While Christmas is widely celebrated with festive lights, gift-giving, and family gatherings, its profound theological significance can sometimes be overshadowed by the season’s busyness. Pastor Alex Ogundipe of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church in Abuja offers a thoughtful reflection on the deeper meaning of the holiday, moving beyond the manger scene to explore its foundational role in the Christian faith.
Here are the ten reasons he presents, expanded with context and scriptural foundations to provide a richer understanding of the Nativity’s enduring importance.
1. The Fulfillment of God’s Promise
Christmas is first a celebration of divine faithfulness. For centuries, the people of Israel awaited the Messiah promised by God through the prophets. Pastor Ogundipe references Isaiah 7:14, a prophecy given roughly 700 years before Christ’s birth. The arrival of Jesus is the tangible answer to that ancient promise, demonstrating that God’s word is trustworthy and His plans are sovereign across generations. It transforms Christmas from a mere historical remembrance into a celebration of God’s unwavering covenant-keeping nature.
2. The Restoration of Lost Hope
The pastor frames the human condition through the narrative of the Fall in Genesis. When Adam and Eve were exiled from Eden, humanity lost its direct communion with God and the perfect provision of the Garden. This resulted in a profound spiritual hopelessness. Christmas, Ogundipe explains, marks the moment that hope was restored. The birth of Jesus initiated the process of reconnection, as articulated in Ephesians 2:12, moving us from being “without hope and without God in the world” to being brought near by Christ’s blood.
3. The Celebration of Victory
This perspective views Christmas as the opening move in a decisive spiritual campaign. The incarnation—God becoming flesh—was the necessary first step toward the ultimate victory over sin and death achieved through Jesus’ resurrection. We celebrate at Christmas not just a birth, but the dawn of the victory that “stares us in the face.” It’s a forward-looking celebration, acknowledging that Christ’s entry into the world secured the triumph that believers live in and will see fully realized.
4. The Release of Divine Blessings
In Christian theology, Jesus Christ is the conduit of all spiritual blessing. As Ogundipe states, “All blessings come from Jesus.” Christmas, therefore, is the celebration of the channel being opened. It is through identification with Christ that believers access blessings like adoption into God’s family, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of eternal life. The manger in Bethlehem is where the pipeline of grace was installed into the world.
5. The End of Waiting
For the faithful of the Old Testament, life was lived in anticipation, looking forward to the coming Messiah. Christmas declares that the long night of waiting is over. The “consolation of Israel” has arrived (Luke 2:25). This transforms the believer’s posture from one of hopeful anticipation to one of grateful reception and proclamation.
6. The Abolition of Darkness
Pastor Ogundipe connects this to Jesus’ own declaration in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world.” Christmas is the celebration of that light piercing the universal darkness of sin, ignorance, and despair. It’s not merely a nice sentiment; it’s the claim that in Christ, we are given truth, moral clarity, and the illumination to see God and ourselves rightly. The Christmas lights we hang are a symbolic echo of this greater spiritual reality.
7. The Restoration of God’s Love
The ultimate motivation behind Christmas is love. John 3:16, which the pastor cites, explicitly links God’s love with the gift of His Son. The birth of Jesus is the ultimate demonstration of a proactive, sacrificial love that seeks to redeem and restore a broken relationship. Christmas makes the abstract concept of “God is love” concrete and historical.
8. The Proclamation of Goodwill
The angelic announcement to the shepherds—”Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14)—is central here. Christmas inaugurates a message of God’s goodwill, or favor, toward humanity. It’s a day that celebrates the potential for peace between God and man, and by extension, the call for peace and goodwill among all people.
9. The Restoration of Peace
Closely tied to goodwill, the peace celebrated at Christmas is first and foremost peace with God (Romans 5:1). The estrangement caused by sin is addressed through Christ, making reconciliation possible. This internal, spiritual peace then becomes the foundation for seeking peace in all other relationships and circumstances.
10. The Arrival of God’s Solution
Finally, Ogundipe presents Christmas as the delivery of God’s definitive answer to the human predicament. Humanity’s core problems of sin, mortality, and separation were unsolvable from within. Christmas is the celebration of the solution arriving from outside of us—God Himself entering our reality to heal, save, and restore from the inside out.
Making the Meaning Personal
Pastor Ogundipe concludes with practical application, urging that the celebration move beyond ritual. For the birth of Jesus to be meaningful, he advises:
- Genuine Repentance: A conscious turning away from self-directed living.
- Acceptance and Belief: Personally receiving the truth of who Jesus is and what He accomplished.
- Surrender to God’s Word: Allowing the teachings of Christ to guide daily life and decisions.
“Don’t let this Christmas be business as usual,” he exhorts. It is an invitation to move from being a spectator of the holiday to a participant in its transformative reality, allowing the profound reasons for the season to reshape one’s life year-round.
