The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Recently someone wrote that “Christmas is a bond of goodness that you surely will celebrate and utilise to bless others around you and remote. And so remain under your conviction and be steadfast and faithful to what you believe in”
That’s not what Christmas is. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We celebrate his birth because in Christ the greatest miracle, the miracle of God putting on human nature which we call the incarnation and which C S Lewis called the grand and central miracle of Christianity, is made manifest. The second reason we celebrate the birth of Christ is that through Him, our loving Heavenly Father has lavishly poured out his amazing grace on us for the purpose of saving us from the power of Satan and the penalty of sin which is eternal death and for our sanctification. As St Paul wrote in his letter to Titus, the grace of God in Christ not only saves us from sin and Satan’s power, but it trains and empowers us to live a transformed life in this world as we await the second coming of Christ. Jesus Christ is the personification and manifestation of the super abounding grace of God. If your salvation is bereft of godliness of life it’s very likely you are not saved in the biblical sense of that word. Every Christmas season is an opportunity to call on God for the true gift of grace in Christ which truly saves and transforms those who are in Christ. Jesus has come into the world to forgive and transform you.
So as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ this Christmas let us not loose sight of why he came: he came to save us from the power of Satan and the penalty of sin and to transform and enable us to live godly lives in this world and in the world to come to the glory of God the Father. Let him do that in your life.
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”- 1 Timothy 1:15
I wish you a Merry Christmas.
(The Rt Rev’d Dr Felix Orji, OSB. is the Diocesan Bishop, Anglican Diocese of the West and Coordinating Bishop of CONNAM. Holy Trinity Cathedral Church 8402 Howell Sugarland Road. Houston, Texas, 77083. www.dioceseofthewest.org)
