According to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, the Christmas holiday serves as a reminder of God’s grace, and the birth of Jesus Christ marks the start of a new covenant based on God’s kindness.
He spoke when newsmen approached him for a conversation following the Christmas Service at the Aso Villa Chapel in Abuja today.
The Vice President preached at a hybrid service that was both physically and virtually attended by his wife, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, key government officials, and others.
The Vice President, who is also a pastor, said in a statement to State House Correspondents that his message to Nigeria is “the message of Christmas, which is the birth of the new covenant, the birth of grace. We commemorate God’s mercy and grace today.
Osinbajo said, “The birth of Jesus Christ is the birth of God’s grace. God promised that as soon as Christ was born, He would not hold us responsible for our sins as long as we trusted in what He accomplished through the death of His Son.
“Before we had to pay for our sins and we had to bear the consequence of sin. We would always continue to sin, but with the coming of the Lord Jesus, He has come to replace us and substitute all our unrighteousness and replace it with His own righteousness, as long as we believe in him.”
The distinction between the old covenant, which was based on performance and fulfilling the law of sin and death, and the new covenant, which is founded on the grace of God through the death of Jesus, was highlighted earlier in Prof. Osinbajo’s sermon during the church service.
The Vice President stated, quoting Luke 2:4–17, that “the birth of Jesus brought about the new covenant since mankind couldn’t fulfil the previous covenant and fell short every time.
“God knew the old covenant didn’t work and then introduced the new covenant in the form of Jesus who came to fulfil the law.” The Vice President added that “what is required for the new covenant is that we believe in Jesus.”
The Aso Villa Chapel’s annual Christmas Service included a celebration, singing, dancing, and a bible study led by the chaplain, Pastor Joseph Oluseyi Malomo.