The Real Christmas

The story of the birth of Jesus is one of the most joy-filled accounts in the Bible. The birth of Jesus itself is the first miracle of the New Testament and no other gospel details the event more than the Gospel of Luke.

Luke was clearly trying to emphasize the deity of Jesus and also the very goal of the ancient Greeks: Perfection. The Greeks were pagans but they were earnest seekers of the 'Perfect' God and their numerous idols tried to reflect their search for perfection. But their quest failed miserably and the gods of the Greeks turned out to be more or less like humans. If we read some of the Greek mythology we can see how the gods argued, did mischief, were arrogant, and even ignorant at times. That is how the Greeks failed in their quest for perfection and in their spiritual anguish they made an altar to the Unknown God. One day Paul would declare that unknown God to be finally a known and personal God.

In about 3 AD the Christ Jesus was born in a place far from the nation of Greece. The very nature of Jesus' birth was perfect, he was born not of human nature but that of divinity. The angel Gabriel made this known to Mary who was to give birth to Jesus.

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1.35)

From the day of His birth to the day of His ascension to heaven, Jesus lived a sinless life. There was no sin in Him and even Satan failed to tempt Him. Christ Jesus lived a perfect life, a life of love and sacrifice.

Christ Jesus was perfection personified. He was the man the Greeks had been looking for centuries and when the apostle Paul finally proclaimed Him to them they ridiculed and mocked him, only a few accepted the Savior.

Indeed it is written in the Gospel of John:

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (John 1:10)

But today we Christians know Him. We recognize Christ Jesus as the perfect and infallible example of how every Christian should be. Let us then meditate on the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ and glorify God's name.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8)

CHRIST IN THE MODERN WORLD

Why do people have such a problem with Christ Jesus? You have a very modernized friend and sit down, try to explain the Gospel to him. He reacts uneasily and nods at every word you speak, but he desperately tries to avoid the subject. Your friend, it seems, does not seem interested in the Gospel at all but acknowledges that Christ truly was a great teacher.

Another day and you try to explain the Gospel to a Muslim friend. He is very excited about it but stands up and starts to say that Jesus was indeed a great prophet. But he gives you a hint that he has a better understanding of these things than you yourself.

The thing is that in today's world of career opportunities, reputation, successes, and prosperity (that is the goal of the masses); people are not interested in Jesus. Why? The modernized person will not accept Jesus because he has far too many promotions and business reputation at stake. The Muslim will dare not touch the Gospel because of fear of his community. The Hindu has somewhat the same feeling.

In a world of aggression, shrewdness and competitiveness, Jesus has no place. The Christ came to this world two thousand years ago and preached the brotherhood of man. He preached forgiveness, compassion, salvation and above all "LOVE." The Lord was of humility unlike the world.

Another thing could be that once a person has accepted Jesus then that person has to set God’s will above all things in his/her life. Remember Jesus said “LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR OWN DEAD” and to “TAKE THE CROSS AND FOLLOW HIM.”

And above all these words “No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

SOPHIE SCHOLL'S STORY

During World War II, In Nazi Germany, Adolph Hitler was systematically murdering the entire Jewish race. No one in Germany dared to speak against him. Only a select few chose to stand up against Hitler for his crimes against humanity. Remember the time when Abraham asked the Lord if He found only one good man in Sodom would He still destroy it and the Lord answered no?

One of the few who stood against Hitler was a teenage girl, Sophie Scholl. Sophie Scholl knew about the concentration camps and the slaughter of the Jews. She knew that Hitler's plans were an act of evil against God. At a time when opposing the Nazis were considered almost instant death, she stood up for what was right. She decided to protest peacefully by distributing leaflets with her brothers and friends. The name of this peaceful movement was called "the White Rose."

If we, today, find out that our government was acting on the basis of evil what would we do? What kind of a decision should we make? Sophie Scholl was able to make her decision because of her faith in Christ and her firm belief in the resurrection of our Lord. And as a result she and her friends were executed. She died because she knew God loves all of us. A great dictator like Hitler could not recognize that.

Remember Jesus words:“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).

STRIVE TO BE FIRST CENTURY CHRISTIANS

The churches of Christ strive to be in one unison spiritually with the first churches of the Apostolic era. We Christians nowadays need to question ourselves: "Are we supposed to Christians in a modern liberal era or are we supposed to be die-hard fired up Christians of the time of the Apostles?

A Greek named Aristides, in AD 125 wrote to a friend about the new religion called Christianity: “If any righteous man from among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they escort his body with songs and thanksgivings as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby.

Jesus said:
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." Matthew 5:12-14