Christmas is more than just a holiday or tradition. At its heart, Christmas is about love; the love that our Heavenly Father has for all of us, writes Tamatoa Jonassen of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

A love so profound and deep that He sent Jesus Christ into this world to overcome physical and spiritual death, that we all might have true and lasting joy.

His birth was foretold by ancient prophets. In the middle east, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that “a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son” who is Jesus Christ (see Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 9:6).

The prophet Nephi also received a vision of the birth of Jesus Christ. In his vision an angel said “Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.” Then Nephi “looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms” whereupon the angel said “Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!” (See 1 Nephi 11:14-21).

The birth of Christ was so significant that holy men around the world prophesied His coming, that angels appeared and heralded His birth, and even a new star appeared in the night sky.

To greater understand how the birth of Christ represents the love of God, we can learn more about the God’s plan for us.

Before we were born, we were all spirits and lived with God in heaven; there was no physical death. These were positive things; however, we were innocent (having no knowledge of good and evil), and because we had no bodies we could not have children, nor the family relationships we now enjoy.

With the Fall of Adam and Eve, those positive things flipped to negative while the negative things flipped to positive. We now had the capacity to make moral decisions (knowledge of good and evil) and discern right and wrong (see Genesis 3:22), and we gained physical bodies and the power to have children. However, the problem was that we became subject to physical death, and spiritual death (no longer able to live with God in heaven).

Christ’s mission in His mortal ministry was to overcome the obstacles of physical death and spiritual death. With His resurrection, physical death is overcome and we will all be resurrected; our spirits will unite with a more perfect version of our bodies never to be separated again. With His Atonement, Christ has overcome spiritual death and provides a way for us so that we can return to live with God in heaven if we so choose.

While the Fall of Adam flipped the positives/negatives of our condition before the Fall, Jesus Christ flipped everything to positives. We retain our knowledge of good and evil. We can have children and be able to preserve our family relationships. Physical death is overcome and we will become immortal. Spiritual death is overcome and we can live again in God’s presence if we choose to follow Christ’s example and teachings.

Remembering the birth of Christ allows us to celebrate the important role that Jesus has in God’s plan and the significant impact on our progression to become more like our Heavenly Father. Jesus brings hope, and through Him we can overcome any challenge that we face.

With Christmas upon us, let us remember Christ and seek to honour Him by applying His teachings in our lives. We can feel closer to the Saviour and light the world through our selfless service by helping others. I pray that as we celebrate Christmas and share our light with others this season, we may all learn more about our Saviour and feel of God’s love, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Before the Fall	Fall of Adam and Eve	After the Atonement
+ No Physical Death	- Have Physical Death	+ Resurrection overcomes    Physical Death
+ God’s presence	- Not in God’s presence   (spiritual death)	+ Can return to live in    God’s presence
- No Children	+ Can have children	+ Can have children
- No Knowledge of Good & Evil	+ Have Knowledge of Good & Evil	+ Have Knowledge of Good & Evil