what does the bible say about celebrating jesus' birth

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957), page 166. Here then is the first lesson Luke teaches us on celebrating Christmas. In fact, the Bible would not even support the view that the world is capable of being redeemed socially apart from the supernatural intervention of God in history. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. God is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20). I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. The Truth! Why, to their sheep obviously. He came to earth and became a man but kept fully the divine nature in Himself. So they left their flocks and came and found Jesus, precisely as the angels had indicated. For, since Wesley had filled his mind with Scripture and since he used references to it extensively in his verses, it is likely that he was thinking of a verse of the Bible that speaks of two kinds of peace, two kinds of rest, and was saying that he wished to enter into the second as he had once entered into the first. Christmas is always a special time for most everyone but especially followers of Jesus. Will you turn your focus toward Christevery day. The shepherds took this message, in the only form they knew, to their contemporaries. Because of the gospel, Christians understand that the peace of God is only for those who acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Things seem to go as they have been going from the beginning, and you want something better. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is not just brooding or getting into a pious frame of mind. Peter tells us that God delays only long enough to call to repentance all whom He has before determined should believe ("He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" see 2 Peter 3:9). What had happened to these men? She would have wondered how she could have conceived without having slept with a man. 12. There are a few Bible verses that seem to suggest that Jesus did not want people to celebrate his birth. Perhaps you are one who longs for the Lord's return. The God who did not forget us in Christ's first coming will not forget us in His second. So, according to Tillich, who popularized this approach in his three-volume Systematic Theology and in his lectures, salvation can therefore be applied "to every act of healing: to the healing of sickness, or demonic possession, and of servitude to sin and to the ultimate power of death" 6 It means "reuniting that which is estranged, giving a center to what is split, overcoming the split between God and man, man and his world, man and himself. This is exactly what we have in Christianity. Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. And the dead in Christ will rise first. It implies a diving beneath the surface. That is what Jesus Himself said: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Suddenly the angels appear, first to Zechariah and then to Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, and the word is out: God has not forgotten! Notice that this verse does not say, "In everything present your requests to God. For to 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, Prince of Peace. Celebrating it certainly does seem and feel like the right thing to do. Local: 704-401-2432 Clap your hands, all peoples! "Has God forgotten me?" Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Then out of the darkness we hear God speaking to call forth life and order. He is able to deliver you from whatever your particular sin may be alcoholism, unlawful sex, a bad temper, gossiping, pride, selfishness whatever it is. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. This central event in history divided the calendar into BC (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini - "In the Year of Our Lord"). And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. Keiper then took his Bible from his briefcase and turned to Luke 2:14, to the verse that is our text, and then read with his professor, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (KJV). God has not forgotten. This article may not be reproduced in any other fashion without the expressed written permission of the Alliance. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. 6. "O Come, All Ye Faithful" Words: John F. Wade, circa 1743. And the shepherds would not have come to the manger in the little town of Bethlehem if the angels had not conveyed their message. This article may be printed and distributed with this notice attached for personal use such as small groups and local Bible study groups. If we are honest, we must admit that many persons, even Christians, celebrate it most by buying presents, decorating their houses, visiting relatives and friends, or watching football games on television. Hopefully Christmas this year has been more than presents and parties for you, and youve taken time to focus on Jesus. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. 1. But shouldnt He be part of your life every day? For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. The third type of peace is a peace with one another. It says, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men the testimony given in its proper time" (1 Timothy 2:5,6). Christmas time is a few days away. Blog, A Oh, it would have been quite a puzzle to Mary! He restores my soul. But the circumstances were not good. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord., For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.. The other kind of amazement is a holy wonder in response to those acts of God which are beyond human comprehension. So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.. There are three instances. It is the way mentioned in the book of Philippians. Be amazed at the event itself. The appearance of an angel to Joseph in a dream to tell Him to take the Child Jesus and his mother into Egypt to escape the wrath of King Herod. Keiper asked what he meant. Then glorify and praise God for what you know. James means that the lack of peace between men has its true source in men's emotions. Music: Beecher, John Zundel, Christian Heart Songs, 1870. How can this be? Arrangement: William H. Cummings, Congregational Hymn and Tune Book, 1857. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to celebrate. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. To the choirmaster. - Sort By Book Order. Another example of modern tendencies to reduce biblical salvation to human dimensions is the increasing emphasis upon the social aspects of the Christian gospel conceived in opposition to evangelism as traditionally understood. They had no thought about spiritual things at least we are not told that they did and they certainly didn't expect the miracle. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Come to Him now! First of all, the Bible tells us that Jesus was born on Christmas day. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Long ago, when the Greek language was in its infancy, the word from which the word "glory" came meant "to have an opinion." Home For there are many references to salvation as deliverance from disease (Matthew 9:21; Luke 6:19; 18:42; James 5:15), captivity (Philippians 1:13,19), or physical death (Mark 13:20; John 12:27; Hebrews 5:7). He would say that He was the way for a world that was lost. The Bible does mention two individuals celebrating birthdays: the Egyptian Pharaoh in Joseph's time ( Genesis 40:20) and King Herod in Jesus' time ( Matthew 14:6; Mark 6:21 ). And God will grant your requests." Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. So do that. Billy Graham: Would You Have Welcomed Jesus or Rejected Him? When the angels had departed, the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem. To do so is to participate in the Christmas story. And where are you from? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. So begin with amazement be amazed at the fact that you have not suffered the just punishment of your sin, that God has loved you, that Jesus came and died for you, that God called you to faith in Himself when you were yet without hope of salvation, and that you are now God's child and are secure in His love. Luke 1:35 ESV / 25 helpful votesHelpfulNot Helpful. As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. cit. The appearance of an unnamed angel to Joseph to explain the virgin birth and to name the Child. D Joy is a wonderful thing; it is an appropriate part of Christmas. There will always be wars and rumors of wars. Let's have a Christmas gift exchange this year. U A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. This, of course, is monstrous. However, by the late fourth century it was generally celebrated in churches. Celebrating Christmas can also take the form of pondering it, for Mary "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. God told us everything needed for life and godliness ( II Peter 1:2-4 ). Christians are to be active in many efforts to achieve social justice, improve the life of the poor, minister to the needy. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Music: Pax Tecum, George T. Caldbeck and Charles J. Vincent, 1876. In the New Covenant, he has given us the Lord's Supper and baptism. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. May God give you grace to do that. Let your prayer be the cry of the publican: "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" It is an attempt to take what you know and then by an exercise of the mind to build upon it. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire. And David said to him, Will you take me down to this band? And he said, Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band. And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. But not once in the Bible does God tell us to celebrate Christmas" (1). He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. Let the wonder of that first Christmas fill your life todayand every day. It is not this way with joy. And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? On the day of the firstfruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. OpenBible.info Not only did these men have something to tell, as we do, they also knew of a world that needed desperately to hear their message. Wesley was praying for the second of these rests, the peace of God that Paul was writing about to the Philippians. Furthermore, do not think that you need to go back to church in order to do these things, but learn rather to do them wherever God sends you in your home, school, or business. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. And you will enter, perhaps for the first time, into the Christmas story. (Great Neck, NY: Doniger & Raughley, 1955). Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Let me illustrate this by a story from the life of Dr. Ralph L. Keiper, who was a professor of English Bible at Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado, and who was for many years associated with Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse in his ministry. But the writer of this epistle had a deeper insight into humanity. These men, poor shepherds though they were, had seen God incarnate. It also teaches us of God's power, for an incarnation is beyond our ability even to conceive, let alone to bring into being. To the choirmaster. Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! How Should We Celebrate the Birth of Christ. "The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology" explains that the earliest Christians did not have a time when they regularly observed Christ's birth. The trouble lies with men. Scripturally speaking, a Christian's celebrating a birthday is a non-issue. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. Who was He really? In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. It looks at the fighting and the wars of history and of our own age and does not find the type of peace that it is seeking. For we quickly come upon the Lord Jesus Christ's great invitation recorded in Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7). Will anyone argue that they were uneducated? From beginning to end, God's dealings with our race are cause for amazement. Crashaw, Richard (1612?-1649). In these verses the angel first greets Mary, then gives this message: "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. It was lost, confused, dying. S O come, all ye faithful, Yet, Solomon was inspired to write, "A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth" . Think of the situation under which the Jews lived at this time. You can sharpen up your affections; indeed, you must, for it is a terrible thing to have your love for the One who is the Lord of love grow cold. B Just as we celebrate our childrens birthdays every year, I believe its entirely appropriate for us to celebrate the birth of Gods own Son, Jesus Christ, every year. He would say that He was the life for a world that was dying. In the birth we see God's wisdom. Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. They are: The appearance of Gabriel to Zechariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist. "Joy to the World" Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. To him be glory forever. The Life! Judging from the Christmas cards I get every year, I suspect that this is the phrase from the Christmas story that is most popular with people in our day. The Bible tells us that the birth of Jesus was unlike all other births in that Jesus existed before birth as the second person of the Godhead and He became man, not to provide us with a sweet story to tell children each winter or even as a theme for our greatest musical compositions, but in order to grow to maturity and then to die for our sin as a means of our salvation. I bring you good news of great joy" (Luke 2:10). Sol Invictus was a pagan god who was believed to be the unconquered sun. In other words, what they had been told coincided with their own experience, and they could not resist speaking of such things. What are they? There is a clue to what peace means in this verse in the way the word is used in the earlier chapters of Romans. Anybody who knows good news is authorized to tell it, particularly when it is news that will be the means of salvation of others. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. It was a sad world in their time. Looking at the verse closely, we find that it uses the word "rest" twice. Ralph L. Keiper once said, "When we know Christ, not as a doctrine or a theory, but as Savior and Friend in our daily experience, we gain a confidence in Him which brings peace to our hearts. E In other words, the only ultimate essential for proclaiming the gospel is a knowledge of it. But the angel appeared and explained to Joseph what was happening. If we turn back to the earliest chapters of Genesis, we discover a description of the globe before God fashioned it into the kind of world we know now; and we are told that "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Verse 17 suggests that we are to tell others what we have seen and heard; but we can hardly do that effectively until we have first been amazed at Christ's birth, pondered its meaning, and glorified and praised God for it. And there, where they had first heard the angels' song, they themselves were heard to be singing God's praise. But how should a Christian celebrate Christmas? But this is all there will be - until the angels appear with their message. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Z. Or, in other words, there is a peace with God that we receive freely at the moment of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is another peace that we are able to enter into increasingly as we learn to know and trust Him. And there is peace with one another. Colossians 2:16 Verse Concepts Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day Psalm 95:2 Verse Concepts R After this type of amazement has run its course nobody gives the cause of it a second thought. So he was told, "you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! Joy is of God. Third, there is the suggestion of the work of a mediator who makes the reconciliation possible. His works were first collected in one volume in 1858, by William Barclay Turnbull. Toll Free: 1-877-247-2426. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Finally, when you have done these things and are truly qualified to speak, go back and tell others what you know. The difficulty lies rather in the fact that today, if only because of the impressive achievements of medical science, this approach inevitably fails to distinguish between the salvation that God alone can bring and that salvation which men are apparently providing for themselves. K Systematic Theology. Malachi, who lived in the fifth century before Christ, was the last of the prophets. I covet that kind of joy for you. Frank E. Gaebelein writes about this passage in The Practical Epistle of James, "A few years ago, former Chancellor Hutchins of the University of Chicago said war begins in the minds of men. The meaning of His name is "He will save His people from their sins" Or that they had not been endorsed by the temple authorities? The Bible says, But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). It is before his own master that he stands or falls. Then, you can think about these things and allow God to teach you more about Himself. These words mean "a right opinion," "a wrong opinion," and "a contradictory opinion" respectively. Have you heard these messages and appropriated them for yourself? Tillich developed his understanding of salvation from the meaning of the Latin word salvus, which underlies it. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. You want something but don't get it. Since his day no one had been raised up to declare the sure word of the Lord. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. He is the Savior. Do you know that you have fallen short of God's standards and that nothing within you will ever be able to move up to the fulfilling of them? There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. Romans 14:5-6 - One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. The appearance of Gabriel to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus. And it is this in which we are to imitate them. He would have simply thought her unfaithful. N For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. At this point our Bible text comes in, for it is a report of how those who witnessed the first Christmas observed it. Its genesis is not merely on the intellectual level; it goes down into the vast emotional reservoir of life and conduct that underlies the intellectual. It involves an effort to enter into the heart and counsels of God. Moreover, the Bible teaches that if you will believe that that is, if you will believe that you are not at peace with God naturally but that He has made peace through the death of His Son for your sin - then God will enter into the kind of eternal relationship with you in which you can be called His son or daughter. Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

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