Ang pasko ay may mga kahulugan na kelangan natin maunawaan. One of these is that God loves you! In Luke 2:10 NIV the angel’s first words to the shepherds in Bethlehem was:

“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

This is the reason why Christmas is time to celebrate because of this great news: God loves you. Despite your imperfections, yet He still loves you. Saint John quoted that well-known verse which stated in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Ito din ang dahilan kung bakit ang Diyos na si Hesus ay bumaba sa lupa upang makilala natin Siya, magtiwala sa Kanya at mahalin Siya.

I saw a James Bond movie where his boss just talked over in an unknown location and telling James what his missions are. I could not see who was talking. It’s like a show in ‘Deal or No Deal’ where you hear the voice of “the banker” but you don’t who he is and where he is.

Why do I say this? Because God did not send a representative, He sent His own Son Jesus to be like one of us. How magnificent it is! He did not send ‘James Bond’ but instead the Boss of James Bond came down to know us so we believe in Him and love Him back.  He came Himself in a human form so He can communicate with us. Imagine this, if you as a human will speak to an ant and you wanted to say not to go out there because there is a fire which can burn, you may try to use your hand to stop the ant. But what will the ant do, because it doesn’t understand you, it may only climb up or detour away because no relay of proper information. This is what Jesus did. He had to human because He wanted to communicate with humans.

In Jeremiah 1:5 NET it said: “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you…” And in Psalms 139:4 NLT it said: “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous–how well I know it.” God created you to love you.

When God spoke about death upon Adam and Eve’s disobedience, God did not just told them to leave the Garden of Eden. He clothed their nakedness. Ganyan tayo kamahal ng Diyos. Kahit nagkasala at nagkamali na tayo, pero hindi Niya hinayaan na tayo ay hubad. He still shows love. He loved us so much that God has to figure out how death can be triggered.

Have you ever heard of that parent who made a prayer: ” Lord, ako na lang po ang mahirapan, wag na lang po ang anak ko. Ako na lang po ang kuhanin ninyo, wag na lang po anak ko.” This is what happened when God has to find a way to ensure that He said must happened. He cannot be a true God if what He said will not happen. He promised death upon disobedience, so someone must die!

In Romans 6:23 NIV “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God, out of love has to suffer death because we could not do it for us.

There was a guy who spoke to his friend who is a judge in their town. Sabi niya: “Friend, na ticketan ako. Pwede mo ba ayusin ‘to?” Sabi ng Judge, “ok, aayusin ko ito.” Nagkita ulet sila after few weeks and the guy said: “Friend, thank you for dismissing my ticket.” The Judge said, “I did not dismiss it.” The guy was puzzled: “I thought you said you will take care of it.” The Judge said: “Yes, I did take care of it. I paid for it.”

The guy said: “I don’t want you to pay for it. I thought you are going to do your ‘judge thing’ you know!”

The Judge said: “Were you guilty?”  The guy said: “Yes I was.” The Judge then replied: “Then justice demand it, that penalty be paid. If I am a righteous judge, I cannot dismiss it. The penalty has to be paid.”

In the same way, because God is a righteous Judge, He cannot just dismiss our sins. He paid it Himself. God paid the price for our sins. On the cross, Jesus was demonstrating: “these are your sins that you must pay for but I am paying it for you. I love you so much.”

God is love and it is His nature. I like that song ‘Who Am I?‘ of the Casting Crown:

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth, Would care to know my name, Would care to feel my hurt? Who am I, that the bright and morning star, Would choose to light the way, For my ever wandering heart?

Not because of who I am, But because of what you’ve done,  Not because of what I’ve done, But because of who you are

I am a flower quickly fading, Here today and gone tomorrow, A wave tossed in the ocean, A vapor in the wind, Still you hear me when I’m calling, Lord, you catch me when I’m falling
And you’ve told me who I am, I am yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin, Would look on me with love, And watch me rise again? Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea, Would call out through the rain, And calm the storm in me?

The Bible says in Ephesians 3:19-21: “Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.”

The name “Emmanuel” means ‘God is with us.’ He came to be with us so Jesus came down to show us the right way of how to make God happy and what pleases Him. He taught us how to love, to forgive and to care for others. He then died on the cross to pay for our sins and came back to life to prove that He is God.

When the Roman soldiers nailed Christ to a cross, Jesus stretched His arms and said: “I love you so much that rather die to have you back than to live without you.” The next time you feel unloved or abandoned by people, remember Jesus up there on the cross with open arms: “I love you this much.”

That is the good news: He died so we live.