Home  »   Merry Christmas  »   Christmas Stories  »   The True Christmas

The True Christmas

By Virginia Brandt Berg

Some people cannot understand how God could have come down and been wrapped in human flesh, but He came. That isn’t strange to me. In fact it is quite easy for me to believe, because I see Jesus born in human hearts every day. He comes and lives in hearts and transforms lives, and to me that’s a great miracle—that He can be born in your heart and my heart and live there in our hearts, identifying Himself with us that way.

God’s Word says that Jesus shall be called “wonderful.” “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”1

Wonderful His name because He was wonderful in His life, going about everywhere doing good and healing all that were oppressed.2 Wonderful in His death; because He died for you and me, we can have eternal life.3 Wonderful in His resurrection; because He rose from the dead, we will also be res-urrected.4 And wonderful now in His life after death, because He lives to intercede for us.5

But it is not enough that Christ, the King of kings, was born in Bethlehem beneath the star that heralded His coming; He must be born within your heart before He finds His throne. Won’t you let Him come into your heart?

Perhaps you’ve seen the famous painting by William Holman Hunt in which Jesus is seen standing before a closed door, with a lantern in hand. It is said that some time after Hunt had finished what was to become his most famous work, someone came to him and told him that he’d made a mistake: There was no doorknob. “I didn’t make a mistake,” Hunt answered. “The door must be opened from the inside. The doorknob is on the inside.”

Jesus, the Savior, can never enter a door unless it is opened from the inside. God’s Word says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.”6 Receive Him this Christmas! He will transform your life. Welcome Him into your heart!

If you haven’t yet received God’s most wonderful gift, Jesus, you can right now by praying the following prayer:

Thank You, Jesus, for coming to our world and living like one of us, for suffering all the things that we go through so I could know my heavenly Father’s love. Thank You for dying for me, so I can be reconciled with Him and have eternal life in Heaven. I receive You as my Savior now. Please forgive me for all the wrongs I’ve ever committed, and help me to get to know and love You in a deep and personal way, so that my life may be filled with Your love. Amen.

1 Isaiah 9:6
2 Acts 10:38
3 Romans 6:23; 1 Peter 2:24
4 1 Corinthians 15:20–21
5 Hebrews 7:25
6 John 1:12