The True Meaning

God executed His plan to redeem fallen humanity to perfection, sending His Son, born of a woman - the word Who became flesh, so that we by believing on Him, believing the Word, we can have His life. In John 1, we can read these words:
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

We have been born of flesh and...born of the Spirit.  Jesus has come as a man to bring us salvation. Because He put on flesh, He was able to be our perfect sacrifice and substitute; and in order to fulfill God's purposes, He came to earth.  Philippians 2 explains how He humbled Himself.   He is the Living Word who has come to live in our hearts and to bring us eternal and abundant life.  Because God became man, we can know God.

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Jesus came at just the right time in history, in order to bring redemption and to call people into a relationship with Himself. Galatians 4 states:
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

We have now celebrated our Savior's birth, and we have the opportunity to exit this season with a greater sense of the significance of it and, as we move into a new year, to reflect on how we can grow closer to Him in the days to come.

A recent survey examined the attitudes of Americans toward the celebration of Christmas. ChristianHeadlines.com reported on a recent Ipsos poll; the article states:

The Ipsos poll found that 75 percent of the nation believes “most Americans have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas,” with 42 percent strongly agreeing with the statement and only 6 percent strongly disagreeing.

Among Christians, 84 percent believe the nation has forgotten the real meaning of Christmas, with 50 percent of Christians strongly agreeing. Among non-religious Americans, only 60 percent agree with the statement.

Interestingly enough, this question dealt not with the personal feelings of the respondents toward Christmas, but what they think or perceive that others believe.  Other questions dealt with practices around the holiday.  Some of those noted by Christian Headlines include:

• 85 percent of Americans say they decorate their homes for the holidays, with 15 percent saying they don’t decorate.
• 48 percent say Christmas decorations should be taken down by the first week of January, with nearly one-fourth (23 percent) saying “later in January.” One in 10 (10 percent) say Christmas decorations should be taken down between Christmas and New Year’s Day. A total of 7 percent say Christmas decorations should be taken down after January, and 3 percent say they should be left up all year long.
• A majority of Americans (56 percent) say it is appropriate to play Christmas music in public after Thanksgiving, with 25 percent answering, “after Dec. 1.”

For Christians, the Christmas season gives us the opportunity to testify to our Savior, to reflect on what He has done for us, and to communicate to the world that we love Him. There are all sorts of ways to observe the holiday, and we can be careful to choose how we represent Him in the way we celebrate.

One of the key elements, ideally, should be that the emphasis is not on what we get, but what we give. And, we give because God, our Heavenly Father, the giver of all good gifts, sent His Son, so that in Him we might be saved and have eternal life.  We should not become so distracted in the celebration that we lose sight of the true meaning of the holiday.