For God so loved the World …

Have we to be Christians before we understand the love of God? Certainly not. But, for those who are Christians, the sources of the quotations here are familiar ones. I am addressing this article to all readers, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs alike and for some of these readers, any biblical reference can turn their interests off. Therefore, all references to the Bible remain unsaid.

Yes, it is the month of December again and the Christmas lights are on. The lights are particularly noticed in Singapore where Christmas street lights are colorfully displayed along Orchard Road and many localized shopping centers, even in Little India (mainly Hindus), in Chua Chu Kang (mainly Buddhists) or in Kembangan, Bedok (mainly Muslims).

The question that we need to address then is this: “What is the significance of Christmas?” We can also ask the same question in another way: “Why do we celebrate Christmas?” Or even: “How come we have our calendar year marked as AD 2019? AD is an abbreviation of Anno Domini and it means ‘in the year of the Lord’ or ‘in the year Jesus Christ was born’ as opposed to B.C. which means ‘Before Jesus Christ’.

For Christians around the world, Christmas is remembered as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ in a manger somewhere in the little town of Bethlehem, to the south of the city of Jerusalem. Not only do Christians remember the birth of Jesus Christ but they are also mindful of the reason why Jesus Christ came into this world. Just bear in mind the fact that He was the Only Son of God and He abandoned the comfort of Heaven to come into our world as a humble human, to suffer the humiliation of the Romans and the general public and finally crucified on the cross. Yes, He died for all our sins, all the sins of human beings, past, present and future. So the Christians believe. He was the Christians’ Savour. Wrong! He was the Savour for all human beings, Christians and non-Christians alike.

Whilst people in most countries of every religion celebrate the Christmas festivities every December, it is appropriate to reflect on people’s beliefs in life after death.

Christians believe in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of all humankind and as such, they have eternal lives. They believe that the moment we die, our souls temporarily depart from our bodies to await the Resurrection when they will be carried by the angels into the presence of the Lord.

Buddhists believe that death forms a natural part of the life cycle and that a person’s spirit remains to seek out a new body in a reincarnation.

Muslims believe that life is God’s gift and during death, the soul is separated from the body to begin a state of the afterlife awaiting the end of the world. Believing in an afterlife is one of the six pillars of the Islamic faith.

Hindus believe that humans are in a cycle of death and rebirth.  When a person dies, the ‘atman’ is reborn into a different body, perhaps in another ‘realm’ (that is not necessarily on earth).

Regardless of beliefs, one thing is certain. The years in terms of AD (Anno Domini) move on and once we accept this fact, the presence of Jesus Christ on earth becomes a basic truth. Christmas, the celebration of Jesus’ birthday, is remembered by all.

At this point, we are prudent to remind ourselves that love is not an entitlement because of the fact that all of us have sinned and we fall short of the expectations of God, whichsoever God we believe in. During our happiness and joy over this Christmas period, we need to give thanks to God and to count the blessings that we receive from God.

The wage of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. For God so loved all of us (although we are all sinners) that He sends us his only Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and to give us everlasting life.

So today, as we celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ, we pray that the Holy Spirit (or the conscious knowledge of God’s presence) will help us replace our sense of entitlement with the sense of being thankful for the many blessings that we have received.

Pohutukawa tree song waiata with Maori translation. Enjoy this beautiful kids’ Christmas song about the New Zealand native Pohutukawa tree. Sing along with the lyrics and the Love to Sing choir. Great for performances, concerts, schools, kindergarten, preschool, and home. Merry Christmas. https://youtu.be/K5AM2nrxAq4