Reason for the Season of Christmas.

 

I am not sure if there is another worldwide seasonal celebration like Christmas. When you think Christmas is celebrated in all different nations and cultures. It is truly a global season of celebration.
It is also important to think and meditate the reason for this season called Christmas. Christmas is a unique time to be thankful and it is because of the gratitude for what God had already done that people give gifts to one another in this season of Christmas. I believe no other time of seasonal celebration is rooted in gratitude and deep thankfulness as Christmas is. Of course, there are people who celebrate the season of Christmas without pondering the reason behind the celebration. But let us take a moment and understand the reason for this wonderful season and that could easily transform us inside out.
The amazing and wonderful truth of Christmas is God gave His best gift to humanity on the first day of Christmas and because God gave His very best gift we the humans, are prompted and motivated to become grateful and thankful. Not only we become grateful, but also we want to give our best gifts to others around us, don’t we?
You see, Bible is the only book on the earth that contains prophecies about the future. Twenty-seven percent of the Bible are prophecies. No other religious book contains prophecies or gives any record of fulfilled prophecies. Bible is unique because of hundreds and hundreds of prophecies in the pages of the Bible. Not only Bible has prophecies but also there another truth. Several hundreds of the prophecies in the Bible are already fulfilled with pinpoint accuracy with one hundred percent historical proofs.
The reason for the season of Christmas is the incarnation of Lord Jesus Christ. Christmas reminds us the Son of God came down to our planet earth from heaven.

 A trip to moon changed an astronaut for the rest of his life

James Irvin was a NASA astronaut who walked on the moon during Apollo 15 who became a believer in Jesus Christ after his walk in the moon said like this, “Jesus walking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon.” I read an article titled “Encounter with Jesus on the moon left astronaut changed” by Mark Ellis. The writer explained how the astronaut became a true believer in Christ on the surface of the moon. Irwin faced with serious problems on his planned experiments in the moon. He asked for God’s help and said, “God I need your help right now.” He experienced the presence of Jesus Christ and in an answer to his prayer Lord Jesus Christ showed him the solution to the problem and he was able to complete the experiment successfully. He says Irwin felt God’s presence very near to him and he felt like God is with him there on the surface of the moon as if God is there standing near to him. James Irwin became a missionary of Christ and he resigned his astronaut career in NASA and began traveling the world to preach about Jesus Christ. God gave him a deep desire in his heart to share the message of Christmas which is really the Gospel- the good news about God loves them and send His only begotten son, Jesus Christ to save them from their sins and take them to heaven with Him. Irwin used to say, “God decided that He would send His Son Jesus Christ to the blue planet and it is through faith in Jesus Christ that we can relate to God. He quoted what Jesus Himself said in his preaching, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
For about 20 years after his resignation from NASA, Astronaut James Irwin became an evangelist for Christ in this world. James Irwin carried small flags that he had from the moon. He took this small flag to many countries to share the good news of the Gospel – the saving message of Lord Jesus Christ.

First Christmas – A  fulfillment of several Bible prophecies.

As I alluded before God want you to know this- Christmas and incarnation of Christ -was one of the several prophecies of the Bible that were fulfilled in time and history with pinpoint accuracy. There is definitely a reason for this season that is celebrated throughout the world.
Bible amazes me every day with its fulfilled prophecies. I challenge you to read and learn the Bible. It will change your life and you will know who God is and what He can do in your own personal life. An amazing prophecy regarding the birthplace of the Messiah in Micah 5:2 is fulfilled on the day first day of Christmas. Read in Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one will be the ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” The fulfillment of this was so amazing. This prophecy concerning the exact place/location of birth of the Messiah would not have taken place if Caesar Augustus did not issue a decree for a census in the entire Roman world. Read the wonderful fulfillment of this Bible prophecy in the Bible in Luke 1:1-20. All people had to go to their own town to register for a census ordered by Caesar Augustus. Joseph, a young man who was betrothed to young virgin Mary also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem the town of King David because he belonged to the house and line of David. While they were there in Bethlehem, the time came for the baby to be born. God brought Joseph and Mary from about 80-90 miles away in Nazareth (about 4 days journey on foot) to Bethlehem and then Jesus was born in the place prophesied hundreds of years ago. This is another evidence of the pinpoint accuracy of the Bible prophecy. How wonderful and mind-boggling the accuracy of the Bible prophecies.

God said in the Bible in Isaiah 9:6-7, way before in the 8th century before Christ, about the coming of Christ into this world. Please read slowly and thoughtfully – “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called the wonderful counselor, mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”
Did you notice the prophecy said ‘a child is born, a son is given’? Christ’s life didn’t begin at the time of His birth. Bible says the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was in existence before His incarnation on this earth. A Child is born and a son is given to us. In the triune Godhead of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, Christ was already there in heaven with God from the beginning. God gave His only Son to save us from our sins and guilt so that one day when you die you can live with God in heaven. That is why it is said in the above verse ‘a son is given to us’. Bible says in John 1:1-3 reveals the eternal existence of Christ in heaven with God the Father. Listen what it says there, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made. Who is this word? The word was referred ‘He’ in the above verse, right? When you read more and come down to verse 14 it says there who this word is. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The eternal word, the Son of God became flesh and made His dwelling among us on the first Christmas day.
Then it says in verse 16-18, “Out of his (Christ’s) fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”
Do you know what it says above? God sent His son into this world on the first Christmas day. That was the miracle of all miracles. God became man and walked on this planet earth for about 33 years. You see Bible says in the above verse this truth – No one has ever seen God. But do you want to see God? The one and only Son, Jesus Christ, who himself is God and is in closest relationship with the Father has made known God to us. If you want to know God, take a close look at Jesus Christ from the pages of the Bible.
This is the reason why James Irwin said, “Jesus walking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon.” He understood this truth and the truth opened his spiritual eyes and He started traveling around the world until he died witnessing Christ to thousands and thousands of people in this globe.
I discussed only the first section of the prophecy in Isaiah 9:6-7. The first part is fulfilled with pinpoint accuracy on the first day of Christmas. The second part of the prophecy regarding the greatness of His government and peace with no end, reigning on the throne of the king of David which is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant prophesied in 2 Samuel 7:12-17 will be fulfilled exactly like the fulfillment of the first part of the prophecy in the very near future. This is called the millennium (thousand year rule of Christ on this earth). Please refer the study Bible section of this website for more details about the prophecies concerning God’s covenant with David, Millennium etc. By the way, did you notice what is said in the last verse above? It said like this,” The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” If the first part of the prophecy was already fulfilled by the zeal of the LORD at the time of the incarnation of the Son of God, the second part also will be fulfilled by the same zeal of the LORD in near future.
Another prophecy that was fulfilled on the first Christmas day was in the Bible in Isaiah 7:14. It said, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” This is literally fulfilled at the time of the birth of Christ. Bible says in Matthew 1:23-23 an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said this regarding the young virgin called Mary who was betrothed to him but not married or came together yet, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”). Matthew, the Gospel writer is quoting from Isaiah 7:14 and informed us this prophecy is fulfilled in Christ. Jesus Christ’s incarnation was ‘Immanuel’ which means ‘God with us’. The meaning of the word Jesus is “He will save His people from their sins.” Mary was a virgin and this is confirmed by Bible in Luke 1:26-27. It says “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town of Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to be a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” The use of the phrase ‘a descendant of David’ is also a fulfillment of David’s covenant (God pre-told in 2 Samuel 7:12-17, 1 Chronicles 17:11-14 and 2 Chronicles 6:16) that the promised Messiah and king will come from the line of King David.

Did virgin conceive a baby?

You may be wondering how a virgin can conceive a child right? Don’t worry, Mary also had the same question. Bible says in Luke 1:34, Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel gave the answer to this perplexing question in verse 35. “The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and for that reason, the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” It means without the help of a husband, Mary is going to carry the eternal Son of God in her womb. How? The all-powerful third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, will come upon her and the power of the Most High God will overshadow her womb so that Mary’s sinful nature won’t pass to her son Jesus Christ. In other words, her womb is sanctified and protected by the power of the Holy Spirit of God and by the power of Most High God. Therefore, the child will be holy and will be called the Son of God. There will be no transfer of Adam’s sinful nature possible to Jesus Christ because of the overshadowing of the power of the Most High God and Holy Spirit on Mary. “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:22).
The holy child who was conceived in Mary’s womb was not by any human seed. Without a husband, this child was conceived by the overshadowing and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and the Most High God.

All the way back to the dawn of the history.

The first prophecy about the Messiah who will save the people and crush the enemy, Devil, was given in Genesis 3:15 immediately after the fall of our first parent in the garden of Eden. The LORD GOD was pronouncing the verdict against the devil who deceived Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and tempted them to disobey God. This is what Bible records what God said to Devil, “And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
God will put enmity between Devil and the woman and going forward down in the history ‘between Devil’s seed and her seed’. He (woman’s seed) will bruise Devil on the head. And you (devil) shall bruise him (woman’s seed) on the heel. Did you notice few points here? First, the enmity was between Devil and woman (of course Devil approached the woman (Eve) and tempted here to do sin and disobey God. Second, the enmity was to go down through the generations. This is the ongoing enmity between devil’s seeds and woman’s seeds. The Godly seed was not going down through Cain or Abel but it was continued through Seth, then the line continued through Noah’s son Sham, Abraham, David, Solomon to Joseph and Mary (Christ’s physical father and mother).

Did you notice above what is the promise said, “He (women’s seed) will bruise devil on the head? It says woman’s seed. It didn’t say woman’s and man’s seed combined. Only woman’s seed. What is this means? This prophecy should be literally fulfilled in a women’s seed without the aid of a man. This is the importance of virgin birth. This is why later other prophecies we discussed above said “A son is given to us” and a ‘virgin will conceive and give birth to a son.” These Bible prophecies along with hundreds and hundreds of other Bible prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus Christ in pinpoint and one hundred percent accuracy.
Truly Jesus Christ, the holy one from God, was conceived and incarnated by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the power of the Most High. Christ, the Son of God, bruised the head of the devil on the cross of Calvary when He shed his holy blood for humanity’s sin problem. Christ said on the cross just before His death, “It is finished.” This means He has finished the work of redemption for the humanity. He fully paid for the sins of you and me on the cross by his own holy and blameless blood. Bible declares Christ gave Himself as a ransom (the price given for redemption to set us free from devil’s power and bondages). 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.”

Women’s seed bruised the head of the devil

As promised in Genesis 3:15, Bible explains in Colossians 2:13-15,  how Christ fulfilled this promise by bruising the head of the devil, erased and freed us from our sinful past. This is how it is described, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” It is also true that Devil bruised women’s seed (Christ) on the heel. But the fact is that Devil was ignorant of God’s eternal plan of redeeming Adam’s race from their sins by the shed blood of Christ and His resurrection from the dead on the third day.

Christ actually canceled the charges against you and nailed them to His Cross.

My friend, you see, we had a legal indebtedness to Holy God for our sins and evil behaviors. On the cross, Christ bruised the head of the devil, canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us. Christ has taken the charges away and nailed those charges to His cross. He disarmed the powers and authorities of the devil and made a public spectacle of them. Christ triumphed over the evil powers of the devil by the cross. Jesus Christ was on a rescue mission to rescue you and me from the kingdom of darkness and the power of the devil. He fulfilled His rescue mission for us by paying for all our sins by His blood on the cross. No more sacrifices needed. Christ became the propitiation or satisfaction for our sins in the sight of the Holy God.
Prayer time: Christmas reminds that God loves you and He has a great plan for your future. A plan of wonderful hope, safety and security for you personally. God so loved you that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). See the word ‘whoever’ in the above verse. It doesn’t matter who you are, whoever you may be, God wants you to know God loves you and He freely gave His only begotten son to die for your sins so that whoever calls upon the name of Christ and believes in their heart that Christ died and risen from the dead for their sins will be saved. Bible, God’s word promises you will not perish but you will have forgiveness of all your sins and everlasting life in heaven with God at the moment of your death.

Pray after me now like this. “God I believe you love me and I do believe you gave your only begotten Son for my sins. I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He died, buried and risen for my sins. I accept Christ as my savior. Please save me.”

If you prayed this prayer, I declare in the authority of the Bible that you are saved and granted eternal life now upon this prayer.
Please do me a favor. Please go to contact/prayer tab and send me a note. I will be thrilled to hear from you.