Category: Christmas

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Jesus Christ: The Son of Man and Son of God!

For August 16, 2020
In their futile attempt to disprove that Jesus Christ was both God and man, naysayers argue we cannot rely on what Jesus Christ did and still does for fallen humanity to redeem us. In short, we need more than Jesus Christ to earn God’s favor.

My reply is, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12 AKJV).

I trust the Lord and His leadership because He did not say He was one of many ways to God. Instead, He insisted that He was the only way to God,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6 AKJV).

Jesus Christ could make these bold assertions because He was the Son of God (God) and the Son of Man (human). He stated Abraham rejoiced to see His day and said, “before Abraham was, I AM.” He was the Seed of the Woman promised to Abraham, through whom the entire human race would greatly benefit (Genesis 3:15; 12:1–3).

Yet He was God’s Suffering Servant, who paid the price for our sins so that we can be forgiven and redeemed before God, as Isaiah foretells, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to His own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6 AKJV). As the Good Shepherd, His vicarious death imparts new, abundant life to His precious sheep just as He promised,

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 AKJV).

Our Lord’s simple mission and message was distinct from anything the world had seen or heard before,

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, He cannot see the kingdom of God…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (John 3:3, Matthew 22:37-40 AKJV).

Peter expounded on these new and radical ideals when He answered the naysayers of his day, “For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 AKJV).

Thus, in the final analysis, absolute safekeeping is ours through Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose for our Justification (Romans 4:25). By our faith in Him alone, we can understand and acknowledge Him as more than just a person who suffered a tragic death on a cross because we also know Him as our:

Advocate, Alpha and Omega, Bread of Life, Bridegroom, Christ, Deliverer, Faithful and True, Friend, Good Shepherd, Great God, Great Physician, High Priest, Immanuel, Intercessor, King of Glory, King of Kings, Lamb of God, Light of the World, Lion of Judah, Lord, Lover of Our Soul, Mighty God, Mediator, Messiah, Prince of Peace, Redeemer, Resurrection and Life, Righteous Judge, Rock and Fortress, Savior, True Prophet, The Truth, The Way, and The Word of God.

Having fulfilled His redemptive work as the Son of Man and Son of God, Jesus Christ is the only way we today can have our sins forgiven and have fellowship with God forever. Won’t you trust in Him today?

What a Wonderful Savior!

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Happy Birthday Jesus!

For December 25, 2019
We desire to be with loved ones on special occasions. This is especially true during the Holiday Season as reflected in a recent Transportation Security Administration (or TSA) report of record numbers of travelers during this past Thanksgiving Holiday. For instance, on December 1, 2019, more than 2.8 million travelers were screened at TSA checkpoints nationwide, marking its busiest day on record.1

Our Loving, Holy and Eternal God, who created the Heavens and the Earth, was deeply motivated by a yearning to restore the fellowship He Had with a fallen humanity—like He shared with Adam and Eve, our ancestors in the beginning.

We will never know the size of our universe since the more we explore the more galaxies we yet discover. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA reports that beyond our own galaxy lies billions of galaxies.2

Nevertheless, in the fullness of time, our Living God easily bridged this vast expanse so that He could demonstrate His matchless love for us in an unmistakable way about two thousand years ago. Luke 2:8-14 (NKJV) describes this event:

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Jesus’ birth facilitated a new human relationship paradigm between God and humanity based on His peace and goodwill. Here, all God’s promises concerning the forgiveness of sin, reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness that were directed towards His Chosen People (vis-à-vis the Jews) exclusively, as conveyed through the prophets, priests, the Holy Scriptures, and through sacred family traditions and customs were now available to all of us—men, women, boys, and girls everywhere—by faith.

In other words, all of us now have the opportunity to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and as Savior in order to receive the promise of abundant life in this world leading to eternal life with Him in the next as Philippians 2:5-11(NLT) attests:

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Either in this life or in the next, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God the Father. There is a far better outcome for us if it happens in this life out of our free will motivated by our love for Him. Then the result is eternal, loving fellowship. In the next life, the outcome is far more severe since it is by compulsion as we succumb to His omnipotence and invincibility before being relegated to spending eternity in a tormenting Hell.

Yes! We can celebrate the birth of this wonderful Baby Boy, Jesus Christ, on Christmas Day realizing His physical life began privately in a Bethlehem manger, but it will end publically on Calvary’s Cross.

Yet, when He rose from the dead, as our Redeemer, He won us back to God so that we could have fellowship with Him forever. What a Wonderful Savior!

 

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In Darkness, The Human Race Awaits

For December 15, 2019
Seven-hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Isaiah observed:

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.   Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV)

These prophetic words earmarked a new day for those of us who did not know the Covenant God of Israel. We droped in darkness—without God’s grace—doomed to spend an eternity separated from God’s eternal presence.

People in Jesus Christ’s day were unaware of and oblivious to His lowly birth in a Bethlehem manger. This was because the shepherds’ testimony of the Heavenly Host declaring: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14 NKJV), was not reported in the local news.

Just as the people did two-thousand years ago, today we see the tragic outcomes of sin in a world that seems to grow more and more deficient of consciousness and civility by the moment. Leaving us to wonder how people—even as young children—can perform violent acts and vicious murder.

We never consider how our sin produces evil acts, and that our sin is a byproduct of the fallen nature we’ve obtained at birth and that by nature, we demonstrate the following tendencies consistently:

    • We are proud, selfish, and dishonest in our interactions with others and God
    • We are disobedient, rebellious, and ungodly by nature
    • Since our reality is based on what we can empirically see, feel, touch, taste, and smell, we only understand those things that only “make sense” to us
    • We have a darkened mind that conjures up evil actions

Yet today in darkness, the human race awaits the grace of God, manifested in Jesus Christ, the Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, who reconciles us to God as Son of God, Lamb of God, and sin-less substitute before God.

Only through Jesus Christ, we can be redeemed recipients of God’s grace through faith. Now we can act differently from the world because:

    • Our sins are washed away and completely forgiven (no longer held captive by sin)
    • His Holy Spirit, living inside us produces holy fruit of noble character and conduct
    • His mind dominates out thinking influencing our Godly thoughts and speech

Because of this wonderful First Christmas Gift, we can be new creatures. God’s grace alters us drastically, so that we are no longer of this world as we conform to the moral and spiritual image of Jesus Christ.

As benefactor of God’s wonderful gift, Jesus makes us suitable to spend our present and future lives with the Lord and know Him as our God, Friend, and Keeper. What a Wonderful Savior!

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Happy Birthday Jesus!

For December 25, 2018
Observing Jesus Christ’s birthday on the 25th day of December is a controversial matter for some. Although critics cannot prove that our Lord was not born on this day, some of the more vocal critics tend to create an atmosphere that can ruin the celebration of many who embrace this occasion, as did the heavenly host of angels and shepherds some two thousand years ago as recorded in Luke 2:10-14 (KJV):

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!

Ultimately, the Enemy is responsible for the warfare against Jesus Christ. He will stop at nothing to discourage or distract us from honoring the Lord because there is no other name under Heaven given among men or women whereby we must be saved as Acts 4:12 declares. (Incidentally, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, the Virgin Birth, Jesus’ Resurrection, and His Second Coming are similarly scrutinized as well.)

To explain why the Bible is silent about a specific day when Jesus was born, some scholars suggest it was far more important for Bible authors to authenticate His birth—as the moment in history when God became human—than to record a specific day or time in history. In other words, it is more important to establish the fact that Jesus was born than to record its specific day of occurrence.

Everyone is entitled to express his or her opinion regarding the celebration of Christmas. Yet, I believe it is both permissible and proper to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (vis-à-vis Christmas) on December 25th because:

a) It is reasonable to expect climate and temperature variations during the winter months that would permit the outdoor pasturing mentioned in the Luke Chapter 2 Christmas Narrative, and

b) Both pagan and religious observances occur almost every day; we cannot rescind a person’s birthday because it falls on a specific observance. 1

In addition, observing Jesus’ birthday at Christmas continues to serve as a practical expression of our personal, sincere faith in God. Moreover, I believe we can and should reserve one day out of the year to observe the Lord’s birth. Why not Christmas Day?

I have chosen to honor our Lord by celebrating His birthday at Christmas, and as a result, this remains my favorite time of the year.

I am not alone. For I share the sentiments untold numbers of people around the world, who are grateful to God for His unspeakable gift to us as foretold in Isaiah 9:6 (KJV), some seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

I wish you a very, Merry Christmas. But most of all…Happy Birthday Jesus!

 

 

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Unseen Evidence

For October 8, 2018
The transition between adolescence and young adulthood can be especially difficult given its issues and challenges, exacerbated by the absence of  coping skills that generally accompany age and experience.

It has been rightly said “Hindsight is 20/20,” just as Proverbs 20:29 (NLT) reads: “The gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.”

Continue reading “Unseen Evidence”

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