“I bring you good news of great joy…. A Savior has been born.” Think of what the angel’s statement means. If you believe you are basically a decent person—not perfect, but good enough—you can still enjoy the carols and appreciate the pretty lights. You can still relish giving presents and gathering with family. But you will not have “great joy” this Christmas. For the angel said that the “good news of great joy” was the fact that “a Savior has been born.” One cannot truly celebrate Christmas unless one believes he needs salvation.

Let us then use this night to acknowledge that we aren’t good enough people in God’s eyes. Sin lives in our hearts and permeates our lives. We need to be saved—from the guilt of that sin, from the power of the devil, and from eternal death. So, Jesus came to do just that—save us. So great was his love for us, he left the throne of heaven, crawled into a manger, and would not stop until he reached the cross. Oh, come let us adore him!