(excerpts from Dr. Larry Ollison)
Jesus is truly the Savior of the world. Celebrating His birth is a time of great love, peace, joy, and compassion. The reality is, however, that Christmas is just the symbolic time we celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. We know that Jesus was not born on December 25, but we use this date as our annual time to celebrate His birth.
Historical records credit Roman Emperor Constantine with instituting this celebration date in approximately 336 AD after converting from Paganism to Christianity.
As Christians, we know that Jesus is the Son of God (Mark 1:1). We know that God loved mankind so much that He sent Jesus to this earth (John 3:16). Yet many people don't know these truths and wonder why God sent Jesus. So here are six reasons briefly describing why Jesus was born.
1) He was born to redeem us from the curse of the law of sin and death (Titus 2:14; Galatians 4:3-7).
2) He was born to restore authority to its rightful place (Matthew 28:18-20).
3) He was born to reconcile man to God (Ephesians 2:14-18; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21).
4) He was born to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
5) He was born to make a way for everlasting life (1 John 5:11-13).
6) He was born because of love (John 3:16).
Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17). And because He loves us so much, He's coming again for us (John 14:1-18; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). That's worth celebrating any time of the year!!!
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