JESUS CHRIST THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD: THE REASON FOR THE CHRISTMAS SEASON Jesus Christ, The Savior of the World, is The Reason for the Christmas Season. The Christmas story in LUKE 2:8-11, gives a biblical account of one of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ, as follows: 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. (NKJV - emphasis mine). The Good Tidings or Good News of great joy to all the people is that a Savior is born, who is Jesus Christ. The Reason for the Joy of the Christmas Season is that a Savior is born. This is Good News of great joy to ALL THE PEOPLE because the Savior who is born is not a Savior of the followers of the Christian Religion, but HE IS THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. The Bible says in 1 JOHN 4:14, And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. (KJV - emphasis mine). We read also in JOHN 4:42, …..we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the CHRIST, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. (KJV - emphasis mine). Not only is Jesus Christ the Savior of the World, but He is also the only Savior. There is no Salvation in any other! The Bible clearly states this fact in ACTS 4:12, Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Why is Jesus Christ the only Savior of the World? Before we answer this question, we need to address another question: What is the meaning of the words save and Savior? The word save means to set free, rescue or deliver someone from harm, danger, injury, death, destruction or loss; hence the word Savior means one who sets free, rescues or delivers someone from harm, danger, injury, death, destruction or loss. We can understand more about the meaning of a Savior as we consider the Biblical story of Othniel, the first Judge of Israel, in JUDGES 3:7-11. In this passage, Othniel the son of Kenaz, is called a deliverer. The word deliverer here, means a savior. Othniel delivered or saved the erring children of Israel from eight years of terrible oppression by Cushan-Rishathaim the King of Mesopotamia. Cushan-Rishathaims name means Cushan of Double Wickedness. For eight solid years, the distressed Israelites were unable to do anything about their horrible hardship, they were totally helpless against the double wicked powerful King. Eventually, they resorted to crying out to the LORD for help, and the Lord raised up a DELIVERER (A SAVIOR) who DELIVERED (SAVED) them. Let us now read the story in JUDGES 3:7-11, So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. When the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, THE LORD RAISED UP A DELIVERER for the children of Israel, WHO DELIVERED THEM: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME UPON HIM, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. So the land had rest for forty years… (NKJV - emphasis mine). Othniel was a reflection of Jesus Christ to come. He was from the tribe of Judah. The name Othniel means the lion of God, reflecting Jesus Christ who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (REVELATION 5:5). Othniel did not possess the power to deliver Israel within himself. THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME UPON HIM and God delivered Israel through Othniel. Since the fall of Adam, we all (all the people of all generations in the world), like the children of Israel, have sinned and come short of the glory of God (ROMANS 3:23), for there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin (ECCLESIASTES 7:26). As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. We are all gone out of the way, we are together become unprofitable, there is none who does good, no, not one (ROMANS 3:10, 12). If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 JOHN 1:8). Sin and temptation have always been powerful over all the people in the world regardless of their religion. Sin, like the double wicked Cushan-Rishathaim has always been oppressing us. We have been totally helpless in resisting sin. We have been unable to do anything against it. No person on earth, however religious he or she may be, has ever been able to overcome the power of sin on his or her own ability. Consequently, we were all supposed to be doomed (PROVERBS 11:21). We were all bound to go to eternal torment in hell fire because of our sins (MATTHEW 25:41), for without Holiness no person whosoever can go to Heaven (HEBREWS 12:14). Because of this condition, we badly needed a Savior who would overcome the power of sin and set us free from sin and its consequences, just like Othniel who overcame the power of Cushan-Rishathaim and set the Israelites free. ONLY JESUS HAD THAT QUALIFICATION. Thats why He came to save us or set us free from our sins. IN FACT, THE NAME JESUS MEANS A SAVIOR WHO SAVES US OR SETS US FREE FROM OUR SINS, as clearly stated in MATTHEW 1:21, And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins. Unlike us, sin had no dominion or power over Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only person in the world who was born without a sin nature, and who lived a perfect and sinless life. No other human being has ever lived a sinless life except for Jesus. In Him there was no sin (1 JOHN 3:5). He knew no sin (2 CORINTHIANS 5:21). He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth (1 PETER 2:21-22). He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners (HEBREWS 7:26). He was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin (HEBREWS 4:15). He asked the people around Him, Which of you convicts Me of sin? Nobody convicted Him of sin (JOHN 8:46). After Jesus was falsely accused, the supreme Judge, Pontius Pilate, gave his verdict, I find no fault in Him at all. (JOHN 18:38). JESUS CHRIST CONQUERED AND DEFEATED SIN FOR US. He became the only qualified Savior of the whole sinful world. Ever since, Jesus Christ has saved billions of people and whoever He saves, He gives him or her the power to overcome sin. Sin has no dominion over a saved person (ROMANS 6:14). Jesus Christ saved Saul (later known as Paul) - 1 TIMOTHY 1:13-16; and gave him the power to overcome sin (1 THESSALONIANS 2:10). On April 6, 1980; He saved me also, and for more than 32 years now, sin has no dominion over me. My brother, my sister, ARE YOU SAVED? If your answer is Yes, Praise The LORD Jesus Christ our Savior, for our Salvation! If you are not yet saved, this is Good News of great joy to ALL PEOPLE: That a Savior is born, who is Jesus Christ, and He can save you NOW! For more details on how you can be saved NOW, please follow this link bishopzacharykakobe.org/en/the-greatest-miracle If Jesus saves you NOW, you will have a real good reason to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the World, Jesus Christ during this Christmas Season, because He will be YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOR! Say a great big AMEN to that! To our Spanish speaking fans we say to you, ¡Feliz Navidad! And to our French speaking fans, Joyeux Noël! to you all. To our Portuguese speaking fans, we say to you, Feliz Natal! And to the rest of our fans, we wish you a Merry, Merry Christmas everybody! To get more Christmas messages follow this link: bishopzacharykakobe.org/en/the-greatest-miracle/16-french/148-christmas
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 00:47:48 +0000
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