In less than a month from now, we will step into a whole new year: AD 2025.
Like me, you might have wondered at some point what the acronyms AD and BC have to do with our calendar system.
We then learned that AD is the abbreviation for the Latin phrase ‘Anno Domini’, meaning ‘in the year of the Lord’. So, if you like, we are now in the year of the Lord 2024.
Anno Domini has its roots in the story of Christmas, a holiday celebrated by Christians worldwide to commemorate the coming of the Creator of the heavens and the earth, in the person of Jesus, to the world we live in.
The Gospel of John tells us in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
There is no other person who has had a greater impact on world history than our Lord Jesus. Our calendar system takes its reference from His birth, dividing time into 'Before Christ' (BC) and 'Anno Domini' (AD). Yet, the Lord of human history did not come merely to split the timeline into two eras. He came to give us eternal life, so that we might truly live as human beings, according to God's original design.
It is a bit like the author Hans Christian Andersen entering the world of The Little Match Girl and providing the shelter that she needed, saving her from death and enabling her to live happily ever after. But more than that, saving us meant that Jesus had to present Himself as a sinless sacrifice for your sins and mine, so that we could live happily ever after.
Therefore, may Christmas always bring us to worship in every Anno Domini, and may we marvel at the sheer impact of this rescue plan that God has for you and me.
Blessed Christmas.
Rev Koh Chin Gay
Katong Presbyterian Church
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