"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11)
The tradition for December 25th is actually quite ancient. Hippolytus, in the second century A.D., argued that this was Christ's birthday. Meanwhile, in the eastern Church, January 6th was the date followed. But in the fourth century, John Chrysostom argued that December 25th was the correct date and from that day till now, most in the East, as well as the West, have observed the 25th of December as the official date of Christ's birth. Now, of course, we can't be absolutely certain of the day of Christ's birth. At least, not this side of heaven. But an early winter date seems as reasonable a guess as any. And December 25th has been the frontrunner for eighteen centuries.
The early church did not celebrate Christ's birth and therefore did not record it. To them it was an insignificant date. Early Christians were far more concerned with Jesus' death and His resurrection!
Shortly after the birth of the Messiah, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem and inquired of King Herod where the real king of the Jews was to be born. The magi believed the Scriptures. They had traveled several hundred miles to worship this Baby. They were guided to Bethlehem by a supernatural celestial phenomenon, and by the Scriptures. Apparently, their ancestors had been instructed by Daniel the prophet, about this coming Messiah. When they saw the child, they fell down and worshiped him. This was God in the flesh!
The wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11). Perhaps they had read Isaiah's prophecy that "And the Gentiles shall come to Thy Light, and kings to the brightness of Thy Rising... They shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD" (Isaiah 60:3,6).
Now myrrh, like frankincense, was a perfume. But unlike frankincense, myrrh smelled of death. In the ancient world, it was used to embalm a corpse. Jesus himself would be embalmed with this very perfume (John 19:39).
If the magi were thinking of Jesus' death when they brought the myrrh, they no doubt knew of it from Daniel's prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27). In the ninth chapter of Daniel we read that the Messiah would be "cut off" , that He will "make reconciliation for iniquity" and ultimately "bring in everlasting righteousness".
The next time you look at a nativity scene, try to smell the foul air, see the cold shivering animals that represented the Old Testament sacrificial system. They are emblems of death, but were just mere shadows of the child in their midst. Christ was born to die, so that all who believe in Him might live! Even at the birth of our Savior, the shadow of the cross was already falling over His face; or as John the Baptist would later say, "Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
Experience A Different Kind of Holiday This Year:
This Christmas, perhaps for the first time in your life, stop thinking about Jesus as that cute little kid. A baby lying in a manger is harmless, non-threatening. But a man dying on a cross, a man who claims to be God, that man is a threat! He demands our allegiance! We cannot ignore him. We must either accept Him or reject Him. He leaves us no middle ground. He was the sacrificial lamb used to atone for our sins. He is no longer still on the cross. He is the risen Son of God, and will soon return to earth as the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5) to rule all nations.
"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord..., For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)
This Christmas focus not on a new born baby, but on a mighty King over all the Earth, who thunders aloud:
"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." (Revelation 22:12-14)
One Nation Under God U.S.A. wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas!
Happy Birthday Jesus!
"And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God." (John 1:34)
STAND UP, STAND OUT, AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
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"Religion is the basis and foundation of government. We have staked the
whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government,
far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon
the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and
all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves
according to the Ten Commandments of God."
- President James Madison, "Father of the U.S. Constitution"
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