Love

WHY CHRISTMAS? LOVE.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” 1 John 4:7-12.

Christ appeared to give us eternal life, freedom and victory. But above it all, God sent His son to demonstrate His love for us. This good news is for everyone (Luke 2:10).

The world has come up with many popular definitions of love. Noted poet, Robert Frost defines love as a desire to be irresistibly desired; Philosopher Plato defined love as a desire for the perpetual possession of the good. However, real love is from God and not from the world (1 John 4:7).

Only those who have been borne of God are capable of loving others the way God loves. Every part of God’s being is love. In fact, the bible clearly states that God Himself is love (1 John 4:8).

God did not only define love; God demonstrated His love for us.

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” 1 John 4:9 .

In His love, God sent His only begotten Son to become man. He showed Himself tempted and yet had no sin. He offered Himself to die on the cross to free us.

GOD’S DEMONTRATION OF LOVE.

1. God made a decision to love us.
   

   “ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” 1 John 4:10.
   
   “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8.
   

   Before we became Christians, we did not honor God with our words or with our actions and yet, God already loved us. He loved us even before we lived changed lives. He loved us even when we were sinners and unworthy of His love.
   
   
2. God freely gives his love to us.
   

   “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” 1John 4:9.
   

   In the ancient days, ancient Israelites and Canaanites worshipped a sun god named Molech, to whom sacrifices of humans, including children, are offered. Our God chose to give Himself freely as a sacrifice so that we may live through Him.
   

   “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” Isaiah 9:6.
   

WHY CHRISTMAS? BECAUSE OF GOD’S LOVE.

One of the attributes of Jesus Christ is that He is the Prince of Peace. We can never have peace if we are incapable of loving others in the same way that Christ loved us.**

Victory

WHY CHRISTMAS? VICTORY.

“He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.” 1 John 3:8

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

According to the bible, the devil has been sinning from the beginning. In Genesis 3, satan tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God and to desire to be independent of Him. Adam and Eve chose to be independent of God which resulted in every man being borne to sin.

The bible also states that war has been declared against the devil from the beginning of time (Genesis 3:15). This is the reason why we perpetually find ourselves fighting against the temptation to sin.

The good news is that Jesus Christ has already won the victory for us on the cross.

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.

His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God” Revelations 19:11-13.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” John 1:1.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” John 1:14.

The apostle John who wrote both the books of Revelation and the book of John referred to Jesus Christ as the “Word of God” who won the victory for us.

“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” Colossians 2:15.

Victory has already been won for us in the past by the cross. You and I have the victory of Christ because Jesus won over the devil by the cross.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” Isaiah 9:6.

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” Romans 16:20.

“Merry Christmas!” is more than just a greeting, it is a declaration of war. We are declaring that we can celebrate, not only because Jesus was born, but because He came to give us victory by the cross.

THE VICTORY WE HAVE IN CHRIST.

1. When Jesus Christ comes in the life of a Christian, he is a free man.
   The bible says that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. He steals our joy, hope, faith and the Word of God in our hearts; He kills our dreams and our visions; He destroys marriages, families and finances. Jesus came to destroy the enemy.
   

   “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” John 10:10.

2. The Christian has the power and authority over the enemy.
   

   “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" Matthew 16:19
   

   The devil’s weapons are temptation, deception, condemnation and accusation. We do not have to fear the devil nor fall for his traps because Jesus has given us the authority against him and his schemes.
   
   
3. The devil cannot come near the Christian because of the Presence of God.
   When a Christian spends more time with God and nurtures his relationship with him, the devil cannot come near him because the Presence of God protects him.

WHY CHRISTMAS? WE CAN CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS BECAUSE JESUS WON THE VICTORY.**