Articles
Christmas
This is the time of year when most people who believe that Jesus was the Son of God celebrate His birth. While I must say I am thankful every day for His coming into this world, all must admit that no one knows what day Jesus was born. In fact, all of the evidence given in the Gospel records related to His birth makes it fairly certain that it was not on December 25. Additionally, we can search the New Testament from the day the church began in Acts 2 all the way through the remainder of the Bible, and we will find no indication whatsoever that the early church, under the direc-tion and guidance of the inspired apostles, ever celebrated the Lord’s birth as a special religious “holy day,” or in any way at all.
One thing that simply amazes me concerning the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in that stable in Bethlehem is the fact that it took place at all. Just to think that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we be-held His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), is beyond my finite mind to fully comprehend.
In Colossians 1:15-17 we find concerning Jesus, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” When we think about it, the very one who at the beginning said, “Let there be light; and there was light” (Gen. 1:3) came to this earth and was born as a baby in the humblest of settings. How is this possible? How can I grasp this great truth?
Consider 1 Timothy 3:16 where Paul wrote, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: For God was manifest in the flesh, justi-fied in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” For our purpose today, I am focus-ing upon “God was manifest in the flesh.” The love that Jesus had which would cause Him to leave the glory He had with the Father before the world was and come to this earth as a human being (yet still God) boggles my mind. By the way, a large part of the religious world refers to Mary as the mother of God. Mary had nothing to do with the divinity of Jesus. He was both God and man, and it was solely the fleshly part that in-volved Mary; that which was “conceived in her is the of the Holy Spir-it” (Matt. 1:20).
I am thankful that Jesus was born into this world, indeed I am. I am thankful enough to do just what the church he founded did in the first century. I celebrate His death every first day of the week as I partake of the Lord’s Supper in commemoration of His great sacrifice. That is what we are called upon to commemorate, celebrate, and remember.
