Merry Christmas 2023!

The message of Christmas is about a unique and uncommon gift – the gift of Christ Jesus – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.’’ (John 3:16) – That, friends, is the message of Christmas. The Christian Embassy calls us to receive that message and that precious gift of Christ Jesus. We do so by acknowledging and accepting the lordship and sovereignty of Christ, the Saviour of the World.

We are also called to respond to this good news of the coming of Christ. We do so when we share in Christ’s vision and mission for an inclusive bold new world where “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.’’ (Isaiah 11:6)

It is, however, the change we experience in Christ that gives meaning to Christmas. Christ came to make all things new and in Him we are a new creation. No one ever had a real encounter with God and stayed the same, because he transforms us in at least four ways:

• He gives us a new name – ask Abram who became Abraham, ask Sarai who became Sarah ask Jacob who became Israel , ask Saul who became Paul , ask Simon, son of Jacob who became Peter …;
• He gives us a new nature – He takes away from us our heart of stone and in its place, He puts a new heart of flesh that is soft and sweet, gentle and gracious;
• He gives us a new need – a new quest, a new mission, a new passion – of simple fishermen, he made fishers of men;
• He gives us a new nation – As we do not put new wine into old wineskins, Christ gives us new life that we may live in the fullness and freedom of a new nation, a new dispensation, a new Kingdom, a new world where righteousness, justice and peace triumph over the forces of darkness and evil. We are called to be citizens and ambassadors of this new nation. God’s kingdom is not hanging high in the sky somewhere, waiting to descend on earth. It is built dailyright here on earth, that the world may ascend on high.

Do you know your new name? Are you growing into your new nature? Have you found your new need? Are you working for the new nation? The new kingdom? The new dispensation? The new world?

Contact with Christ inescapably leads to change and commitment to change, without which Christmas is just another occasion for mundane celebration. Friends, God is ever moving us through changing seasons, challenging us with new beginnings, with new hustles and new heights to overcome, new territories to chart and to conquer. God loves the new and His ultimate call is for us to embrace and abide in the freshness of the new!

We have heard the message of Christmas. May we respond to it, that we may experience the true meaning of Christmas through our transformed lives.