Dec
7
Written by:
HeartlandBaptist
12/7/2011 2:47 PM
I’ll give America one thing, that being, that we celebrate Christmas like nobody in history. Our entire society, except for a few scrooges, enjoys the season of gift giving and decorations, a joyful atmosphere and some Christmas cheer, time with family and friends and hopefully an appreciation of the Christmas account.
Now before I get emails from the scoffers, yes, I realize that December 25th is most likely not the exact day that Jesus was born and yes, I realize that not everyone that enjoys Christmas practices the Christian faith but we don’t have to know the date that Christ was born to know Christ was born. And I’m simply not bothered at all that everyone celebrates this religious holiday in one way or another, no more than I’m bothered that people come to church on Easter that don’t go the rest of the year. In fact, I look at Christmas as the world’s largest evangelistic activity. For it puts the birth of Christ on the calendar for us to enjoy, Christian or not.
But under all the tinsel and bows, sometimes even behind the parties and get-togethers, there are some very important and wonderful things about the Christmas account. And if you’re willing to read on, this Bible believing pastor would love to share a few with you.
First, according to the Christians Scriptures, the birth of Christ was no accident. If you believe the Bible, Galatians 4:4 says that Christ was born “when the fullness of time was come”, meaning that the event was part of God’s plan. Among other passages, the book of Daniel, written some 500 years before Christ from Babylon, stated when the Messiah would come and Christ was born in exactly that year. This will help you understand why the wise men from the east (Babylon) came looking, for they had evidently read the book of Daniel and knew it was time.
Second, the birth of Christ was a fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies. Now I realize that skeptics say the passages that gave details were written after the fact, but that’s always what skeptics say, that is until the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, proving that prophetic passages about the birth of Christ were indeed written before Christ was born. I’ve seen the passages from Isaiah with my own eyes when I visited the Dead Sea Scroll Museum in Israel.
Third, the birth of Christ was like no other, that is, if you believe in the Virgin Birth. Christians believe that Mary had been with no man and that while she gave Jesus His human body, that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God and that He was God in the flesh. Understand that Christians don’t believe that God the Father and God the Spirit have bodies but that because of the Virgin birth, Jesus did, thus allowing him to not only understand what we go through but also allowing him to be a substitute for us on the cross as a man. Those that believe in the Virgin Birth also understand that this is how Jesus was not born a sinner for the Christian Scriptures state that sin is passed on by the man.
Well, I hope you enjoyed learning a little theology this Christmas season, and truly do pray that you have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Rev. R. A. Abell
Senior Pastor
Heartland Baptist Church