In one of the readings for Christmas Day in the Prayer Book (Titus 2:11-14), we are told: ‘For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared for all men’.  This is how Christmas Day is described in the New Testament.  Here is hope in a Covid world of uncertainty, depression and sorrow.

In relation to mankind, Christmas means salvation.  There is hope for all of us; those weighed down by sin; those feeling unworthy of God; those who are despondent and are not looking forward to the future.  The coming of Jesus is the light in the darkness of all our fears and sorrows.  There is freedom from our sins, acceptance with God and hope for the future because of Christmas.

In relation to the Christian, Christmas means joy and new life.  Christ’s coming into the world has brought us into a new, living relationship with God, our Father.  No longer do we need to feel like outcasts – God has acted through the sending of his Son to bring us into his family.  Now we have a new way to live, with God’s Spirit within, enabling us to live lives of hope.

In relation to Christ, Christmas meant a cross.  For mankind to know the joy of sins forgiven, and the hope of a heavenly home, Christ came to this world; he died on the cross bearing our sins, so that through repentance and faith in him, we need not pay the penalty for our own sins.  Here is what Christmas points to – the child in the manger becoming the man on the cross.

What about Christmas in relation to you?  We’re all tired of Covid-19 and detest it for ruining our families, our settled way of life and bringing constant anxiety into our lives.  Well, let’s remedy that by looking at Jesus this Christmas.  Lets focus on the meaning of Jesus for us – salvation, hope, light, forgiveness, life and a future.