If Jesus were simply a famous religious teacher or the founder of a great religion, then you might be right to ask why we should bother celebrating His birth.

But Jesus was more than a famous religious teacher or the founder of a major religion. The Bible tells us He was absolutely unique, because in addition to being a man, He also was divine — fully man and fully God. In other words, from the beginning — even from the moment of His miraculous conception — Jesus was both fully human and fully God. Think of it: On that first Christmas, God stooped down from heaven and took upon Himself our flesh!

This is admittedly hard for us to grasp — and yet it’s true! We celebrate the birth of Jesus because on that first Christmas God came down and lived among us in the person of His Son, Jesus. As the angel explained to Joseph, “‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’)” (Matthew 1:23).

Why did Jesus come into the world? He came for one reason: to save us from our sins. Sin has separated us from God, and it has also made us imperfect and subject to death. But Jesus came to bring us back to God and take away sin’s power over us. During this Christmas season open your life to Jesus Christ. Like the shepherds and wise men of old, come to Christ and worship Him as your Saviour and Lord.