The Christian religion is based on the Savior Jesus Christ. We celebrate Christmas because Christ entered the world as Savior. He came to pay for our sins and show us how to receive eternal life. This was done by His becoming man. He lead a sinless life and died on the cross to be resurrected. These two events are celebrated as Christmas and Easter.
As one theologian wrote in the early fourth century "We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it. In three hundred thirty seven AD, Roman Emperor Constantine was baptized, uniting for the first time the emperorship and the church. Christianity became the official state religion. In three hundred fifty four AD, Bishop Liperius of Rome reiterated the importance of celebrating not only Christ's death but also his birth (Panatis 68). In seven hundred and one BC the prophet Isaiah wrote, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanual." Seven hundred years later an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. The angel said that Mary, his wife would give birth to a son conceived from the Holy Spirit. Joseph was to name him Jesus, because he would save his people from their sins. This took place to fulfill what the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah (Matthew 1:21).
In the Bible, a physician named Luke wrote "In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end"(Luke 1:30-33).
The reason Christ entered this world was to pay the penalty for our sins. After seeing Jesus, John the Baptist said, "
Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John.1:29). In fifty seven AD Paul the apostle, in a letter to the Roman church, wrote "God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). He died for us because someone had to pay the price for our sins. Also, we read in the letter to the Romans, "All have sinned and fall short of thegloryofGod" (Romans 3:23).
The Bible teaches us that sins are any transgressions of God's laws which include, lying, lust, cheating, deceit, anger, evil thoughts, immoral behavior and more (Kennedy). For example, let's look at just one of the ten commandments, "
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name" (Exodus 20:7). This one sin in itself is enough to fail many of us. Because of this potential for sin man cannot save himself. The Bible says you would have to be perfect, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). James the brother of Jesus wrote, "Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10). We have all heard that "God is love." That came from a letter the apostle John wrote (1John 4:8). Six hundred years earlier the prophet Jeremiah wrote "The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love."
The Lord also said to Moses "I will by no means clear the guilty" (Exodus 34:7),
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