Christmas Reflections
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We know the first people God created on earth were Adam and
Eve. When God created them He gave them dominion, or rule, over planet earth.
We read in the book of Genesis, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Gen. 1:26). They had a
divine mandate and legal right to rule over the earth for the glory of God. But
this right to rule was effective only as long as they lived in obedience and
fellowship with GOD. But, as the Genesis account records in Genesis 3, satan tempted
Adam and Eve to disobey God. And when Adam and Eve yielded to the temptation,
they lost their position of rule and authority. The effect of this is that Adam
transferred the legal right to satan and thus he himself came under the
dominion of Satan. This is true as the Bible records in 2 Corinthians 4:4 where
Apostle Paul referred to Satan as “the
god of this world.” John also wrote that “the whole world is in the power of the evil one.” (1 JOHN 5:19).
What does it mean to be under satan’s dominion? Basically it
means that we are his slaves and are to do whatever He tells us to do. It does
not sound good, right? The Bible tells us that the work of satan is sin. satan
wants us to sin. He wants us to disobey God. And since we are under his
authority, this is exactly what we do. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 and 6:23
that we have all sinned and the penalty for our sin is death. All of Adam’s
descendants (that includes you and I) inherited his slavery to satan and his
tendency toward sin. “Therefore, just as through one man sin
entered this world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men,
because all sinned” (Romans. 5:12) Now of course satan does not tell us we
are his slaves and in our pride, we like to think we are our own person doing our
own thing. But the Bible says nobody does their own thing. We’re either doing
God’s thing our satan’s thing. Even though we don’t like to hear it, and most
won’t acknowledge it, we are all born into this world as slaves to satan and
slaves to sin. This is why we can’t keep our New Year Resolutions. This is why
we can’t break the hold of self-destructive habits. This is why we are all
afraid to die.
We all need to be set free from this bondage and this
freedom must come in such a way that God’s justice will not be violated. God
must abide by His laws of justice. Dominion of the earth was given to man, and
it was lost by man. Therefore it can only be legally recovered by man. But as
we have just learned, all Adam’s descendants are slaves and none can take the
case for us. Yet, somehow, a human must be found on whom satan has no claim,
someone not in bondage to him, someone who can dismiss satan’s legal claim on
us. And this is just what God promised He would provide for us. He gave this
promise immediately after Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3:15. He says, “I will
put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he
shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel”(RSV).
God says this seed of woman is a he. Now the curious part about
this whole statement from God is His referral to the “seed of woman.” Whoever
heard of a woman having her own seed? That’s not the way life is reproduced.
The seed comes from man. But in this case, God says the One who will deliver
the fatal blow to satan will come from the seed of a woman. The prophet Isaiah
also spoke of this seed of woman. He said, “Therefore the Lord Himself shall
give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall
call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). The word Immanuel means “God with us.”
Isaiah explained that the seed of
woman refers to a virgin birth. He said that it would be God Himself coming to
planet Earth as a baby boy, born of a virgin. The virgin would not be the
mother of God, but would be the mother of the man God became. This son, born of
a virgin, would be the One who would take dominion from satan and restore it to
us.
Now in the New Testament, we learn the identity of this seed
of woman. We read the following in Matthew
1:18-25: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary
was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of
the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to
make a public example, was minded to put away secretly. But while he thought
about those things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife,
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring
forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people
from their sins.’ So all was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold the virgin shall be with
child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His Immanuel,’ which is translated,
‘God with us.’ Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the
Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had
brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.”(NKJV)
These verses, along with many others, tell us that Jesus Christ is the Creator-God, Who
came to the earth as a man, born of a virgin, in order to destroy the power of
satan and restore dominion over planet earth to man. Jesus had to be born
perfect without sin as Adam was created perfected without sin. This is why He
could not be born of the seed of man. If He had been born of the seed of man,
He would have inherited Adam’s sin nature passed down through his blood line. This
would mean that Jesus would be satan’s slave just like the rest of us. Yet
legally, according to God’s justice, He had to be a real human to take our
place. So quite logically, at least in God’s mind, He was born of a virgin. So
Jesus was born perfect, without sin, as Adam was created perfect and without
sin. He would restore dominion over planet Earth to all who would come to Him.
This is the reason for celebrating Christmas. Jesus is the
reason for the season. He came to set us
free from the bondage of satan. We celebrate His birth in this yuletide season
by sharing His love with family, friends and loved one.
Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “For unto us a Child is born, unto 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, and Prince of Peace. Of
the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne
of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and
justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this.”
The “Wonderful” refers to His ability as a leader and
political guide. He is the living Word, the infallible source of guidance, the
inexhaustible Wisdom, the Truth, and the Way. On Him would rest the government
or the authority to rule. “Mighty God” indicates that Jesus would be the
omnipotent One, and the word translated “Mighty” also means “hero.” The Lord is
the Infinite Hero of His people-the Divine Warrior who has triumphed over sin
and death. “Everlasting Father” expresses Christ’s fatherly care and also
states the deity of Christ, and “Prince of Peace” means that His rule
would be characterized by shalom, that
is, by peace and health, well-being, prosperity, happiness, and the ending of
satan’s rule. He wants to be all of this in your life everyday!
CELEBRATE JESUS. CELEBRATE HIS BIRTH. CELEBRATE GOD’S
SALVATION TO MANKIND. HE CAME TO SAVE US. HE IS OUR LORD AND KING. HAVE
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION!!!
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