THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTMAS: GOD’S HUMAN VISITATION ON EARTH TO SAVE MANKIND. Quite recently, on the 25th of December, 2013, last year, we celebrated a huge worldwide event across the globe. It’s called Christmas. This event is a Christian tradition. However, of late, much pagan or secular influence has interjected, infecting its essence, significance and meaning and celebration. The Christmas event commemorates the supposed birth day of Jesus the Christ. However, I did not post any messages about Christmas this year. I did this with deliberate intent. I had a legitimate reason for my behaviour and inaction. And behold, my anticipation was right, it came true. This particular year saw unprecedented criticisms, questions and arguments about the Christmas celebration event. These, overshadowed the significance and meaning of the event. Instead of focusing on the divine Person, Christ Jesus who is the essence of Christmas, and enjoying the event, many traditional celebrants rather turned their attention to argue for or against the accuracy of the date of the event. To this extent, some have revisited the old argument about the name, Christmas. They contend that the name Christmas is a combination, derived from a heathen thought. That, Christmas, Christ-Mass is a pagan name with its tradition. Therefore, they call on celebrants of Christmas to abandon or abolish the event and its celebration outright. Today, some secular Americans are in a serious advocate to changing the usual Christmas greeting and its response. They propose that the ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Merry Christmas to you too,’ be changed to a secular holiday greeting. To these, the greeting and response are offensive to them. Because Christ’s name is so obvious and evident with it. If they succeed with their intent, they will then rip off the significance and meaning of Christmas completely. Christmas will be without its Christ. And Christmas without Christ will be like any other holiday event. It will be without its historical essence and significance and meaning. There is this imaginary story I want to create and inform about a poisonous and fearsome snake that incidentally lost its head. A snake without a head is no more a poisonous and fearsome reptile but a living worm. The fate of this once scaly, harmful and fearful snake became the story of a pathetic, harmless and toothless reptile when it lost its head. So, these seek Christmas to be without Christ Jesus so that it becomes the story of the unfortunate snake that lost its head. Actually, celebrating a tradition should not be a bad thing but a good thing. There’s nothing wrong per se when we celebrate a tradition, only when it becomes traditionalism. That’s, when the tradition eclipses the essence, significance and meaning of a being on whose behalf we celebrate the event. At this moment in time, our problem becomes apparently huge with tradition. Why? Because tradition has now developed into traditionalism. It’s at this moment that tradition evolves into a fully fledged religion. Aristotle, an astounding worldly philosopher offers wisdom about tradition when it develops, bleeds into a religion in this way: “You’re what you repeatedly do.” The dilemma we quite often experience with traditionalism is that we usually lose focus on the meaning of the ‘real thing,’ and in our present situation, God. Instead we usually shift our attention and focus to the ceremonial and ritual aspects that are associated with the event. Lately, the Christmas event appears to lose its steam and meaning. Traditionalism appears to take over completely from the Christian tradition of Christmas. Therefore, its very significance appears to fade away. The celebration has become more secular rendering it no longer useful. Jesus is no longer significant. Neither is He the reason and purpose or His appearance on earth meaningful any more. Last year in particular, there were sharp criticisms, arguments or questions that were raised particularly by Christians about the Christmas event. Some of the questions that were raised against the event were genuine and quite reasonable. However, others were very feebly crafted. The suggestions that some offered to replace the event were not also helpful at all. The legitimate question or criticism about Christmas was that the 25th December may not be the accurate birth date of Jesus the Christ. As much as this question strongly appears legit the suggestions that these, those that raised them offered were not helpful. Some suggested that we fix Jesus’ birth date between the particular calendar times that suite the geographic and climatic description that the gospel narratives give. This is very broad and wide. We’re not well-informed about the accurate birth day of Christ Jesus in the Scriptures. We acknowledge that two wrongs do not and will never make up one right. And because we cannot certainly determine the actual birth date of Jesus then we better let the 25th December stand as the supposed day. However, our focus should be on who the Christ is and the meaning of His appearance on earth. We should also forget about its heathen derivation or connection. I want to ask you a personal question. It’s a crime to celebrate a birthday when you actually do not know the particular date that you were born? Will there be any consequence or penalty for committing such inadvertent crime? And in the case that you know about a person who may choose to celebrate a birth date which he’s unsure about it, will you cause his arrest by the police or stop him from doing so? Then, to your hearing, I that communicate with you now, I am him. And if you may choose to do nothing about me then you better stop the hullaballoo about Christmas because it’s the supposed birth date of the Christ. Christmas is the time when we celebrate the divine appearance, the birth of Jesus the Christ. God the Father sent His divine Son, Jesus to appear unto the world, to be racially born. His birth brought great joy to the world because of who He was and what He came to do on earth. He was the Creator God who appeared on earth to save his people when humanity sinned. To the above thought, the Scripture states about Jesus’ coming unto the earth in this way: “He came unto His own, and his own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (Jn. 1:11-13 NLT). Therefore, Christmas is the time when Christians and people all over the world celebrate the event and give thanks to God the Father. They celebrate this event in thanks to God the Father’s fulfilment of a divine birth promise to humanity by the Saviour God. Jesus came to the earth to eternally save humanity of sin. It’s a great moment of joy unto the entire world. It’s the time that God showed the entire humanity His agape and gracious love. The Scripture informs us about when man sinned in the Garden of Eden what God did immediately. God pronounced judgement on the sinner and her culprits. However, the good news is that God provided a way out to remedy the sin situation forever. Therefore, God the Father pronounced ahead of its time the coming of the Messiah Son who is also racially called Jesus to come and save the world of sin. Genesis chapter 3:15 begins the first major Messianic prophecy. This prophecy marked the Messiah Son’s coming to the world to save His own creation otherwise called mankind. It dates about four thousand years before the Messiah Son appeared on earth. It reads: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel” (Gen. 3:15 NIV). The second major Messianic prophecy that concerned Christ Jesus’ earth appearance is found in the book of Isaiah. It reads: “All right then, the Lord Himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a Child! She will give birth to a Son and will call Him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’) (Is. 7:14 NLT). And the third prophecy is also found in the same book of Isaiah. It follows in succession to its second. It reads: “For a Child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” (Is. 9:6-7 NLT). These, prophecies date back between 700-750 years before Christ Jesus appeared on earth. The last major Messianic prophecy related to His earth coming is found in the book of Micah. It dates back about five hundred years before the Christ manifested on earth to save His creation. This particular prophecy indicates the state or region and the tiny village of His birth. Micah states in this way: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past” (Mich5:2 NLT). Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. The book of Malachi is dubbed, ‘the silent period.’ It is the silent time period between the Old and the New Testament. During this time period, there was a silence break for prophecy about the Messiah Son’s divine visitation on earth. Therefore, during this silent time period, God the Father ceased to issue any further Messianic prophecies. These, those that had been previously issued were that which God the Father earmarked as the impossible-to-impersonate blueprint for Christ Jesus’ revelation and manifestation on earth in the gospel era. When the name Jesus is translated it means: God our Saviour or God our Salvation. True to the meaning of His name, the gospel of Matthew celebrates with joy when it announces the appearance to the earth of Christ Jesus’ birth in this way: “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.... “And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfil the Lord’s message through his prophet Isaiah: “Look! The virgin will conceive a Child! She will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” (Mt. 1:16, 21-23NLT). We note from the summary of the major prophecies that Jesus’ appearance on earth was not a random act. It was divinely orchestrated by God the Father. It was His perfect and gracious way to save His creation. Today in our Christian culture and age we tend to argue for reason and meaning for anything that we believe. However, the unfortunate thing is that today people tend not to seek knowledge, wisdom and counselling from God. They do not read the Scripture neither are they lead by the Holy Spirit. The majority of Christians do not read the Scriptures any longer. However, in the book of Acts the Bereans did differently before the Scripture labelled them as nobler than the Thessalonians. “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.” What then about the Scripture consideration, thought on our present discussion? (Acts 17:11 NLT). With deliberate intent, the all-knowing God hid the grave site of Moses from the Hebrew people. How much more about Jesus the Christ’s birth date on earth? Why did God hide the remains and grave site of Moses from the Hebrews? Scripture informs that the Hebrew people and religious devotees of our time would have made a religion out of Moses and worshipped him as a god. The gospel narratives, that’s Matthew, Mark, Luke and John depict Jesus differently even with the same story. But all agree that Christ Jesus is God who appeared in human flesh. The gospel of Matthew depicts Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and Prophet. Mark portrays Him as the Servant Lord. Luke depicts Him as the Universal Blessing Son for the entire world. However, overall, the Apostle John depicts Him as the God incarnate. Though, Christ Jesus is the ultimate and perfect Jewish Messiah, Prophet, High Priest, Teacher, Rabbi, miracle worker etc, overall He’s God. To this the Scripture substantiates and informs in this way: “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him” (Jn. 1:1-3 NLT). In the book of Romans the Scripture declares Christ Jesus as the God-Man in this tone: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen (Rm. 9:5 NLT). If Christ Jesus is God then He needs not have a beginning and ending. As such, we do not need to have a birth date for Christ Jesus. It’s the creation and humans that began with time. However, Christ Jesus is not a created being. He’s the God incarnate who manifested or appeared on earth for a cause. He is the begotten divine Son of the Father God. In a summary, Christ Jesus is the Creator of all. Therefore, as God, Christ Jesus has no beginning and ending. Hence, He’s the Alpha and the Omega. In the pre-existence, the dateless beginning, He existed together with the Father God and the Holy Spirit as the One and Oneness Trinity (Jn. 1:1; Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13). From the Scripture we learnt how God created and gave the earth as an inheritance to Adam and Eve, and thus to all mankind. Then, He instructed man as to what they could and could not do; those which will constitute sin and cause him separation from her Creator. Despite the Creator’s forewarning, man ignored His command and did what causes sin. Thereby, man sinned and separated himself from a relationship with God to herself eternal doom, heading towards hell. It’s upon mankind’s deliverance; release from sin and for his eternal salvation that Christ Jesus showed up on earth to save His own creation, all to eternity. God could not remain in heaven and save man. We save a victim where he is located. Because mankind was on the planet earth here God has to come down as a human to save His creation. The Scriptures says it all about the love of God for humanity. “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn. 15:13 NLT). The significance and meaning of Christmas is about the God-Man, Christ Jesus. It’s for His divine visitation unto the earth to come and save mankind that has culminated the idea of Christmas. Anything outside of this is a complete departure from the event and its celebration. It’s also irrelevant and insignificant to Christ Jesus’ divine visitation unto the world. Therefore, the Scripture in harmony testifies to Christ Jesus’ coming to the earth in this way: “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16 NLT). As the result of sin that separated man from a relationship with his Creator, he became a fugitive on earth. Mankind wondered aimless, fruitless in desperate attempt to navigate the ends of the world to locate, find and reach to his Maker for rescue, salvation. When mankind lost contact with God he began to represent Him in objects and idols more especially in law codes. Very soon, they invented, crafted a law-god, religion and saddled themselves with many burdensome laws to govern and observe as a god on behalf of the Creator and Saviour God. In the hope to reach God and for Him to save us, humanity turned to religion and its many law-gods to help and lead us to the Creator who alone is the human Maker. And how fruitless is the human attempt! Today, the Saviour God is standing at your heart’s door knocking and pleading with you intently: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Only if you will respond for His rescue, eternal salvation! (Rev. 3:20 NLT). Right now, Christ Jesus is standing at the entrance of you door. He’s at the entrance of our hearts and calling passionately to all His creation who are burdened and saddled by religion with its impossible-to-observe law codes. He calls on all to come to Him for His free gift, gracious redemption and eternal salvation: “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I AM humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Mt. 11:28-30 NLT). Jesus the Christ is the only Way of God’s eternal salvation. Religion is not God. It’s lifeless. Christ Jesus is the Creator and Saviour God. He who created all humans in His divine Sonship, Son of God’s image, likeness alone can forgive the sin of mankind. He alone being God also can create anew and give new perfect, holy and righteous birth, life to all who will put their faith and trust in Him for their eternal salvation (2 Cor. 5:17, Jn. 3:3-6). In conclusion, today, I plead earnestly with you as the Scripture admonishes you also to accept Christ Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour to avoid His wrath of eternal judgement that is soon coming to the world. As the gospel of John says, Jesus the Christ is the only Way of God that the Father God makes right with all His creation, people. To the above the Scripture states: “Jesus said to him, ‘I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you know Me, you will know My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him’” (Jn. 14:6-7 NLT). And in the book of Romans it offers about eternal salvation in this way: “That/because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” “For, ‘Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Will you do this today for your eternal salvation? And may the Lord God bless you! Amen. (Rm. 10:9, 13 NLT). I love you all even as Christ Jesus loves you dearly above. Please together we can all preach and spread the gospel of Christ to the ends of the world. You may invite others to follow us @ the addresses below the message. Pastor Kwame Ankoma-Amoa. Christ Jesus commands us all to preach the Good News to all peoples of the world. Together, we can do this. We surely need your prayers and faithful financial support to finance the broadcast. And may the Lord God bless you all! Amen. And this is the command of Jesus to us all: “Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I AM with you always, even to the end of the age’” (Mt. 28:18-20 NLT). Rev. Kwame Ankoma-Amoa. Follow us @ Face book Page: Global Gospel of Christ Ministries @ Face book: Timeline: Pastor Kwame Ankoma-Amoa @ Twitter: Rev. K. Ankoma-Amoa @ Website: ggcministries.org
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 05:47:44 +0000
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