If we were to sum up the true meaning of Christmas in one word, I think the word “Emmanuel” would be a strong candidate. Christmas is all about “God with us.” In the word Emmanuel, we discover the incredible love and sacrifice displayed by Christ in His incarnation.
According to what the Bible says in Philippians 2:5-8, before Jesus came to this earth He was in very nature God and lived in equality with God. There was no higher position in the universe. Yet consider what He did. The Bible says that He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing (Phil. 2:6). This could literally be translated that He “laid aside His privileges.” Christ surrendered His position in glory. He gave up His position in heaven with God for our sake. He emptied Himself and made Himself nothing – all for us. He took upon Him the very nature of a servant so that He could meet our need.
This attitude is counter-cultural. We live in a society filled with selfish people – just like us! We look after ourselves first. We make sure that we get what we think we deserve. We demand our rights. If we’re not selfish, we won’t get our share. This is how our culture thinks.
This is also why our culture is in so much trouble. The problem with this kind of thinking is that it is opposite of love. Love is what motivated Jesus to leave the glory of heaven. Love caused Him to look to our needs.
Paul tells us to have the same attitude as displayed as Christ. A good place to start is by following His example of selfless love.
