As we turn our calendars to the last month of the year, December, we are once again reminded of the advent of the birth of Jesus Christ. While no one knows exactly when Christ was born in Bethlehem, the date December 25th was selected by Constantine, the first “Christian” emperor of Rome in 336 A.D. As much as some people would like to discredit and even deny that Christ was born, we not only have the most original manuscripts of any ancient document in 25,000 copies of the New Testament writings, but also have the writings of others like Josephus, Ignatius, Clement, Papias and Polycarp who lived at the time of Christ (Josephus) or were contemporaries of the last Apostle, John before he died. The birth of Jesus Christ is as historical a fact as the birth of George Washington or any other famous person from the past and thus every person has the choice to of their opinion to believe of reject the claims of Jesus Christ, as revealed in scripture and history, but not to change the authenticity! To we who believe and whose lives have been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, we attest that our lives typify the Advent Candles that stand for Hope, Peace, Joy and Love! It was such a blessing the first Sunday of December in the Sunday School and Church teachings to be overwhelmed by the Hope that the birth of Jesus Christ provides! John 1:1,2 proclaims so succinctly – “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” The two words that are the key to understanding the Apostle John’s introduction of who Jesus Christ is are “beginning” and ‘Word.” Beginning in John 1:1 is the same word as beginning in Genesis 1:1 or that eon when God determined to create the heavens and the earth. The mystery of the Almighty is He has always existed and is the “I Am” without beginning and without ending. Next the ‘Word’ is referred to as “He” and we are told ‘He was with God’ and ‘He was God’ at the Creation! The Biblical Books of Genesis and John unveil the Triune Nature of God for Genesis 1:1 declares the existence of a Supreme Being and Creator , Gen. 1:2 reveals the existence of The Spirit of God, as the Holy Spirit is seen being present, Genesis 1:26 reads “Let Us make man” which speaks of a consensus of Beings and then John 1:2 tells that the One born at Bethlehem did not begin to exit in the manger but was the “The Word” or Logos who existed before His earthly appearance and preexisted at the Creation! Jesus Christ was indeed the GODMAN who stepped into time out of eternity as the Great Creator became our Savior and this is the foundation of our hope! Jesus is the Reason for the Season and Our Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Blood and Righteousness! To those who think they can destroy our Hope, Peter 1:3 declared it cannot happen for it is rooted in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead plus Peter 1:6 assures our Hope cannot fade away because it is reserved and guaranteed for us in and by heaven, where no power on earth or in hell can alter or diminish it! Indeed the candle of hope is still burning in 2013 and amid all the evil happenings and the attacks on Christ and Christmas, there is hope for whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord! Next week, God willing, we’ll take a look at the second Advent Candle and then the reason for our ‘Peace,’ followed by the other Advent Candles that signify ‘Joy’ and ‘Love.’
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 05:17:06 +0000
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