The 25th of December every year is a special date in the calendar of the Christendom. This is the date recognized by Christians globally as the birthday of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind, who is also the personification of Divinity.
The joy of Christmas is now celebrated both as a religious and cultural ceremony among billions of people all over the world. It is the most important festival in the Christian region, observed with great pomp and pageantry.
The coming of Jesus in human history, celebrated at Christmas, had been foretold centuries earlier by the prophets in Palestine. The Prophet Isaiah had prophesied that ‘a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and she will call Him Immanuel’ a name which means ‘God with us.’
Christmas is a moment for sober reflection because Jesus Christ was born at a time when ignorance, superstition, greed, hatred and hypocrisy prevailed. It was also at a time when purity was forgotten and morality was thrown to the winds.
It was in the midst of these unfavourable but prevailing conditions, that Christ was born and he worked as a transformation in the lives of the people. Following these developments, he gave a new spiritual turn to the lives of man, which brought a change upon the world. The Divine element begins to express itself in the heart of men. From then, light began to shine over darkness.
The spiritual significance of Christmas is that Jesus Christ was not born in a grand palace, and was not born to very wealthy or learned parents, but in a simple lowly place, a corner of a stable and to a humble and poor parent with spotless character and holiness.
This significance aptly tells us that the spiritual awakening comes to the seeker, who is perfectly humble, meek and poor in spirit. The quality of true humility is one of the indispensable fundamentals of a Christian life expressed during Christmas.
For the celebration, great preparations are made by the rich or poor reflecting in merriments, the exchange of gifts and contributions with love, which should be done for the Glory of God and nothing else.
The power of the birth of Jesus is not based on might and wealth, but love, as it pardons transgressions, brings about justice, peace, light, truth, reconciliation and transforms evil into good. Christmas is indeed that divine occasion to restore fallen man to its divinely intended purpose.
As the world celebrates this year’s Christmas, Nigerians should use the period of Christmas to pray fervently the nation for the Lord to step into our lives and change every negative situation confronting God’s blessed land with tremendous natural and human resources that have dominated the world in different spheres of endeavours.
On the social impact of Christmas, the celebration brings not only families together, but also the entire ethnic groups in Nigeria.
As one of the holiest times of the year, the season should be used as a time for sober reflection, a time to say no to terrorism, religious bigotry, Satanism, kidnappings and other vices, especially as the nation comes under international scrutiny.
This yuletide period, prayers offered are not limited to Christians but Muslim communities who have also been praying for the country. Reinforcing the fact that; such spiritual efforts across faith lines would help in sustaining national resilience in the face of challenges.
Instructively, Nigerians are blessed with diverse cultures and religions that are pointers to the intent of harmony, peaceful co-existence and assistance to all those in need, especially in this festive season of promises.
Jesus Christ personifies love therefore; as we celebrate his birthday, let everyone in the cause of this joy extends love, piousness, tolerance, forgiveness to those who have hurt us as individual, group, ethnicity and most of all learn to be patriotic to the nation, Nigeria.