Christmas is about God's love!

Is the image that so many people will have for Christmas, a benevolent old man with a white beard dressed in a red old fashioned suit? So how do we as disciples of Jesus put the true meaning back into this season of the year?

Christmas is not simply about tinsel and glitter but as we know it is about God choosing the time and place to enter the world he created in order that we humans might find life at a new level. Life with true meaning and purpose. But with all the hype today about being a multicultural society we tend to play down what we as Christians believe. Do we even bother to select our greetings cards, no longer Christmas cards, with appropriate words which remind us of the Christchild! I hope we do, for it is a happy season, not a merry one that we all seek.

John begins his Gospel with the profound words:

"In the beginning the Word already existed, and he was God. He was with God. He was in the beginning with God. Nothing existed that he didn't make. Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." (1:1-5)

The Word of whom John wrote is Jesus. Reflect on what was written and marvel at the impact it should be having upon us. Love's instinct is to create; so out of the unique communion of love between God and the Word (that is the Father and the Son), the universe sprang into existence. John puts this fundamental truth of creation through the Word of God. Christ is the unifying principle at the heart of all existence and from our theological perspective, the theory is a person, Jesus Christ. This life that John sees in terms of light, another elemental religious symbol, and an echo of Genesis chapter 1, as the light shines in the darkness (Gen 1:3) in the act of creation.

This light offers light to every person, shines in the darkness of the world and is seen as a pointer to God's revelation as the coming of redemption for us human being.

I am becoming more and more conscious of the need to reflect during the seasons of Advent and Christmas, on this awesome God who loves the world so much that he was prepared to enter it at a place called Bethlehem and to be cared for by a young woman in order that his commitment to us all should be brought into being.

Jesus came and lived among us not just to enjoy life on earth but to live out his love for us through to its end on the cross to allow us by faith to come close to God. With our lives transformed and renewed, we can face all that is before us in the strength of God himself who indwells us by his Holy Spirit.

Take time this Christmas to reflect upon the real meaning of Christmas and of God's love for you.

Enid and I wish you all a very happy Christmas and pray that you all may know the peace of God in your lives.

God bless you all