“Bearing Witness to the Birth of Christ” – R. Nelson
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6;
ENCOURAGING WORD:
It seems that every religion in the world tries to deny the deity of Jesus Christ from His birth all the way to His death. There are 109 verses throughout the Old Testament that clearly lay out specific prophecies about the first coming of Jesus Christ. They have all been fulfilled to 100% accuracy. The probability of this happening is off the charts to the point it is impossible for one man to fulfill over one hundred prophetic messages about His first coming. If you read and study the Bible in its entirety, you must conclude without a doubt that Jesus Christ is exactly who He said He was. “The Son of God” Emmanuel (which means ‘God is with us’
The fulfillment of the Prophesized Birthplace
The birthplace of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of just one of the many prophesies concerning the birth of the Messiah. We find the prophecy concerning the birth place of Jesus in Micah 5:2. “But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me, The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” This alone is incredible when you understand why Mary and Joseph had to be in Bethlehem at that precise time. The fulfillment of this prophecy is found in the gospel of Luke 2:1-7; “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.” This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So, all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” It is not a coincidence that Jesus was born the exact time that the decree was made for Mary and Joseph to return to Bethlehem, it was orchestrated by God Himself to fulfill the prophecy in Micah 5:2. The name of the birth place of Jesus is Bethlehem just as prophesied. The word means “house of bread.” Bethlehem is also known as the “City of David.” Mary and Joseph were both of the royal linage of David and that is why they had to journey to Bethlehem to be counted. Is it not proof of the wonderful sovereignty and the completeness of the plan and purpose of God that the One who was born to occupy the throne of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, was born of the line of David in the very same city that is referred to as “The City of David”
Bearing Witness from the Angel Gabriel
We read a very interesting event in Luke 1:26-33 where we read, “And in the sixth month (This is referring to the pregnancy of Elizabeth who was carrying John the Baptist in her womb) the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, “Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” There are people that try to say, that Jesus was just a man who purposely tried to fulfill as many prophecies as he could so he could claim to be the Messiah. How ridiculous it is to believe a man could arrange his own birthday and then to top it off, be born of a virgin. There is only one deity in the universe that could pull that off, and that is our God. Also, every time we look at a calendar, it should be a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ. No other man in history has had the impact on our world like that of Jesus Christ. His birth was foretold thousands of years before it came to fruition and it is still a major debate to this day. Jesus Christ is Lord!
Bearing Witness from the Shepherds
Luke 2: 8-14, “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 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. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Luke 2:15-16 also shares with us the experience of what the Shepherds had witnessed, “So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.” The Shepherds were looked down at as the least respected citizens of their day, yet God reached out to them to share the joyous news of the birth of their Messiah. This is another example of how God uses the most unlikely people to fulfill His plan of salvation. The shepherd, being different than a hired keeper might run away in the face of danger, but the owner of the herd would not run from any danger. The shepherd who owned and herded the flock would stay and defend them against any danger that might arise. He had a genuine loving concern for what belonged to him. In the book of John, chapter 10, Jesus illustrates how the shepherd cares for his flock, protecting them from weather, thieves, and predatory animals. He loved and shielded them and if necessary, he would lay down his life for them. That is exactly what Jesus Christ did for us, Our Good Shepherd laid down His life for us, His sheep. When we read throughout the scriptures, Jesus is often referred to as our Good Shepherd. It is interesting how the shepherds that were the first to see Jesus in the manger, were looking down at the One that would eventually be The Good Shepard that would watch over them.
Bearing Witness from the Wisemen
Matthew 2:2; we read “saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” Many people read this verse and take it out of context. The wise men could not have shown up when Jesus was in the stable, we read in Matthew 2: 11 where is clearly states the following; “And when they had come into the house, (Not a stable) they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” At this time Mary and Joseph are now living in a house and Jesus is referred to as a young child, not a babe in a manger. The logical time frame before the Wiseman reached Jesus was within two years. There is another clue as to how old Jesus was when the Wiseman showed up and we read this is Matthew 2:16 where it reads, “Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.” If Jesus were still a newborn, King Herod would not have had all the babies two years old and younger murdered. Also, the trip that the Wiseman took to reach Jesus covered many miles and there would be no way for them to get there that soon on the backs of camels. It may be irrelevant as to when the Wiseman showed up, but I thought it would be interesting to share my thoughts.
King Herod bore witness of the Birth of Jesus Christ
We read in Matthew 2:3-6; “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ” Here is the King of Judea fearing the birth of a young infant. King Herod referred to the babe in the manger as the Christ, even he knew that Jesus was the one that was foretold about to the point he had to kill all the first-born males two years old and younger. His kingship was threatened by a newborn baby that was prophesied to rule the world.
As I was gathering information for this blog, a thought came to me that got me thinking! If the star shown so bright that the shepherds and the wisemen could see it, why couldn’t Herod the King see it. I believe the answer is obvious if you apply it to today’s principles. The only ones that could see the star was those that believed that the Messiah would show up around that time because of what the prophets of old predicted. In today’s realm of things, it is the same reason that most people cannot see the signs of His second coming because of their unbelief. Which brings me to a quote that often applies to the Word of God, “Seeing is not believing, believing is seeing.” When you understand and believe the Word of God as it is written, you will see everything in a new light. When you become a believer, the truth will jump out at you like never before. In John 20:29; we read this interesting verse that applies to what I am saying, “Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” When you believe, you will see the Word of God as it was meant to understand and as it says above, blessed are those that believe yet have not seen! It is called faith!
ACTION POINT:
Today in our world, most people are blind to the prophecies of the second coming of Jesus Christ just as they were blind to the birth of their Messiah. They did not believe then and they don’t believe today. Those that are born-again into the Holy Spirit and believe in what the Bible says are very aware of where we are on Gods prophetic calendar. If there is one thing that history teaches us, it is that we learn nothing from history. History is repeating itself and it is going to have the same results. Just as in the days of Noah. You need to have faith in the Word of God and start believing that what is written is true, and then the blindness will be removed, and you will see things like you have never seen before. Jesus Christ was born a King and His Kingship will soon rule the world just as it says in the scriptures. “Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” Do these words ring a bell?
“Commentary from Our Chaplin – Bearing Witness – R. Fritz”
We should understand that if Adam and Eve were not disobedient and not sinned, we could have been in heaven on Earth forever. The truth is that it was God’s Plan, they sinned and as a result, God put them out into the world we now occupy. That is history. Gods people had a momentous change in their life, God was there trying to get them to listen to him. They would listen for a while then, do it their way and try and find another god to help them. The Israelites were always complaining and not trusting God or the prophets that He sent to give his words to the people in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament there was a price that they paid for their disobedience, (death, left in the wilderness, turned into a block of salt) these are stories from the Old Testament. God really wanted to be with his people, but they would not turn from their wicked ways.
He had a 2nd plan and that was come to Earth as a man. The Bible foretold of this happening through Prophets in the Old Testament. Jesus was born through a Virgin named Mary. Both Mary and Joseph were visited by Angels telling them what was happening and what to do. They were obedient to God. Jesus first tried to tell his people about God’s plan, they turned him down. He next turned to the Gentiles who were born again and grafted them in to be God’s people. Romans 11:17-19; “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. We also read this in Ephesians 2:19; “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.”
Jesus came to set people free from sin and religion. I say that because, at that time the Pharisees and Sadducees were interested in their interpretations of the law, traditions, rules that were made by man. They never knew who Jesus was when they spoke to him, they were just interested in making sure all the rules were followed. There are over 600 commandments in the Jewish Torah. Violation of one of them was Sin. That was why they had animal blood sacrifices in the Old Testament for atonement for sins. Jesus Christ came to Earth as a scapegoat and once and for all took all the sins of the world when he died. His death and his blood were the last sacrifice that was needed. When the veil in the temple was tore from top to bottom when Jesus died, we had the opportunity to have a spiritual relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. Sin is what kept us from being in his presence. Jesus gave us the ability to be in his presence. When he died, he got the keys of death and so if we are one of his (have a relationship with him) the Bible talks about the sting of death being sin, to the born again, there is no sting. When you die you go immediately to Heaven. The Old Testament had Ten Commandments. In the New Testament, Jesus said two commandments were the most important, 1. Thou salt Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 2. Thou shalt Love thy neighbor as thyself,
We now can have life abundantly. We just must choose him and have a relationship with him. I think most people are afraid or don’t trust the Lord. When things go bad, we just need to call out his name, “JESUS” and He will help, and when things are going well, we need to thank Him for all the blessings in our life! The Lord is a gentleman and will not invade your sovereignty or intervene in your life if you don’t ask. Most people think they can do it themselves. The Lord gives me wisdom and answers to questions as people are asking them. You can have a relationship better than me, be obedient and ask him to change your life. Without change, your life and the issues you have won’t change. I challenge everybody to make this change your life, you will see a change in your emotional and physical issues. With Jesus, all things are possible, we just need to spend time reading the Bible, which gives you trust and belief and talking with him.
In Closing – R. Nelson
There should be absolutely no question about it, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Israel’s Messiah and the Savior of the world. The evidence is indisputable to support this fact. For those that don’t believe in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior, here is a verse in the scripture’s that explain why. We read in 2 Corinthians 4:4; “whose minds the god of this age (Satan) has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” If you are not a believer, then Satan has blinded you to the truth and there is no way for you to understand Gods plan for salvation. Trying to explain the details of the Gospel to an unbeliever is like trying into explain color to a blind man. They cannot and will not understand until they ask Jesus Christ into their life and receive the Holy Spirit into their heart. If a blind man eventually gained his sight, then he would know what color is. In the same way, if an unbeliever were to turn to God and received Jesus Christ into his heart, he would see the gospel crystal clear. I’ll say it once again, seeing is not believing, believing is seeing! Jesus Christ came into this world for one purpose, to save mankind from their sins and spare the world from the torment of eternal separation from His presence, in other words, as the Bible refers to it, “The Lake of burning fire.” Receive Jesus Christ today and celebrate the birth of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, your Savior, during this magical time of year! “Written To the glory of God.” Amen!