject salvation. Paul in Colossians 1:20 writes. ^Through the Son. then. God decided to bring the whole universe hack to himself. God made peace through His Son's sacrificial death on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven." The mission of Jesus Christ was to bring reconciliation and He passes this ministry of reconciliation on to His disciples when He says: "Peace be with you ... as the Father sent Me. so I send you." The work of reconciliation was one aspect of Jesus' ministry on earth In John 17:21, Jesus prays to the Father: "I Krav that they may all be one. Father! May they e in us. |ust as you are In me and I am In you. May they be one so that the world will believe that you sent me."
Conclusion: In these times of turmoil, conflicts. and suffering, all the more the world needs Shalom. Shalom is an exciting word. It means peace, well-being, and reconciliation — all followers of Christ are His ambassadors, as such all Christians are mandated to carry out the ministry of reconciliation at all times and in all places! If we manifest reconciliation, relationships of trust, openness and care for others in our signs, words and deeds, only then we promote wholeness. Let us promote Shalom not only at this Christmas time but also throughout the New Year 1998.
The writers Executive Director. World Vision Bangladesh