Once upon a time, in a land far away, in a time so long ago, men watched the sky.They watched the sun and moon, the movement of the stars in their heavenly places. And every year, beginning in autumn, they watched the sun grow weaker and weaker and weaker. They watched the days grow shorter and shorter, and the nights grow longer and longer. They lived in fear that the light of the sun would go out completely, and they would be plunged into total darkness. No more days of light and nights of darkness. Just total darkness, all day and all night, darkness. The time of their greatest fear was around December 25. They watched the sun grow dim and then, one day, they noticed a change. The sun, ever so gradually, would begin to grow stronger. As the weeks passed, the days would grow longer and the nights shorter and shorter. They discovered that it happened about the same time each year and they called it, “The Coming Back of the Sun.” It became a time of great joy and celebration, and festivals would be held to celebrate “The Victorious Sun”, which had overcome the powers of darkness and returned with its light. The early Christians saw a parallel with the world of spiritual darkness and spiritual light. The Gospel of John begins with these words:
John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John 1:5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will never overcome it.

The Word is Jesus Christ, who is called The Sun of Righteousness. He is life and he is the light of men. The Gospel story of our beloved Luke has been the inspiration for Christmas for many centuries. Chapter two begins with the fact that Caesar had sent out an imperial order that all the world should be taxed. In those days, a census was taken for the purpose of establishing tax rolls. Luke then tells us that this was the first tax taken when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. Israel was a part of the Roman province of Syria. This establishes the birth of Jesus as a historic fact and tells us exactly when it happened. Next Luke tells us that Joseph and his pregnant wife, Mary, traveled from their hometown of Nazareth to Bethlehem, because Joseph was of the family line of David, the Great King. Mary was also of the family line because Jews married within their own tribe.This was a journey of about 80 miles In those days, you didn’t pay taxes according to where you lived, but where your ancestral family lived. Now King David had about 50 children and who knows how many grandchildren. King David lived more than 1,000 years before Christ was born. So there is no telling how many people were in his family line by the time Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem. We do know Bethlehem, even today, is a rather small town, so the family of David must have been quite a vast multitude by the time Joseph and Mary got there. There was no lodging in the local hotels so they found a cave, used as a stable, where they found shelter and a birthing place for Mary. But wait, let’s back up here to about nine months earlier. We need to see this Christmas story in its true setting. For we know that, in world of Spirit and the Kingdom of God, things are not what they seem in earthly terms. Nine months earlier, the Virgin Mary had a night visitor from the realm of the supernatural. This man of incredible brightness and power was named Gabriel, the angel who stands in the very presence of God. We have seen Gabriel before, in the pages of the book of the prophet Daniel, the Hebrew prince who was taken captive and served at the court of the King of Babylon. In prayer, Daniel was given a vision of things to come, including the birth of the Messiah, the savior, and a time-table foretelling the very birth of Jesus Christ. Daniel is in prayer and Gabriel comes and gives Daniel the meaning of his visions from God. And now, 600 years later, this same Gabriel appears to a young woman and tells her she is to be the Mother of the Messiah, the Mother of God himself. And we now step into the realm of the supernatural, the world of the Holy Spirit. As the angel said, Mary was with child by the Holy Spirit and would give birth to a new creation, a new race of men under a New Covenant. This baby, born of Mary, is Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. John’s Gospel tells us he is also God the Son, the Creator of the world. So God the Son, who had created Adam and Eve, had chosen the earthly woman who was to be his mother. This God the Son, who through his Holy Spirit had made Mary with child, was also Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who would be born of the same Virgin. Jesus chose his own Mother. So now picture the tiny town of Bethlehem, teeming with crowds of people, donkeys, camels, horses, soldiers. Street vendors hawked their wares, clothes and hot food, drinks, charging as much as the traffic would bear. There was no room for Mary and Joseph in the local hotel, but this was a blessing. The hotels, the “caravanserai,” were loud and noisy places, filled with drinking and gambling and prostitution and fighting. Certainly no place to give birth to a child. So Joseph found them a stable, a little cave cut back in the rock hillside. There were donkeys and camels, horses and chickens and geese. But the Peace of God descended from Heaven itself and made that lowly stable a holy place, fit for a king. Just picture this scene with a man and a woman. Her labor pains had already begun. Mary had brought sheets and blankets, towels and all that would be needed for the birthing. Then, from above, came down a heavenly light, a holy light that covered that humble place with Peace and the very presence of God, himself. There was a silence, a stillness, a quiet sense of great and bright. Even the animals were covered with the holy light as they witnessed the birth of their own creator. There have been many, many accounts through the ages that animals have a special sensitivity to things of the Holy Spirit of God, sometimes more than we do. Although we don’t have all the details, we do know that Mary was a woman, like other women, and that her birthing was like other births. She had contractions and the agonizing pain of labor as do all women. And she had the great peace and joy which floods a mother’s heart when her child is born into this world. And the newborn Jesus must have looked pretty much like other newborns, pretty red and maybe a bit scrunched up at first. And he was, no doubt, held by his feet and given a good pat on the bottom to clear his mouth and throat and get his lungs breathing on their own. Jesus Christ is God but, remember, he is also fully man and came into this world just like we all do. The old Christmas hymn about the birth says, “The little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.” But you may be sure that, since he was also fully human, he did quite a bit of crying because this is how babies begin breathing and getting their little systems working outside the mother’s womb. Now let’s take a bird’s-eye view of the whole scene. The holy light covers the stable, the animals and the nearby hillside where shepherds abide in their fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And far away to the east, in Persia, perhaps Iraq, the Wise Men watching the sky saw a new star appear in the sky. This particular star signaled the birth of a king. They began their long journey, eager to see this newborn King. But, meanwhile, a strange and wonderful thing happened on a hillside just outside Bethlehem. Shepherds cannot sleep while watching their sheep because bear and wolves and other predators would come in and kill the sheep. All at once, the darkened hillside was covered with a soft light very different from moonlight and starlight. It was a holy light that inspired awe and a great peace and quiet fell over the shepherds and their sheep. Suddenly, a bright and radiant man stood in front of the shepherds. He was not human, he was an angel, an angel sent by God with a message that would be for all people for all time. The shepherds were terrified. They had never seen anything like this. Luke 2:10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
Luke 2:11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
Now, why is the birth of this baby such “good news?”
What does it have to do with you and me?

• Let’s start with the swaddling clothes.
These were strips of cloth wound about the baby, arms and all, so he was completely wound up with bands of cloth. This speaks of the burial shroud of Christ Jesus. He was crucified for our sins, wound up with cloth and placed in a tomb. The swaddling clothes point forward in time to the grave clothes. The entire life of Jesus on this earth pointed to the Cross. Jesus was fully man and was tempted as we are, and suffered as we do. He was betrayed by a brother he trusted. He was abandoned by the other brothers who had walked with him, heard his teaching, witnessed his miracles, and felt his love. This is where you and I come in. We have all experienced betrayal and abandonment by those we loved and trusted. Often our lives have seemed empty and meaningless. Although we have been given the gift of eternal life, our daily lives are often filled with sadness and resentment and loneliness. God so loved us that he sent his only Son, to bring to earth that tiny spark which is the Spirit of God. What God gives us can only be thought of as a NEW BIRTH, a new beginning, a new life, a new hope. Do we still suffer in our earthly bodies, do we have sin and sickness, broken relationships, parents and children who never gave us the proper love and care we need? Of course we do. But here’s what God is giving us: What happens to us in our mortal bodies, in our earthly life, in our relationships is NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING! The most important thing about you and me is that Divine Spark of new life in the spirit which the loving Father in Heaven has put into our hearts. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. Our job is to follow that Spark, that very Spirit of Jesus Christ which he has put into us, and fan that spark, day by day, until it becomes a roaring fire for God. Whether we are sick or well, sad or happy, our job is the same: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. Follow in the footsteps of Jesus, because this material world is dying, and the Spirit World of God is alive forever. Turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His Glory and Grace. For unto you is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
Luke 2:16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Luke 2:17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
Luke 2:18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
Luke 2:19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

Let us Pray: O Lord, on this Christmas Day, help us to be like Mary, to keep all these things in mind, and ponder them in our hearts every day of the year. Amen.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Harold

Please check out our pages with articles for men and women. Powerful and well written. http://fairfaxshepherdsheart.com//WomensMinistry.html and http://fairfaxshepherdsheart.com//Men.html

Visit my church’s website at (www.fairfaxshepherdsheart.com). Previous messages may be read here under Saints Alive (archive). I would also love to hear from you as to how Saints Alive touches your heart. Write a note to me at (Harold.Hammond@fairfaxshepherdsheart.com).

Please help our list grow and forward this to your friend.
If you received this from a friend and would like your own copy sent to you, please subscribe to our list at
(www.fairfaxshepherdsheart.com/mailing.html)

http://family-safe-mail.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=67

(Friends, The above are my online mailing lists which I call, "Saints Alive" and "The Jesus Prayer". I will be sending out a new column, by email, about once a week. It is free, and you won't get anything but my stuff. If you'd like to receive them, insert your email address and click "Submit".

           

Guest Book View       Sign

Please check out our pages with articles for men and women. Powerful and well written. http://fairfaxshepherdsheart.com//WomensMinistry.html and http://fairfaxshepherdsheart.com//Men.html

Visit my church's website at (www.fairfaxshepherdsheart.com). Previous messages may be read here under Saints Alive (archive). I would also love to hear from you as to how Saints Alive touches your heart. Write a note to me at (harold.hammond@fairfaxshepherdsheart.com).

Please help our list grow and forward this to your friend.
If you received this from a friend and would like your own copy sent to you, please subscribe to our list at
(www.fairfaxshepherdsheart.com/mailing.html)

Send this page to a friend. Invite a friend to see this page.