You ask, my child, why do we celebrate? Why should we be joyful, and why is there good cheer? Sit, and listen well, and I will tell you the greatest love story ever told. This story begins long ago, before the child, the manger, and the star. Those are what we celebrate, but they are the realization of a hope that began centuries before…

Long ago, before the world began, there was simply the Creator. He had no beginning, and no end. He was not, however, alone. He had his Son and his Spirit. They were not three beings, but three aspects of one. Because of this, the Creator was filled with the joy of giving and loving his Son and Spirit, and they him. They glorified and served one another, and they were complete.

But because the Creator, his Son and his Spirit loved each other so much, they wanted to share that love with more than just themselves. And so the Creator began creating. He made the heavens and earth, the sea, land, and all the creatures in them. He filled it with beauty and perfection, and it was good.

The beasts of water, earth, and air were wonderful, but they were not like the Creator. He wanted beings to fellowship with him in love and glory. He wanted a family. And so he made children in his image, mini-creators, full of potential and free to realize it. To achieve their full glory, his children needed to live as the Creator had made them to live, learning, growing, and maturing in fellowship with their Creator who loved them as he loved his Son and Spirit.

But because he made his children like him–with free will–they could just as easily choose to disobey, impatient, grasping at their glory before they had matured into it. And this they did. The children chose not to obey, but instead tried to become gods themselves, on their own time and apart from their father, the Creator.

Heartbroken, the Creator had to cast his children from his presence–for the Creator was perfect, and any sin or imperfection in his presence was burned to nothingness in his glory. For his children’s own safety, they were banished from that glory, and the potential for perfection was corrupted by the choice to disobey. His children had fallen, and were doomed to a life in a fallen world, suffering the painful consequences of free-willed beings choosing to be selfish, greedy, hateful, prideful, and much more.

But the Creator did not leave his precious creation without hope. Sin had to be destroyed, put to death. But the Creator made it such that a perfect sacrifice could redeem and wash clean all sin, for those who accepted its grace. Because he loved his children, the Creator promised that one day, he would send his own, beloved Son to earth. His Son would be born a lowly man, live as a man, suffer as a man, yet still be a perfect part of the Creator. He would be executed, innocent, yet bearing the sin of the world. Because he was the perfect sacrifice, he was able to suffer the death his children deserved, and provide a way back to fellowship with the Creator.

That, my child, is why we celebrate his birth. We celebrate the day the Creator’s love took form, and was born on earth, humbling himself to be one of us, so that he could die and bring us back into his family. It is the hope we waited thousands of years for. It is the hope of life, the hope of redemption, the hope of the world. Now, go to sleep. You won’t really understand this miracle now, you may never. Conflicting stories will be told. This story will be mocked by many. But if you truly seek, you will find. Maybe one day, you can tell your own children this love story, and why we celebrate this day: Christmas.