Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-20, John 1:1-3, 14, Philippians 2:5-11

Mike Davies considers the real meaning of Christmas.

You could say that 17th Century Christmas seemed similar to that of today!

It was precisely this face of Christmas, however, that the Puritans of sixteenth and seventeenth century England found so objectionable. There were great disagreements over how Christmas should be celebrated.

One lesser known result of the Civil Wars in mid-17th century Britain and Ireland was the abolition of Christmas. Parliament ordered that there should be no holiday and shops should stay open on 25th December. No one was to adorn their homes with evergreens or celebrate Christmas in any way.

Well this took it to the extreme and only lasted a short time. But Christmas, I believe, is about getting the balance.

We can read of the historic records of the birth of Jesus as these can be found in Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 2:1-20. We know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a town unique in all of history; we know that Jesus was conceived not through the joining of a man and a woman but by God himself; we know that Jesus was heavenly (John 1:1-3, 14); and we know that Jesus is in fact part of the God-head (Philippians 2:5-11).

In all of the enjoyment of Christmas how do we remember the Christ of the Christmas? I think it can be summed up in the following:

Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who helped many Jews to escape the Nazi Holocaust during the Second World War. She was captured and imprisoned and had certainly seen her share of suffering, even having to see her sister Betsie die while in a concentration camp. She was asked to explain Christmas in light of what she had experienced. She said, "Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life".

For me this explains Christmas, the rest is just the trimmings. It is a time when we focus on the fact that Jesus was born for a purpose and that purpose was to redeem mankind.

I started by giving you the opening verses of the Hobbit. Simple opening lines that led to a great adventure. Jesus was born as a babe, but his adventure was to be one that changed the world!

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year.