OUR
FATHER'S
WORD
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light
unto my path."
Psalm 119:105
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CHRISTMAS
- WHY WAS CHRIST BORN?
by Jim Lisenby
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The birth of Jesus
Luke 2:11 For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord.
It's Christmas! And what a wonderful exciting time it is,
especially for children. It is a time awash with pleasantries and
memories. The smell of evergreen trees spectacularly adorned with
pretty lights and ornaments with gaily wrapped presents beneath.
The sounds of beautiful Christmas carols and songs that we love wafting
in the air or going through our minds. The satisfying taste of
good food and beverages at Grandma's house. Receiving and giving
of gifts among families and friends. And, of course, Christmas
wouldn't be Christmas without Santa Claus and Rudolph.
At the church there will be all sorts of things going on. The
story of the birth of Jesus will be told countless times during
December in Christmas plays and from the pulpit. It is all very
nice, and I am not about to hammer Christmas and tell you that it is
pagan or anything like that, but nevertheless, let's consider a few
things.
December 25th is celebrated as the birthday of our Saviour, but I think
most of you know, or at least suspect, that He wasn't really born on
that particular day.
Well, so what? Does it matter?
Probably not from the standpoint of celebrating His birthday because
nowhere in the scriptures are we commanded to celebrate His
birthday. So, in that sense it may not be very important, but I
personally believe that the true day of His birth is important because
it may indicate that day when He appears the second time.
However, for the purposes of this article the important thing for us to
remember is that He was born, and the reason for His birth.
Incredibly, many scholars and great thinkers, including some who are
so-called ministers of the gospel, don't believe that He was born at
all even though Josephus, the Jewish non-Christian historian, believed
that He lived and wrote of him. They think that it is all
contrived and dubious, and for the time being, let them think what they
like. I thank God that most Christians do have the good sense to
believe that He was born and that He did live 2000 years ago.
So, if He wasn't born on Christmas Day, when was He born? He was
actually born in very late September or very early October in 4 B.C.,
but December 25th is still related to His birth in a very important way.
Confused yet?
Do this and you won't be. Count backwards 9 months or so from
late September or early October and see where you end up. That's
right, you come to around December 25th of the preceding year.
That was the day when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and she
conceived. It is the day of His conception. So, with that
in mind, December 25th can still be considered a blessed day.
If you are interested further, consult The Companion Bible
for more. If you don't know what The Companion Bible
is, see my article entitled Study
Recommendations at ourfathersword.org.
We need a Savior
So, when He was born is somewhat important, but far more important is
the question, why was He born in the flesh at all?
Go back up and look at Luke 2:11 again and you will see that the angel
calls Him a
Saviour. What do saviors
do? They save people or things, and in this case He saves us from
dying in our sins.
That's right! If you are a Christian and have studied the Bible
any at all, you are aware that Jesus Christ was born in the flesh on
this Earth for the purpose of saving us. You also know that is
the reason He is called our Saviour. Right?
Sadly, during this Christmas season millions of people will hear a
story of His birth over and over again, but they probably won't
understand why He was born in the first place. What is even
sadder still is the fact that most people won't really care why He was
born. They just enjoy the season for the fun aspects of it.
Sorry, but that is the way it is.
The reason for His birth
Why did it have to be this way? Why do we need a Saviour, when
did the need arise, and how did it come about?
Is it possible that it became known to our Father that we needed a
Saviour only after we began to sin in the flesh body? Some might
feel uncomfortable with that idea because it presupposes that God has
to make changes to His plan from time to time as needed.
Well, don't be uneasy about it because indeed that is so. God
does make corrections to His plan when things don't work out
right. Reflect on Gen. 6:6-7 for instance, He obviously changed
His mind in these verses even though it pained Him to do so.
Gen. 6:6 And it
repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him
at his heart.
Gen. 6:7
And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face
of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the
fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
In any case, He decided that we needed a Saviour and He provided
One. He sent His only begotten Son to us and He was crucified,
sacrificed if you will. You know that verse, John 3:16. It
has to be the most quoted verse in the entire Bible, even though some
say that it was a late addition to the text.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Man cannot save himself. Nevertheless, many do not really look to
Jesus Christ for their salvation. They look elsewhere, primarily
to technology. Could this be because what is being taught in the
churches is so confusing and unbelievable? Perhaps, but
nevertheless I say to them, look around you and consider what you
see. What kind of world do you see? Do you see a utopian
world saved through technology, or do you see one still in need of
saving?
You do see incredible technology here at the beginning of the 21st
century, but don't be deceived by it. Why do I say that?
Because much hyperbole abounds and it is so easy to become absorbed and
overconfident in technobabble.
Most of the problems extant in the world today are spiritual in nature
and technology cannot solve them, so it likewise cannot be our saviour
as some men teach.
Over the centuries and millenia we have developed a system filled with
technology, but we have failed to solve spiritual problems such as
loving God and our neighbor. We can invent and use wonderful
machines but we can't seem to change man's heart. Sin abounds and
people suffer for it on a massive scale even now during our digital
information age.
The long and short of it is, as individuals we cannot overcome our
shortcomings in this flesh body to the degree where we are totally
sinless no matter how hard we try. Further, the history of
mankind shows that we cannot do it together as a group, or under any
form of religion or government.
Religions have only served to muddy the waters by introducing man made
doctrines and dogmas designed to control us, and which have utterly
failed to produce favorable results overall.
In like manner, governments seek to correct societal problems through
enacting and enforcing more and more laws and regulations which in
reality only serve to make more criminals when you understand it
rightly.
To make matters worse, law enforcement and the legal system in general
have become growth industries. They build more and more prisons
to incarcerate those who violate the ever growing volumes of
regulations and statutes that most of us aren't even aware of and
certainly don't comprehend.
We have big problems and we stupidly exacerbate them by treating the
symptoms and not the cause. A Saviour was never more needed, not only
to save us from the overwhelming pulls of the flesh, but also from the
ungodly system that we have allowed to be built through Lucifer and his
offspring.
This system, this first wild beast of Revelation 13, is filled with
technology, religion and government and even though they all tacitly
promise salvation, they won't deliver it. No technology,
religion, or government produced by devils or men can save us.
History proves that, but our Father in His love for us has provided a
way out for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. His pure and just
government will soon replace what we have now.
The why, how and when of it
What really happened that made a Saviour necessary? Consider the
following brief hypothesis:
Once upon a time the
Earth and Paradise were together. We lived happily in that spirit
world called Paradise as the children of God and He loved us dearly,
but an unexpected problem arose. A maverick cherub named Lucifer
grew proud and rebelled. He convinced some of God's children that
he had a better way of doing things and many followed him which hurt
our Father deeply. They built things and did things on the
physical Earth that offended Him.
It
alarmed Him and He was angry to the degree that He separated the
spiritual Paradise from the physical Earth and promptly overthrew
it. The method that He used is not clearly stated anywhere, but
it almost certainly was impact which produced almost total
destruction. Only basic life forms survived.
Because
He loved us deeply in spite of our disloyalty, He was not willing that
any should perish, but that we should be given opportunity to change
our minds (repent) and to prove ourselves. The decision was made
that we should all pass through a testing period on the physical Earth
while in a flesh body.
At this
point we were in jeopardy on an individual basis, but there was no need
for a Savior, or Messiah, yet.
As a
result of the overthrow, the Earth had to be restored and prepared for
us to live on in the flesh body, so the Creator got busy and restored
the Earth's ecology in 6,000 years. On the sixth day of that
re-creation, or sixth millennium, using DNA patterns that were already
extant before the overthrow, He created many different people, or
races, and placed them throughout the Earth where it pleased Him that
they should dwell.
Within
these flesh bodies were placed the souls of His dear children according
to the plan for testing them, but once again a huge problem
arose. It soon became apparent that we were utterly failing in
the flesh. The hormonal and visceral demands of the human body
proved to be too overwhelming for our spirits, so once again something
had to be done to salvage us.
It was
at this point that we needed a Savior, not before.
Once
begun, the original plan of salvation to place us all in flesh bodies
had to be followed through to the end, so a revised plan was developed
to redeem us. God Himself would beget a Son born of woman to be
offered for our shortcomings and to take our sins upon Himself.
The
sixth day creation people had already failed and were living in a
manner contrary to God's wishes, so it was decided that He should come
through a new and special group of people. As a result, Adam was
then created, followed by Eve, and it was through their progeny that
the Savior came.
Now you know the rest of the story
That is it in a nutshell. As Paul Harvey would say, "now you know the rest
of the story". Work with it! Prove me wrong or prove
me right.
How loving and merciful is our God, our Father, and the Son, to give us
every opportunity to qualify. Our sins of the flesh, and some
spiritual sins, can now be covered by the blood of the sacrifice of
Jesus Christ, if we repent of them.
That is why He was conceived in Mary and why He was born.
Hopefully now Christmas has a new and different meaning for you.
Think on these things.
Merry Christmas from Our
Father's Word.
God bless with
understanding
of His word.
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2004 by Jim
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