WRITTEN BY RT. REV. SAMUEL EZEOFOR
Christians all over the world are observing today as Christmas. It is the commemoration of the birth of our Lord and the savior of mankind, Jesus Christ, who is equally the very personification of Divinity. Christmas is the most important festival of Christians. Observed with great pomp and pageantry, Christmas is rather a moment for sober reflection. Jesus Christ was born at a time when ignorance, superstition, greed, hatred and hypocrisy prevailed upon the land. Also, at that time, purity was forgotten and morality was thrown to the winds.
However, in the midst of these unfavourable but prevailing conditions, Christ was born and he worked a transformation in the lives of the people, who came across him. Following these developments, he gave a new spiritual turn to the lives of man, which brought a change upon the land.
While this was going on, people started a new way of life. Thus, a new era dawned on the world. In that period also, the seeker had no thought of God or higher spiritual life. He lived a life of lust, anger, greed, deluded attachment, pride and jealously. But, if the seeker must enter into a new life of spiritual aspiration, purity and devotion, then the Christ spirit must take its birth within his heart.
In truth, the real Christmas is when the Divine element begins to express itself in the heart of men. From then, light begins to shine into darkness. The significance of Christmas is that Jesus Christ was not born in a grand palace, Aso Rock, White House or a NICON NUGA-type of environment. He was not born to very wealthy or learned parents, but in a simple lowly place, a corner of a stable. Jesus Christ was born to humble and poor parents, who had nothing to boast about, except their own 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.
For the celebration, great preparations are made. All houses and churches are cleaned and white washed. All the Christians, rich or poor, young or old, take part in it. The shop keeper, who sells Christmas cards and presents decorate their shops with beautiful pictures and tops, in order to attract customers.
But, there is still a message for Christmas. That basic message is the announcement that God, the Almighty Creator of the Universe, has come into the world in the human form. This is the news of God’s incarnation in human flesh. The apostle John has given the appropriate meaning to this historic event in his statement that “no one has ever seen God, but God the one and only.
Though, the gifts of the Magi that were given to Jesus, Mary and Joseph in their act of worship, or the gifts that are shared between family and friends in this Christmas festival, should be recognized and emphasized in our celebrations, but the primary and most important gift is God’s gift of His one and only son, whom he sent into the world to save mankind.
Without the message of God’s incarnation in human flesh and the gift of His son, Jesus, for the salvation of the world, the celebration of Christmas by Christians or anyone else is just another secular festival among many on one’s calendar of annual holidays. Truly, there can be no peace on earth or real joy in a human’s heart apart from the spirit of Jesus Christ.
Actually, the gifts of these blessings, through the birth of Jesus Christ, are worth celebrating and the sharing of God’s love to the world is with repeating over and over again in gifts and contributions. All the same, Christians need to make sure that our Christmas celebrations are for the Glory of God and nothing else.
Certainly, it is not for the worship of any sun god, Saint or material gift. After all said and done, Christmas should bring, not only families together, but also the entire ethnic groups in Nigeria. As one of the holiest times of the year, the season for the commemoration of the birth of Christ should be a time for sober reflection, a time to say no to terrorism, armed robbery, prostitution, religious bigotry, Satanism and kidnappings.
As we prepare for 2019 General Election, which is barely a month away, Nigerians should use the period of Christmas to prayer fervently against the spirit of vote buying and selling, that of campaign of character assignation and hate among the political gladiators and the electorate in addition to asking God to give the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the spirit of being truly independent to enable them conduct an acceptable election, come 2019. May God be our helper. Merry Christmas.

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