Merry Christmas,
It is a phrase that causes many different feelings for us, among them a remembrance of those gone before us, of warm hearths, or an empty chair at our dining table. It is a busy time with much effort spent to bring forth a few hours of bliss.
It is a time for family sharing, a few days off work, of gleaming and colorful lights, gifts and for kids, a time of some strange fellow that lives in the North Pole that dashes around the world leaving surprise gifts for those that have earned his attention with good behavior.
For some, it is a time for a church service and well sung hymns that speak of a fellow named Jesus. He brought into our world one gift for us all if we choose to pay attention to the stories found in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, from the beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible. We simply need to accept God’s invitation to us made clear through Jesus.
In his time, he brought with him a message to us that was very foreign, a bit of a shock and one that was contrary to all that we had considered or understood in our lives. Before his arrival we thought that to be in good stead with God, the Almighty Creator of our world, that we had to live by the law, his law, the ten commandments delivered to us through Moses. It was further taught by Abraham and was one that caused us to strive with good works daily to keep our relationship with God.
We knew that we could never keep that law and were frustrated and frightened that we could never do enough to achieve his favor. The religious leaders of the Jews in that area had entrenched themselves in the teaching of the old testament and were generally quite happy to continue their teachings of that old testament declaring that we had to continue our strife trying to satisfy God while we also allowed those leaders to keep hold of their power over us and thus keep their place of respect, power and wealth in that society. They, those religious leaders felt threatened with the new message of God to us, delivered by this man named Jesus. God knew that we could not keep the law and now we find that law to be a precursor to God’s real plan for us.
Jesus simply changed the topics of these teachings and unnerved those in religious power, disturbed the political power of the time and seemingly challenged the Romans for their power, at least in their minds. It was a new page in the Bible and a new beginning for all that might follow Jesus some years after his birth.
Christmas is a time to celebrate these new pages to be seen in the New Testament of the Bible and is most importantly the moment God offered us a lifeline to him through his son Jesus. They, God, Jesus and the Holy spirit were and are the manifestation of one God, in the flesh that for a time lived with us on this Earth and that event, changed everything for us in this world.
Christmas is the day that we celebrate the arrival of Jesus, a manifestation of God in the flesh on Earth where Jesus has taken our sins upon himself so that we will know forgiveness through him, our liaison to God….. Many of us do not know that this event is disclosed in Genesis, and prophesied in many other places in the old testament. Today is the celebration of that prophesy completed and of salvation for us all that believe. It is that simple.
It is a wonderful day. Merry Christmas
TPP
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