“But now
in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood
of Christ.” Ephesians
2:13
By Shirley Wiggins
Christmas is everything bright and
beautiful. Christmas is everything true
and hopeful. Christmas is the message of
all good news!
Christmas
can be disputed, but it will never be disproved. Christmas is as real as the Savior Whose
birth is celebrated on Christmas Day, year in and year out until all times and
seasons will come to their completed end.
And when
that end comes, the glorious Beginning will become sight for those who’ve
trusted in the Creator of Time. There is
a God. He is real, though He cannot be
seen. He cannot be proven to the
satisfaction of people in general; though His Presence is felt and confirmed by
those in particular who have had His reality proven to our satisfaction.
Christmas
is Christ Himself revealed in Scripture to teach mankind about salvation.
Christmas
is the Secret. Christmas is.
It really is a fact of life; it happened and it can never be undone, or
outdone. Christmas is simple; and simply
profound.
Christmas
is Salvation, the revealing of the Message
- the Mysterious Message: the
heretofore hidden.
“This mystery has been kept in the
dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know
this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background,
regardless of their religious standing.
The
mystery is this: Christ is in you,
therefore you look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our message. We preach Christ,
warning people not to add to the Message.
We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each
person to maturity. To be mature is to
be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what *I’m working so hard at day after
day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.” See Colossians 1:15-27 The Message
Translation.
*These are the words of the apostle
Paul, formerly known as Saul until He met Jesus. (See The Message Bible translation.)
“I,* Paul, am a messenger of this
Message.”
Saul, as a young man, was devoutly
devoted to his beliefs about God, steadfastly resisting the message** of Jesus
Christ and those who had accepted His life, death, and resurrection as Messiah
Jesus.
“But Saul began to destroy the
church. Going from house to house, he
dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.” … “Saul was still breathing out murderous threats
against the Lord’s disciples. He went to
the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so
that if he found any there who belonged to the Way**, whether men or women, he
might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven
flashed around him. He fell to the
ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute
Me?’ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul
asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting,” He replied. ‘ Now get up
and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’” (See
Acts 8:3; 9:1-31.)
Saul
was blind and had to be led by the hand into the town where “for three days he
was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. “
He was praying however, for Acts 9:11 says that the Lord called to a
disciple there in the town of Damascus named Ananias, and said to him:
“Go
to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named
Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he
has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hand on him to restore his
sight. … Go! This man is My chosen
instrument to proclaim My name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the
people of Israel. I will show him how
much he must suffer for My name.”
“Then Ananias went to the house and
entered it. Placing his hands on Saul,
he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord – Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as
you were coming here--- has sent me so that you may see again and be filled
with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately
something like scales fell from Saul’s
eyes, and he could see again. He got up
and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.” See Acts 9:10-19.
The self-proclaimed Sinner Number One
became the one known as the apostle Paul, the one who for the rest of his life
proclaimed the Message of Christmas!
Paul
said: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, Who has given
me strength, that He considered me trustworthy, appointing me to His
service. Even though I was once a
blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I
acted in ignorance and unbelief. The
grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and
love that are in Christ Jesus. ….Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners---of whom I am the worst. But
for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners,
Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example to those who would believe in Him and receive eternal
life.” (1 Timothy 1:12-16 NIV.)
Christmas
is Jesus Christ, Son of God, the Light of truth:
“We look at this Son and see the God
Who cannot be seen. We look at this Son
and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and
below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels –---everything got started in Him and finds
its purpose in Him. He was there before
any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this
moment. And when it comes to the church,
He organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
He
was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—He is supreme
in the end. From beginning to end He’s
there, towering far above everything, everyone.
So spacious is He, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper
place in Him without crowding. Not only
that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and
things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant
harmonies, all because of His death, His blood that poured down from the Cross.
You yourselves are a case study of
what He does. At one time you all had
your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of Him, giving Him
trouble every chance you got. But now,
by giving Himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your
lives together, whole and holy in His presence.
You don’t walk away from a gift
like that! You stay grounded and
steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not
to be distracted or diverted. There is
no other Message—just this One. Every
creature under heaven gets this same Message.
I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.” Colossians 1:15-23 (The Message – Navpress.)
As
Christmas Day is celebrated this year, where are you in this journey called
Life? Where are your beliefs taking
you? With what are you busily occupied as the year --- another year--- comes to a
close?
Are you
on the road, the pathway of peace, to your prepared place in heaven where you
will spend eternity with the Christ of Christmas?
Or,
do your years lead you farther and farther away from the Truth of Christmas,
the true Light that came into the world, full of grace and truth, the Savior
sent from God for your rescue from the deeds of darkness and deception?
God in
Christ Jesus knows each of us individually and He knows all that we are
concerned with and perhaps burdened by this year. He knows our needs and our wants. He desires to be in communion with each soul
in a personal way. Let us be aware,
alert and available to watch for Him, listen to Him, and share the greatest
news of the greatest Gift ever given.
Christmas
is reality. Christmas is a Gift you don’t want to walk away from!
Merry Christmas, world! The Good News is still meant for every one!
