Oxford Professor John Lennox: Oxford University Carol Service (https://youtu.be/3SsNiJh1gKI)
"He so loved us that, for our sake, He was made a man in time, although through him all times were made. He was made who made man. He was created of a mother whom he created. He was held by hands that he formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy, He the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute." (Saint Augustine)
“Alexandrian writers placed considerable emphasis upon the idea of the Logos assuming human nature. The term ‘assuming’ is important; a distinction is drawn between the Logos ‘dwelling within humanity’ (as in the case of the Old Testament prophets), and the Logos taking human nature upon itself (as in the incarnation of the Son of God). Particular emphasis came to be placed upon John 1:14 (‘the word became flesh’) which came to embody the fundamental insights of the school, and the liturgical celebration of Christmas. To celebrate the birth of Christ was to celebrate the coming of the Logos to the world, and its taking human nature upon itself in order to redeem it.” (Theologian Alister McGrath)
“A God who was only holy would not have come down to us in Jesus Christ. He would have simply demanded that we pull ourselves together, that we be moral and holy enough to merit a relationship with him. A deity that was an ‘all‐accepting God of love’ would not have needed to come to Earth either. This God of the modern imagination would have just overlooked sin and evil and embraced us. Neither the God of moralism nor the God of relativism would have bothered with Christmas.” (Theologian Tim Keller)
"Jesus didn’t come into the world to give us only good words and profound examples of moral living. He came specifically to provide a rescue for every human heart, to rescue us from sin and spiritual death by paying the penalty we couldn’t afford to pay ourselves. In Jesus’s own words, he came into the world as God incarnate to offer himself as a ransom so that we can be saved (Mark 10:45). And because of Jesus’s payment and resurrection, our souls can feel their worth. Christmas is not just the birth of someone whose example helped humanity. It’s the birth of the One who saves humanity from itself. In a paradox of time, Easter’s hope gives rise to Christmas’s joy." (Juris Doctor & Scholar Abdu Murray)
"What are we celebrating at Christmas? What is the message of Christmas? It is the birth of the One who promised peace, joy and love. Try as we will, we cannot realize such values without acknowledging the point of reference for these absolutes: the very person of God and his gift to us of a changed heart and will. That message needs to be heard around our world that is reeling with problems and rife with hate. For we have proven we are not fit to be God." (Apologist Ravi Zacharias)
