As Christians we should not celebrate Christmas the way the world celebrates it. We should celebrate Christmas by worshipping Him. That is what God demands of every child of His: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:10-11). The worship of God for the incarnation of the only begotten Son should be the essence of our celebration of Christmas.

When we accord worship to Jesus, we are denying what the world thinks of Jesus. Some say He was an outstanding teacher of His time. But good teachers do not claim to be God. Some say He was an insane man. But insane men do not preach, teach and perform miracles as He did. Some say He was a religious phony. But phonies do not rise from the dead. Some say He was only a phantom. But phantoms cannot possess flesh and blood to be hung on the cross with long rusty nails and thirst for water and be pierced at the side with a spear. Some say He was just a myth concocted by men. But myths do not make an impact on world history. His birth became the focal point of history. The calendar years are numbered according to His birth. B.C. means Before Christ, and A.D. stands for, Anno Domini, which means, in the year of the Lord. As believers in Christ, we must acknowledge who Jesus Christ is and ascribe worship to Him because He is our Lord and our God.

Christmas is therefore not about Jesus being a baby but about His deity. It is a great mystery that a glorious God who is infinitely rich would become poor, and assume a human nature. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh… (1 Tim 3:16). Jesus gave up His throne and glory - His shekinah glory – to be born of the virgin Mary. But He did not give up being God. So He was all God and all man. Many have made Jesus less than God. They conclude, according to their own whims and fancies, that He is one of the many gods, a created being, a good teacher and a prophet. Those who hold to New Ageism believe that Christ is a consciousness, a form of the higher self. This Christ is possessed in all because everyone is divine. Hence all these ascriptions of Jesus make Him less than God.

In contrast to that, the Word of God reveals to us that Jesus is indeed God: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:1-3). The Word here refers to Jesus Christ Himself. This is explained in verse 14 of the same chapter: And the Word was made 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. When those who opposed Jesus questioned His authority, He declared without apology: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58). This incurred the wrath of his accusers because the words "I AM" refers only to the eternal God as in Exodus 3:14. They were so incensed with Jesus that they took up stones to cast them at Him. His miracles and sinlessness no doubt also authenticate His deity.

So Jesus is God. But why did He condescend to become a man and be born in such a lowly manner, and be subjected to man’s ridicule, reproach, rejection and finally sentenced to a cruel death on the cross? He did it to bring reconciliation between God and man (Col 1:19,20). All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). God hates sin with a holy hatred and must respond with His wrath. He is angry with the wicked everyday (Psalm 7:11). Hence, man shall surely die: for the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23).

A holy God is justly angry with the sin of mankind. Yet the depth and expanse of God’s love for us is such that He gave His only begotten Son to live a righteous life for us. God spared Him not but delivered Him up for us all (Rom 8:32). Only Jesus could reconcile us back to God. This reconciliation is accomplished through the blood of the cross (Col 1:20). Jesus offered Himself to be a Lamb without spot and blemish to take the sin of the whole world (John 1:29). He bore the punishment we deserved for our sins, suffered the full weight of God’s wrath and delivered us from eternal condemnation in the fury of hell. The Son of God became a Man to be a perfect substitute for us, willing to lay down His life. On the third day He rose again from the dead, that whosoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life (John 3:16). Yes, Jesus is the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Him, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in Him shall never die (John 11:25).

Let every knee bow during this Christmas, and let every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Let our immediate response to Christmas be worship. If we decorate our houses, spend time with our families, fellowship with friends, sing carols and exchange gifts but have no worship, our response to the reality of our Saviour’s birth would be grossly inadequate. Knowing that He is the Saviour of the world, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords (1 Tim 6:15), our celebration of Christmas should be worship. Then everything else that we do would flow out from this heart of worship.

When the Scripture speaks of worship, it portrays the sacrifice required from us. Romans 12:1-2 requires all believers to present ourselves a living sacrifice, to be intensely consecrated to the Lord: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Secondly, it portrays our giving: In Philippians 4:18, Paul described the church’s giving to him as an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. Thirdly, it involves our service to others: But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased (Heb 13:16). Fourthly, it requires us to evangelise others with the gospel of salvation and be a living testimony for the Lord: that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost (Rom 15:16).

For this Christmas, let us have a biblical view of worship. We should worship like the shepherds did on that Christmas night. They dropped everything they were doing to go in haste to find the Saviour in the manger. There was a sense of urgency and godly determination in their attitude of wanting to worship Jesus (Luke 2:15,16). They could not contain their joy of having found the Messiah and seized the opportunity to herald the good news to those they met along the way (v.17). Christmas is a great opportunity to tell others about Jesus and bring them to church to hear the gospel.

In this frenzied period, let us be like Mary who worshipped through quiet reflection (Luke 2:19) and thank Him for this unspeakable gift (2 Cor 9:15). We should take time to withdraw ourselves to meditate on Christ’s great love for us during this Christmas and to give Him our gratitude and praise.