10 things you need to know about Christmas
1914 Santa Claus in japan (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) 1. Jesus is the reason for the season. The primary purpose for observing Christmas is remembering Jesus’s birth. At Christmas, we celebrate Jesus’s birthday, not the little drummer boy or Santa Claus ! 2. Jesus preexisted with God in the beginning before the world began. Jesus’s birth as a baby in a Bethlehem manger doesn’t mark the beginning of his existence. Rather, as John’s Gospel teaches explicitly ( John 1:1 , 14) and the other Gospels imply, Jesus took on human flesh in addition to existing eternally as part of the Godhead. 3. Jesus’s birth was the culmination of centuries of messianic expectations. Jesus’s coming occurred in fulfillment of messianic expectations including his birthplace, virgin birth, and other details surrounding his advent. Later, during his earthly ministry and particularly in his death on the cross, Jesus fulfilled many more messianic patterns and predictions. 4. We should distinguish between