The Christmas Story
About two thousand years ago an angel came to a virgin named Mary who lived in Palestine and told her that she was going to give birth to a baby boy who would save humanity from their sins (which is missing the mark/standard) . Jesus Christ, is the name of this child and He is the Son of God sent to Earth as a human to become both an example of how we should live in relation to God and others and a sacrifice for the sins of humanity. You see instead of God letting us bear the punishment for our sins (i.e. death) he decided to take it upon himself to die so that our sins could be forgiven.(Like when you get your phone taken away at school, and your parents pay instead of you and you get to keep your money even though you were the one who was the reason your phone was picked up. The difference is that God forgave us freely, letting his perfect Son pay for our sins and take away our guilt and shame.) God did all this so that if we believe in him through His Son Jesus our sins are forgivven and we can know Him, become his children, and live with him in heaven after death.
The Census and Stable
Mary was very pregnant with Jesus when the person in power at that time, Caesar Augustus(first Roman emperor) called for everyone to return to their hometown for a census. So Mary, and her fiancé, Joseph, returned to Joseph’s hometown of Bethlehem. But when they arrived in Bethlehem, there was no room for them in any of the inns (hotels) so a kind innkeeper let them stay in his stable with the animals so Mary would have a place to rest. There in the stable, Jesus was born, wrapped in cloth, and laid in a manger.
Afterwards, shepherds came to honor him and wisemen from the East who had read about propehecy and recorded in Jewish Hebrew scripture hundreds of years before the event.
Why We Celebrate
- Every year, many Christians celebrate Christmas to commemorate the birth of Christ and the way God showed His love for us in sending His only Son to be our savior.
- The giving of gifts for us represents the gift God gave to the world in Jesus.
- Also if you listen to traditional Christmas songs such as “Silent Night”, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, “The Little Drummer Boy”, “Mary Did You Know” and many others you can hear the meaning and story of Christmas in song.