Pastor’s Page – December 2017

The First Christmas
Without Christ there would be no Christmas. But sad to say over the years Christ has slowly been pushed out of Christmas. When Christ was born the world didn’t even realize this great event had taken place. Jesus entered the world as a tiny baby and hardly anyone noticed. The first Christmas came and went but there was no celebrating the greatest event the world would ever see.

The birth of Christ was a promised birth, promised 700 years in advance. We read in Isaiah 7:14, “Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” We then read in Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” How sad that the Jewish people failed to see who Jesus was when the Old Testament was so clear.

The birth of Christ was a pure birth. We read in Matthew 1:18, “Now the birth of Jesus took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.” Then in verse 23 we read, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel” (which means, God with us).” This was a miracle birth; it was a supernatural birth. People today question this but the Bible is very clear concerning this important event.

The birth of Christ was a planned birth. We see in Micah 5:2 that the prophet told the town where Christ would be born. We read these words, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth from me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.”
How could the religious leaders of the day failed to see this? But sad to say they missed the world’s greatest event.

Jesus came to earth with a mission. Keep that thought in your mind. Remember that the Bethlehem baby was born to die for the sins of the world. This is clearly seen in Isaiah 53:10, “Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin.” Isaiah foretold the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. This shows us that Jesus was to be the suffering servant who would die for the sins of the world. This verse tells us why Christ died.

All the sacrifices that were made in the temple were imperfect. Christ was the perfect sacrifice. We can clearly see Jesus in Isaiah 53:5. We read, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.” This was the mission of the Bethlehem baby and for this we should be grateful. We must never loose sight of the importance of Christ sacrificial death on the cross and the gift of salvation. The birth and death of Jesus Christ are all one story. It is the complete story of salvation for the entire human race. From the cradle to the cross we have the love of Jesus
clearly seen. Christmas is the first part of the story of God’s plan for salvation.