What Does Christmas Mean During COVID-19?

Helen Man

How’s Christmas this year? Our Christmas used to be crowded and bustling with musical noise at shopping malls and streets. Not any more under COVID-19! No more Santa Clauses! People wearing masks rush to buy necessities and go home. Many others have canceled their traditional family Christmas gatherings. Melancholy has replaced merry Christmas!

COVID-19 has hit us hard! As of October 29, globally 45.2 million people have been confirmed and 1.18 million have died due to covid-19. In the U.S., we have 9.02 million confirmed cases and 229,000 deaths. Our economy has also dropped drastically. The unemployment rate was 12% in May but fortunately, Trump has tried hard to lower it to 8.4%. In addition, under the Trump administration, GDP has moved up to 33% which has beaten the rate of increase since 1947.

There are always two sides of a coin! Despite the terrible effects caused by COVID-19, we are forced to consider the briefness of life and what eternity means…

Here’s what Christmas means to us under the shade of COVID-19:

1. Since our ancestors sinned and abandoned God, we have been doomed to sink in sin. It started with Adam and Eve disobeying God. Then “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Our destiny is: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Yet our gracious God has prepared the plan of salvation for us by the birth of Christ through Virgin Mary.
2. God is trustworthy even though we are not. He has made promises or prophesies through prophets 700 years ago about the birth of Christ:
   1. Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” The word ‘Immanuel’ means God is with us.
   2. Isaiah 9:6-7 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”
   3. Micah 5:2-3 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.”
3. The birth of Christ shook the world!
   1. Luke 1:29-33 “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
   2. Luke 2:8-20 “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” …..So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. …The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”
   3. Matthew 2:3, 14-15, 18 “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him… When he (Joseph) arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” “A voice was heard … weeping, and great mourning, ..Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”     
4. The Son of God was humbly born in a manger which was accessible to all for worship and fellowship. Salvation is for all who are willing to accept Jesus Christ.
5. The Son of God showed his love by dying on the cross for our sins. John 1:12 “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
6. There’s only ONE way to heaven. Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Christmas comes every year but nobody can be sure about tomorrow, especially during COVID-19! Why don’t you find out who this Prince of Peace is during this COVID-Christmas time?

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