Dear reader,

Why do we celebrate Christmas? What does it mean? Maybe it is a wonderful time for you with all kinds of lights and delicious food together. Or maybe you’re happy when it’s over because you feel lonely.

Christmas is a celebration of peace. That’s because at Christmas we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, as announced in the Bible. We have based our era on the coming of Christ. This indicates that the history of humanity can be divided into a period before and after Christ.

In the Bible book of Isaiah, which was written about 700 years before the birth of Christ, it says: “For to us a Child is born, and to us a Son is given. And the government will be on his shoulders. These will be His royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:5).

The great thing about Christmas is that you and I can claim these titles from Jesus Christ. That means that you can call on Him, appeal to His power, to who He is.

We are free in that. If you don’t, you will never fully understand what Christmas is all about. If you investigate further, a new world may open up for you. A follower of Jesus named John wrote about the coming of Jesus: “He came into his own country, but his own people did not receive Him. But to all who did accept Him, He gave the right to become children of God. By faith in His name they are born again, not of course as human beings, but spiritually of God (John 1, verses 11-13).

So you can become a child of God. You are then born again. That happens when you acknowledge that He is who He says He is. If you will allow Him as your God, Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace.

That process of being born again does not happen without a struggle for many people. Former world boxing champion George Foreman abandoned his belief in God early in his life. Beautiful women and fighting were more important to him. However, this did not make him really happy, although it did bring him a certain prestige. In the film ‘Big George Foreman’ on Netflix (Dec. ’23), George is confronted with his own death and at that moment he decides that he wants to live and recognizes Jesus as his God. His life changes radically afterwards. His hatred for people who have hurt him disappears. He finds a new purpose in his life and discovers what really has value. He becomes truly free!

It sometimes seems as if you have to give up freedom first before you can truly become free. In our society we keep each other in a kind of matrix. What are you doing? Do you take the blue pill and Christmas remains nothing more than a celebration of good food and some fun? Or do you take the red pill and enter a reality you have never experienced before. George Foreman chose the red pill. He allowed Jesus Christ into his life. As a result, He came to peace with God. What are you doing?

Reality is complex. You receive information stimuli from all angles. Sometimes it seems like everyone wants something from you. Your attention, your like, your money. This can go on for a lifetime and eventually we all end up in a grave. What was our life worth then? Is this all?

Let’s take a moment to reflect on reality and look at some facts. Life on Earth is only possible because the Earth has just the right distance from the sun. On Earth we see a beautiful variety of life forms. Flora and fauna are expertly matched and function optimally in an ecosystem with a lot of diversity, of which humans are also a part. Could ‘something’ have come from ‘nothing’? And ‘something’ develops into a human being with a complex body, a soul and a spiritual consciousness? Our eye consists of 40 subsystems that are connected to each other in a complex way. How can something like this has been developed spontaneously?  In addition, we are more than just a biological phenomenon. We are also social beings and we have a sense of right and wrong. We have a conscience. If you list these facts, you will quickly come to the conclusion that there must be more. God must exist. However, if we accept this, a lot of new questions arise.

In a series of interviews with top scientists, Andries Knevel and Dick Bos confront top scientists with difficult questions about life and reality. If God exists, what about suffering in the world? Why then does such a thing as cancer exist? What about the discovery of dinosaur fossils? Etc. What is striking in these interviews (which can be found on YouTube Search4Truth, Science and Faith) is that a number of these top scientists point to the coming of Christ somewhere in the interview.

They resemble the wise men from the East who were looking for The King around the time of Jesus’ birth. They had observed in the universe that a special star had started to shine in a special place in the galaxy. For them, this was the sign of the coming of a Person who would have an enormous impact on the world. And they went out to seek this King, and they took gifts.

How are you? Are you also looking? The Bible says “he who seeks will find” (Matthew 7:8) and “draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). The coming of Jesus Christ is indeed a turning point in history. Jesus showed us divine life on earth. What he did was supernatural and otherworldly. He raised the dead, healed the blind, had compassion for those whom others could not see, and brought to pass many events predicted by the prophets. What He said had also never been heard before. Thus He said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6). This means that as you seek a route to God, the Father, you must align your inner navigation with Jesus Christ. He cleanses you and then fills you with divine Life and you become free, you come to know the Truth. A normal person would never say something like that. Jesus is therefore different from all others and cannot be compared to anyone else.

Jesus says, “I am Alpha and Omega” (Revelation 22:13). That means: I am the Beginning and the End. Creating a heaven and an earth with an entire ecosystem with people started with Him and every human life also ends with Him. What that encounter looks like depends on your response to Him in this life. Our biggest problem is that we are born separated from God. This is due to the fall of our distant ancestors Adam and Eve. Since their fall, no one is born in the paradise where they lived in harmony with God. And our nature has changed. Each of us is born with a natural tendency to want to live without God. We want to be independent, to choose our own path. There is in us a tendency towards evil. As a result, we miss our purpose, our destiny and because of this we have impure motives and thoughts and we do not (always) do the right things. This creates a debt to the Creator of life. That debt is so great and unbridgeable that a deep chasm has opened between people and God since the fall of Adam and Eve. Do you sometimes experience a void in your life? Do you ever think: “What am I actually living for?”

Those are good questions. At the same time, deep within us, a longing for restoration of the relationship with God can arise. Christmas is a celebration for those people in particular! The baby Jesus in the manger became the man God appointed to die for our guilt. The prophet John said when he saw Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

God sent his Son to earth, He became a little person like you and me. Only He never sinned. He showed who God is. God is Light. God gave His son for you and me to bear the punishment in our place for the guilt that naturally arises when you do not live in connection with God (John 3:16). So everyone needs Jesus. But you are free to choose. What do you do with his sacrifice for you? Are you grateful and glad that He did it for you or are you indifferent?

Your response determines your eternal destiny (Revelation 20:15). You choose where you want to be after your death. In a place with or without God. In a place with love, joy, courage, strength, etc. or in a place where there is loneliness, fear, darkness and emptiness. Of course I don’t want to scare you, but I do want to inform you. The packaging of fireworks also states that you should not hold them in your hands. This is not to scare you but to inform you.

We live in conflict with ourselves. On the one hand, we are born with a tendency towards the wrong thing. We want to be independent of God. On the other hand, there is a deep longing in every person for love, acceptance, friendship, and restoration of the relationship with God. Christmas becomes your celebration when you listen to that whispering voice inside you that says: “Come, get it right with God! Accept that Jesus Christ has atoned for your guilt and accept Him alive as your God.” If you do that, you will celebrate Christmas as it was meant to be. Just like that child in the manger, you are born spiritually from God! How is that possible? Easy! Simply and sincerely pray this prayer and God will do it:

Jesus Christ, thank you for dying on Calvary’s cross for me,
You have taken away my guilt.
I thank you for that with all my heart,
I want to belong to you, so forgive my guilt and accept me as your child,
Help me to become your follower, to do what is right in your eyes.
Amen.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Dick Bos
Search4Truth