Christmas: The Manifest Love of God the Father

Introduction

Christmas is not first a date on the calendar. It is an event that runs through the whole of human history. In his message on December 21, 2025, Pastor Malu BIALUTA reminded the ICC Montreal assembly of something simple: on the day Jesus was born, we were in him. It is not only his birthday. It is also yours.

Some will tell you that Jesus was not born on December 25. According to the Jewish calendar, his birth can actually be placed closer to the month of April. But while the whole world stops that day to cheapen the meaning of Christmas, the Church stops on the very same day to correct course, to remind everyone what the celebration really means: Christmas is the manifest love of God the Father.

In this article, you will follow the thread of the message. Adam's fall and its consequences. The promise kept after 4000 years. The incarnation, where Jesus emptied himself to come and find you. The two groups to whom God first revealed his Son. And the question that remains open: what will you bring him?

The Outline of the Message

1. A New Race Was Born at Christmas

On earth, there are two races. There are the Adams, and there are the Christs. You who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior belong to the race of Christ.

Jesus was not born from the seed of a man. He was born of the Holy Spirit, and he came to inaugurate a new race. That is why the message is called "Christmas, the manifest love of God the Father." The pastor insists: we, the Christs, are the only ones who have God as Father. Only those who have the Holy Spirit within them can call him that.

The base text is 1 John 4:7-9. "Let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." Being born of God is not just having said the sinner's prayer. It is being indwelt by love. And above all, it is showing it.

2. Adam's Fall and Its Shockwave

To understand why Christmas was necessary, we have to go back to Genesis 3. God pronounces his sentence on the woman, then on the man. The ground is cursed because of Adam. Suffering, thorns, sweat, and finally death enter the world.

God had not created man to die. Man was meant to live forever on the earth. Death arrived with sin. Romans 5:12 confirms it: through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men.

When Adam sinned, he was not alone. All of humanity was in him. That is why this principle continues to this day. There are things you do one day, and later you see your child repeat them without you ever having taught them anything. They were in you when you did those things.

The consequences reached all the way to creation itself. Nature became hostile. The lion, which had been under man's authority, became his predator. Suffering and death became unavoidable realities. No one in humanity can say that they do not suffer.

3. The Promise Kept After 4000 Years

But God did not leave humanity without an answer. Already in Genesis 3:15, he announces to the serpent: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

This promise was spoken 4000 years before it was fulfilled in Jesus. The pastor draws this lesson: if God kept a promise for 4000 years, the word he gave you at the beginning of the year, he will fulfill it too. Even if you only have ten days left, ten days are enough. Jesus stayed three days in the tomb before rising. Ten days are enough to bring back to life what seemed dead.

Habakkuk 2:2-3 gives us the attitude to have: "Write the vision; make it plain." Keep a notebook by your bed, or use your phone. At the end of the year, compare what God told you with what you experienced. The vision moves toward its fulfillment, it will not lie. If it delays, wait for it.

In the spiritual realm, things are not conjugated the way they are in the material world. There is no present, past, or future tense. There is only the present of eternity. God does not say "I was" or "I will be." He says "I am." What God has announced, even if you have not yet seen it, is already done.

4. The Incarnation: Jesus Emptied Himself for You

Hebrews 10:5-7 puts these words in the mouth of Christ as he comes into the world: "You have not desired sacrifice and offering, but a body have you prepared for me. Then I said, Behold, I have come, in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, O God."

Jesus was equal to God. Omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, unchanging. He surveyed the universe with a single glance. He governed millions of galaxies. And he set aside all that glory to come find you. He made himself a servant, he took on the human condition, he submitted himself to the leading of the Spirit. The human mind cannot even begin to measure the level of glory in which he lived before.

Jesus was not a head of state. The kings of this world have no real glory. He made himself the mediator between God and us, to say to the Father: the cause of these children cannot be left as it is.

Do not treat the birth of Jesus as something ordinary. It is an entire work that comes to restore humanity, that comes to pull us out of the fatality of sin.

5. Two Responses to Christmas: The Wise Men and the Shepherds

In Matthew 2:1-11, wise men come from the East. They are foreigners, people of high standing, sometimes regarded as even above kings because of their level of insight. They ask Herod: "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?" They do not ask where the prince was born. They say "king." Herod understood that very well, and it troubled him.

The wise men traveled for about six months to come and bow down. They fell down, they worshiped, they opened their treasures. They laid down their gold, their frankincense, their myrrh.

In Luke 2:8-14, angels appear to shepherds, not to kings. Shepherds were looked down on in society. They were nomadic, poor. It is to them that the angel announces: "Unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." To the wise men, God reveals himself as king. To the shepherds, he reveals himself as savior.

This is what is called the universality of the revelation of Christ. Everyone has a place in the heart of God. Whether you are highly placed or looked down on, there is a path for you all the way to the manger.

6. Peace with God, the Peace of God

The song of the angels has stayed in our memory: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased." It is no small thing that this song was given to the shepherds, to those who think of themselves as limited.

There are two dimensions of peace. Peace with God, which is a state. And the peace of God, which is an action. Romans 5:1: "Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Every time you sanctify yourself, you walk in that peace.

But we need to go further. Colossians 3:15: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." The peace of God is the one that keeps you moving forward in the middle of trials, like David walking through the valley of the shadow of death without fear. It is this peace that protects the faith you have in the promises.

7. A Year of Attachment, a Lesson in Gratitude

The pastor reminded the assembly that they had reached the second-to-last Sunday of a year declared the "year of attachment." The Lord washed, purified, brought back to the first love, pulled out of routine and covetousness. He taught his people not only to come and ask, but also to share in the sufferings. To accept criticism, abandonment, being set apart by others, for his sake.

Do not take it for granted that you made it this far. Many people have been through accidents, difficult situations. The simple fact of still being alive is reason for thanksgiving. Do not grow too familiar with the miracle of the incarnation. Do not grow too familiar with the kindness of God.

8. What Do You Have to Bring Him?

The wise men brought their treasure. The shepherds, who had nothing material, told their story and praised God. And you, what do you have to lay at the feet of Jesus this morning?

The first thing to give him is your heart. Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." There is always a portion of your heart still left to hand over. No one has fully arrived.

For some, this means welcoming Jesus for the first time. For others, who have known him for a long time, it means giving him back the place of honor. Christmas is also committing to live for the Lord, to do his will.

Key Takeaways

• Christmas is the manifest love of God the Father. We, the Christs, are the only ones who can call him Father.
• Adam's fall brought sin and death into the world. All of humanity was in him.
• The promise of Genesis 3:15 was fulfilled 4000 years later. What God has announced, he fulfills.
• In the spiritual realm, there is only the present: "I am." What God has said is already done.
• Jesus emptied himself of an inconceivable glory to come and become mediator between the Father and you.
• To the highly placed, he reveals himself as King. To the lowly, as Savior. No one is excluded.
• There is peace with God (a state) and the peace of God (an action that keeps you standing through storms).
• The first thing to lay at the feet of Jesus is your heart.

Personal Application

Take a moment this week to do three concrete things:

1. Write it down. Go back to what God told you at the beginning of the year. What he announced through preaching, through personal reading, through a brother's word. Write it down. Compare it to what you have experienced. What remains unfulfilled is not dead: it is on its way.
2. Give thanks. Do not treat it as ordinary that you are still here. Make a list of accidents avoided, illnesses healed, doors opened, relationships restored. Give thanks without rushing to the next thing.
3. Hand over a portion. Identify what still remains in your heart that you have not yet given to Jesus: a bitterness, a covetous desire, a habit, a rejection. Name it, renounce it, and invite him to take his seat there.

Verses Quoted

• 1 John 4:7-9 · Let us love one another, for love is from God.
• Genesis 3:14-19 · The sentence, and the first promise of a victor.
• Romans 5:12 · Through one man sin entered the world.
• Romans 5:1 · Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God.
• Habakkuk 2:2-3 · Write the vision; make it plain.
• Exodus 3:9 · The cry of the people of Israel has come to me.
• Hebrews 10:5-7 · A body have you prepared for me.
• Matthew 2:1-11 · The visit of the wise men.
• Luke 2:8-14 · The announcement to the shepherds.
• Colossians 3:15 · Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
• Revelation 3:20 · Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

FAQ

Was Jesus really born on December 25?

No, probably not. According to the Jewish calendar, his birth can more likely be placed around the month of April. That is not the essential point. What matters is that while the whole world stops that day to cheapen the meaning of Christmas, the Church stops at the very same moment to remind everyone what the celebration really means: the manifest love of God the Father.

Why speak of "God the Father" rather than simply "God"?

Because other religions also claim to speak of God. But only those who have received Jesus and who have the Holy Spirit within them can call him Father. Christmas is the manifestation of the love of that Father, not of some anonymous deity.

What difference does it make to be "of the race of Christ"?

It means that the death and the fatality that weigh on the descendants of Adam no longer have the last word over your life. You are called to display the character of God, to bear the fruit of the Spirit, and to already live out eternal life. This is not just a theological position, it is an identity that changes the way you go through trials.

How can I know whether the promise God made me will come to pass?

Write it down. Engrave it on your heart, as Habakkuk 2:2 says. Compare it to the Word. Wait for it. The vision moves toward its fulfillment and will not lie. God kept a promise for 4000 years before fulfilling it in Jesus, he is not going to forget yours. Keep walking in sanctification to keep your heart intact.

I have known Jesus for years. Does this message really apply to me?

Yes. Jesus' hand remains extended, not only to give eternal life, but to let you live out the life of God on earth every day. There is always some portion of your heart you have not yet handed over. Christmas is also about giving him back the place of honor, not just first place.