Why I Celebrate Christmas

On Christmas day, a humble girl gives birth to hope for all the world,

this is Immanuel.

I have realised over this past year that the characteristic of God that I love the most is that He is holy. I wouldn't want to worship a god that I could figure out, control, or predict. Such a god like that isn't worth worshiping...he would be too much like me. Too powerless, too limiting.

How awesome and mysterious, the Lord of heaven draws near to us,
this is Immanuel.

The fact that God is holy means that He is great, unfathomable, perfect, pure, and unattainable...His ways are bigger and greater than my ways. He controls the universe and all that dwell in it.

The hands that once split night from day now feebly clutch a blade of hay,
this is Immanuel.

God's holiness sets Him apart from any other thing. His holiness is what makes me kneel is surrender, offering my life and all that I am to be used for His glory and purposes. His holiness is what makes me trust His justice and love His mercy.

Majestic king, now small and weak, the Word of God must learn to speak,
this is Immanuel.

I have more recently realised that the characteristic of Jesus that I love the most is that He is Emmanuel. Emmanuel means God with us. God who is unfathomable became fathomable to all mankind through the birth and life and person of Jesus.

The shepherds come and bow to him, the Lamb who takes away our sin,
this is Immanuel.

God, who is indescribable, suddenly became someone we can describe, someone we can wrap our minds around, through the person of Jesus. Because Jesus came, we can once again have a restored relationship with God.

For God has entered time and space to show the world his endless grace,
this is Immanuel.

At first I thought of these two characteristics, God's holiness and Jesus as Emmanuel, as two separate characteristics. However, today God showed me how the two characteristics are intertwined in a great way!

This is our God, seen by our eyes,
the love of the Father made known in Jesus Christ.

Sometimes it is easy to feel that God is removed. Too big, too perfect, too vast to care about little insignificant me. His holiness separates me from Him. He is perfect, I am not. He is pure, I am not. But Emmanuel, God with us, speaks to me of intimacy.

This is our God, worthy of praise,
the love of the Father revealed on Christmas day.

Because of Emmanuel, I can have a relationship with Holiness. God is with me...God is with you. He is here, present in your life, whether or not you can see it or feel it. That the great God would willingly become a small vulnerable baby, just so that I could have a relationship with Him, is where Emmanuel and Holiness meet!

"On Christmas Day" by Matt Osgood