Holiday Reflection: A Celebration of Hope

A Celebration of Hope

What we are celebrating is not just the birth of a baby, but the birth of hope.

The Christmas season brings up many warm feelings and memories. It is the time of year the Christian world has chosen to celebrate the birth of Christ. That story in itself has produced countless books, inspiring music, art, plays, and pageantry of all kinds as people try to portray that wondrous event.

The season brings families and friends together in ways that have no parallel at any other time of the year. Communities become festive, lights and decorations abound, and the atmosphere is filled with good wishes and a generous spirit.

When we stop to look behind the story and think about what it is really all about, the story of the birth of Christ is not just a sweet story of a young boy, an angel, a hasty trip to Bethlehem, and a makeshift birthing studio in a manger. It is much, much more profound.

What we are celebrating is not just the birth of a baby, but the birth of hope. The baby was not only a male child. He was God mysteriously transformed into a male child. And why would He do that? To establish hope in a world where there was no hope.

Adam and Eve were created in an atmosphere where hope was not needed. They were constantly in the presence of God. They needed nothing more. Then an enemy offered them a new hope where they would not just be in the presence of God, but they could be “like God” (Genesis 3:5). And they accepted it, for themselves and all generations to follow. It was a false and hopeless proposition. Humanity found itself in a place of no hope of a future that could be purchased, earned, or devised.

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1,2

However, God, in His love and wisdom, promised a solution for humanity. Until the male child arrived in Bethlehem, it was a promise based on God's word. When He came, He established the promise as a reality. Paul summarized it in this way: “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1–2, NKJV).

The real reason to celebrate this season is the hope that has been established and guaranteed because of the birth of The Child.

Pastor Bill Spangler | Retired pastor at the Alberta Conference of Seventh-day Adventist