WHAT DOES MERRY CHRISTMAS MEAN

We will hear the words “Merry Christmas” and will say the same many times in the next couple of days. To many it is a trite cliché and thus has no meaning. The general connotation for “Merry Christmas” seems to be one of happiness, warm feelings toward others, and a time to gather with people you generally enjoy or in some cases to be nice to people you do not really like.
It is now common for many people to express their desire that the “true meaning” of Christmas be celebrated and that “true meaning” centers around the birth of Jesus and the scenes pictured in Matthew and Luke. Silent Night, which is a beautiful song, is sung by these people and the behavior of Mary and Joseph is noted as it should.
This picture of the young virgin and the honorable Joseph are wonderful examples of faith and obedience, but the “true meaning” of Christmas is told to us in John 3: 16 and 17 and Isaiah 53: 6.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, everyone, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Jesus was born for the purpose of going to the cross as the sacrifice for our sins. When we believe this we are no longer condemned but now receive the gift of eternal life forgiven of our sins. How truly wonderful Christmas is.
Merry Christmas