Christmas was God’s idea. Man gave a name to it, and chose a day to celebrate it. The idea of Christmas began in eternity past, and came into fruition in time. The Bible says:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1–5)
In the original text, the word translated “the Word” is the Greek word “Logos”. Logos meant idea, reason, principle or thought, and in the Greek mind, it was something impersonal and abstract. The Bible made Logos personal and relatable, by using it to reference Jesus:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
In another place, the Bible says:
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. (Galatians 4:4–5)
The gift of Christmas is the possibility of sonship in the kingdom of God, and the certainty that it has been made possible. Jesus says:
“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. (John 3:3)
How could one be born again — surely no one can enter a second time into his or her mother’s womb to be born? This was the question of the Jewish religious teacher, Nicodemus. Jesus answered Nicodemus thus: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” (verses 6–7)
Jesus was not talking about reincarnation, but about a new life within the natural lifetime of a person. This new life is possible because there is a Holy Spirit. We are introduced to the Spirit of God at the very beginning of the Bible, in the book of Genesis:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:1–2)
This same Spirit, existent with the Word at creation, is the Spirit that regenerates the spirit of man. There is no possibility for any of us to determine the actions of the Spirit. Just as the wind blows wherever it pleases, and we hear its sound but cannot tell where it is coming from or where it is going, so is it with being born of the Spirit.
What can we do to be born of the Spirit?
Speaking of Jesus: The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:9–13)
A person will be born of the Spirit, i.e. born of God, and born again, when he or she believes in the name of Jesus and receives Jesus.
The Bible presents Jesus not merely as a religious leader, teacher, philosopher, prophet or man of God — it presents Jesus as the very Son of God, who has been with God from eternity past, and who made this world. This world belongs to him, and at his incarnation, he came not to strangers but to his own.
The significance of who Jesus claimed to be was not lost on those who heard him — calling God his Father, Jesus had made himself equal to God. (John 5:18) This was considered blasphemous to the Jewish leaders, and for this reason they determined to kill him (and ultimately did).
Why did the world reject Jesus, and why does the world continue to reject Jesus today? Jesus’ own answer was this:
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:19–21)
Jesus welcomes people to come out of darkness into the light. He says: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
And so, according to the Bible and the words of Jesus, whoever believes in him and receives him, is one who accepts the truth about him and who is not afraid to come into the light. To all such is given the right to be heirs in the kingdom of God, to become children of God. All such are born again, born of the Spirit, born of God.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)
Do you want to be born again?
That is, do you want to be a child of God? The only way you can be is by believing in Jesus.
Is there any other way? According to the Bible, there is no other way: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Back to Nicodemus’ questions, Jesus made reference to a historical account that Nicodemus would have been familiar with, to show him what he must do to be born again. Some 14 centuries before their encounter, the Israelites were dying in the desert of venomous snake bites; Moses, their leader, prayed to God, and God instructed: “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” (Numbers 21:8)
Jesus said: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him .” (John 3:14–15)
The lifting up of the Son of Man spoke of the manner in which Jesus would die — he would be lifted up on a cross. Speaking of the cross, the Bible also calls it a tree or a pole:
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” (Galatians 3:13, NIV)
The curse of the law was death, and that was the fate of every man, whether born under the law of the Jews or outside of that law. Jesus took the curse from us, by dying on the cross. The Son of God died in the place of every sinner, as the perfect substitute.
He did this because of love:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16–17)
And this is the gospel of God — “the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 1:2–4)
If you feel you believe in your heart, you ought to confess with your mouth that which is in your heart. As said in Romans 10:9–13:
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””
What should you pray?
Jesus taught his disciples this prayer:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
(Matthew 6:9–13)
The above is a short but very rich prayer from which we can learn to pray using our own words. Offered below are some words which you can use as prayer to signify your newfound faith in Jesus:
Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God, sent from the Father to be my Saviour. I am a sinner, guilty of many sins. Please forgive me of all my sins, and make me right with God. I believe you died on the cross for me, and that you rose from the dead as the Bible teaches, and that you have ascended to be with the Father in heaven. I receive you as my Lord and Saviour, and I open my heart to receive from you all that you have purposed for me. I am now a Christian, born again, and am a child of God. Your Holy Spirit shall accompany me, and I shall live the rest of my life as your follower and disciple. Help me to enter into fellowship with other believers, and to learn how to live life as a Christian. Amen.
If the above represents what you are saying to Jesus, congratulations for becoming a citizen of the kingdom of God and entering into eternal life! I hope you will find fellowship with other Christians in a local church or Christian organisation, and start a lifelong journey of discovery of the wonders of living in the light of God.