Church, this time of year should fill us with joy and excitement. Our Savior, our great God, came to earth and was born in a nowhere town, to nowhere parents, and spent His life on earth serving people that no one else wanted. He did that for us. He went to a cross and shed His blood because we needed it. It was not because He looked forward to it or that He really needed it, it was for us. Without His birth in accordance with scriptures, we would not have the life of Jesus. We would not have the teachings of Jesus. We would not have His atoning sacrifice, and we would not have our Savior.

Now I know that Jesus wasn’t born in December but that really misses the point. Far too often we spend a lot of time defending our bah-humbug attitudes with ideas that are irrelevant to the point. Christmas is supposed to be a time when we celebrate Jesus and the Good News. Surely, all believers can agree that Jesus coming into the world, as the culmination of God’s plan for our redemption, is worthy of praise.

Matthew 2:10 tells us the wise men rejoiced when they realized that God was doing something amazing for us. In Luke 2:8-14, the shepherds and angels in heaven rejoiced at the birth of Jesus. Why is it wrong for us to do the same?

The birth of Jesus was a source of great joy and thanksgiving. It caused happiness for the shepherds, for Mary and Joseph, and even the multitudes of angels in heaven. The host of heaven rejoiced that God had sent His Son to redeem a sinful, lost world.

So, my question is why can we not celebrate it? God, Jesus, the Spirit, and the whole host of heaven rejoiced at the birth of Jesus. Am I not allowed to do the same! The very premise that Christians should not celebrate Jesus; should not speak his great name, and altogether refuse to mention him boggles my mind. Christians refusing to focus on Jesus just seems ridiculous to me.

Church, Christmas is a time to rejoice because of what Jesus did for us. Don’t be afraid to celebrate Him! Christmas reminds us of God’ greatest act of love this world has ever known. He sent His Son into this world to become our atonement: let us rejoice and praise Him.