What is Christmas to you? To many people it’s the biggest holiday of the year—a time when they don’t have to go to work or school and are able to take a vacation. Of course, to many others the Christmas season is also a lot of work—a hectic time for shoppers and shopkeepers alike, as people frantically try to find the right gifts for relatives, friends, and acquaintances. Christmas is also a sentimental time when people tend to reminisce about past holidays spent with loved ones.

            Ironically, Christmas Day itself gets sort of lost in the days and weeks surrounding it. Many cards and decor­ations nowadays say “Season’s Greetings,” with no mention of Christmas at all. Christmas trees, lights, presents, snowmen, jingle bells, candy canes, etc., all play their part in defining what most people associate with this festive season, while all but forgetting its true meaning.

          There’s much more to Christmas than trees, decorations, Santa Claus, presents, and parties. If these distractions are set aside, then the real beauty and wonder of Christmas can be realized and appreciated. Christmas is the time to celebrate the day that the Creator of the universe sent His greatest gift to the world in the form of a weak and helpless baby. With that baby came a message of love, hope, and salvation for all people everywhere.

A bright new star caught the attention of certain wise men.

          This holy child was born to a humble girl, who conceived miraculously, having never made love with any man. And though He was ordained to be a king—in fact the King of kings—He was not born in a plush palace with prestigious members of the court in attendance. There was no honor and praise accorded Him from the establishment of the day. Instead, He was born in a barn, amidst the cattle and asses, and then wrapped in rags and laid to rest in the animals’ feed trough.

          His birth brought no great fanfare or official recognition from the institutions and governments of man. But that night on a nearby hillside, lowly shepherds were awestruck as a brilliant light burst upon them from the starry sky and a multitude of angels filled the night with their heavenly declaration and song: “Glory to God in the highest! Peace on earth to men of good will! For unto you this day is born a Savior, Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11–14).

          Far away in the East, another herald appeared in the heavens—a bright new star, which caught the attention of certain wise men. They realized its significance and followed it, crossing vast tracts of land, as it led them to the exact location of the young child in the little town of Bethlehem.

          The child’s earthly father was a humble carpenter, with whom He lived and labored. In both childhood and adulthood He conformed to our human ways of life. This was God’s plan for Jesus, in order for Him to learn to better understand and love us.

          When He began His life’s work, He went about everywhere doing good. He not only preached His message, but He lived it among the common people, as one of them. He ministered to their spiritual needs, but also spent a great deal of time tending to their physical needs, miraculously healing them when they were sick, feeding them when they were hungry, and sharing His life and His love.

          His teachings were so simple that He said you must become as a little child to receive them. He never said we had to attend religious services in elaborate temples or church buildings. In fact, He didn’t preach any complicated cer­emonies or difficult religious rules at all. He simply preached love and showed love, as He tried to lead God’s children into the Kingdom of Heaven and teach them God’s two great commandments: to “love God with all your heart” and “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39).

          He made Himself of no reputation, but was a friend and companion of drunks, prostitutes, and sinners—the outcasts and downtrodden of society. He even told them that they would enter the Kingdom of God before the so-called “good” people, the self-righteous religionists who rejected Him.

He is not merely a prophet, philosopher, teacher, rabbi, or guru; He is the Son of God.

          As His message of love spread and His followers multiplied, the jealous leaders of the established religion realized what a threat this formerly unknown carpenter had become to them. They finally had Him arrested on false charges of sedition, and though the Roman governor found Him innocent in the ensuing trial, these religious leaders pressured the governor into executing Him.

          Three days after His lifeless body was laid to rest in a stone-cold tomb, He arose from the dead, the victor over death and Hell forever!

          This Man, Jesus Christ, is God’s Christmas gift to you and me. He is not merely a prophet, philosopher, teacher, rabbi, or guru; He is the Son of God.

          The great Creator of the universe, God, is a Spirit and is all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere, and in everything—far beyond our limited human comprehension. So He sent Jesus, in the form of a man, to show us what He Himself is like and to bring us to Himself. Though many great teachers have spoken and taught about love and about God, Jesus is love and He is God. He is also the only one who could die for the sins of the world. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

          Would you like to know beyond a shadow of a doubt if Jesus Christ really is the Son of God, the way of salvation? You can. All you have to do is ask Him to come into your heart. He’s real and He loves you—so much so that He suffered and died for your sins so that you wouldn’t have to. The Bible says that “God so loved the world [you and me] that He gave His only begotten Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

          You can receive Jesus, God’s gift of love, right now by simply praying this prayer: