Jesus Christ Is Born!

[dave c]

A HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #121, Re-Written 25DEC07 http://groups.msn.com/AHealingShelter/welcome.msnw

Jesus Christ Is Born!

by dave c

We can mean so many things when we say, “Merry Christmas.” It’s a seasonal salutation (“Hey, how are you today?”). It’s a proclamation (“Aren’t the Holidays wonderful?”). It can even be just a habit of social convention (“Thank you...have a nice day”). Mostly, though, I think we say, “Merry Christmas!” to each other as a blessing...as a desire to share the really good things of this life with our family, with our friends, and with our neighbors. This time of year is also marked with an especial interest in the welfare of strangers, those whom we don’t know, but who may have particular material, emotional, or spiritual needs. For all of the commercialization, for all of the confusion about the so called ‘separation of church and state,’ and for all the temptations to go down paths of self indulgence —“Merry Christmas!” is still an expression of our unquenchable desire for peace on earth and goodwill to all. It is an eye to eye, and smile to smile acknowledgement of affection and joy. It is a softly spoken phrase that says, “I love you.” It is the public declaration of what we know in the very fiber of our being to be true—there is Hope that springs eternal.

This is the message of the angels that appeared to poor shepherds that first Christmas night, Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord (Lu 2:11, NIV). Theirs is the message of Good News for all of mankind throughout all of history. Hope has been born into this world. God has come in the flesh and has been given a name. Our Savior is a baby held in the arms of His virgin mother. Jesus Christ is born!

There is so much to be grasped in that simple sentence. Jesus Christ is born! Jesus—Joshua (or, yshuw`ah); that is, Yahweh is salvation—a name given to Mary’s baby by God, Himself, through the angelic messenger, Gabriel. Christ—Christos, which is Greek for the Hebrew, mashiyach, that is, Messiah. Messiah is not a name...it is the Divine promise that God’s Anointed One, the Deliverer, the Savior of His People, would come to lead us out of bondage and slavery. Is—a statement of being actual, or real...not just a good idea, or a philosophy, or a myth. And Born—oh, He is born! That means that He didn’t descend to us from on the clouds, or in a fiery chariot, or suddenly materialize into our time and space. He is the Only Begotten Son of God the Father, but He was born of a woman. Just like you and me. He became a human being. He is fully the Son of God, but He is also fully the Son of Man.

Here is the hope that we hold as an anchor for our souls (He 6:19). Adam was the first man, formed from the dust at God’s command, but Jesus was born of woman through the power of the Holy Spirit. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (1Co 15:45-52, NIV).

“Merry Christmas!” is the cry of our lips as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior into this world 2,000 years ago. “Come Lord Jesus!” is the cry of our hearts as we look forward to His return. This is the promise, and the hope, of our Faith. I do wish to you and yours a “Merry Christmas!” And I ask you to join me in the following prayer of the Psalmist as he looked past our day on this Earth to a time when we will once more have full communion with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Return to us, O God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine, the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself. Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish. Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself. Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name. Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved (Ps 80:14-19, NIV). Amen.

[free]

Merry Christmas to all!!