You don’t hear the word orphan much anymore, but there are plenty of children in the world who don’t have homes. The Bible teaches us that by nature we are spiritual orphans. We are cut off from God, hostile to God’s Word and ways, and doomed to die physically and eternally, unable to save others and unable even to save ourselves. Only a bleak, lonely, painful eternity lay ahead.

What if Christmas had never happened? We would have stayed in that miserable twilight zone. But the fullness of time did come; God sent his Son; the One who was eternally begotten of a Father without a Mother became the son of a mother without a father.

What you do with the Christmas story will determine your eternity. Your attitude toward Jesus means life or death: “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Think of it—as you believe what the Bible says about Jesus, you receive the ultimate Christmas gift—you become a member of God’s family. You become a child of God. The Christmas baby becomes your Brother; his Father is now your Father.

God now obligates himself to do for you what all good fathers do for their children: provide security, daily provisions, and life guidance. When you pray to him, you don’t have to beg like a panhandler or argue like a lawyer. You can ask like a member of the family.

Which, of course, you are. Because of Christmas.