Mary gave birth to Jesus; will you do the same?

Christmas has taken on various meanings through the generations since Christ's birth. But if we could narrow down the meaning of Christmas to a few main ideas, perhaps an important one is that Christmas was the physical starting point of Jesus' purposes on the earth. As Christians, we often talk about Jesus purpose in dying, but in living, what purpose did He fulfill?

While the Bible records many aspects of Jesus' reasons for coming to earth, over and over and over the it speaks of Him teaching others: at the temple, on mountainsides, standing in a boat. In fact, more than performing miracles, Jesus taught, and we have more record of Him teaching than doing any other activity, including praying. He taught his disciples, the people who gathered around Him, the pharisees, the woman at the well and many others.

And it makes perfect sense that Jesus would come to show the way TO God and the ways OF God through teaching. If we see Jesus as the Savior who walked the earth mainly to perform miracles, we miss a very important part of His character and God's purpose, which is to recreate the individual into the image of God so that we would understand Him, have relationship with Him, defeat the enemy in our lives, and draw others to His eternal salvation.

Without the ever increasing knowledge of God and His ways we are simply occasional receivers of blessings, not partakers of the life of Christ! It's much the same as the person who is given bread but never taught to grow wheat, make his own bread and give a portion to others. The teachings of Jesus have power to transform our lives and empower us: when we think like Christ, we live like Christ! So in considering how much teaching we need, perhaps the question we should ask is "how much do we want our lives transformed?" "Do we want to be empowered?" "Are we satisfied with the status quo?"

John describes Jesus as the Living Word, saying "they beheld His glory and touched Him and knew Him intimately" (paraphrased John 1:1-14). If you truly want to know about Christmas, read about Jesus as the holy, living, powerful, walking and talking word and teachings of God (John1). Christmas brought us access to God to the extent that we receive His teachings and they become part of us, changing us into His very image and character. Here is the continuing miracle of Christmas: Jesus is reborn in the earth as we become the Living Word to the world around us! Mary allowed God to give birth to Christ(mas) through her, will you do the same?

So with this I say "Merry, blessed, prosperous Christmas to those who love and serve the Living God, the Living Word and the Transformer of Lives! And a joyous New Year to those who are being transformed into Living Epistles, mirroring the image of Jesus Christ by continued revelation of Him through His teachings."

"And this is eternal life: to know You (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with through His teachings and Spirit), the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah) and reflect His glory and life in the earth.... " (John 17:3, AMP, paraphrased).