25/12/2025
AMBASSADOR AYO AKINTAYO ON CHRISTMAS DAY - Part II
This is the heart of Christmas.
God did not send a messenger alone; He gave His very best - His Best Gift:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; that whomever believeth in Him will not perish but have everlasting life; For God did not send His Son to condemn the world but that the world, through Him might be saved. ..” (John 3:16-21).
Paul deepens this truth in Romans 8:32:
“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
Christmas, therefore, proclaims not only redemption but the generosity of God’s grace.
Isaiah had long declared this gift in our opening scripture:
“Unto us a son is given.” Yet this Son came in humility and obedience, fulfilling the prophecy:
“He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
At the cross, Christ revealed love in its highest expression:
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
The manger pointed to the cross, and the cross secured mankind’s redemption.
It is therefore no coincidence that Christmas has become a global celebration, transcending borders, cultures, and generations. This reality affirms Scripture:
“Unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess” (Isaiah 45:23).
The New Testament echoes the same truth—God has given Jesus “a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth and confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God, the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
Christmas, meanwhile, is more than a holiday; it is a proclamation. It announces that Jesus Christ is Lord and acknowledged in heaven, honoured on earth, and recognised beneath the earth.
Little wonder, then, that Christ is described as “the desire of all nations” (Haggai 2:7)