what does the bible say about celebrating jesus' birth

Publication date: Apr 30, 2023. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. There is a sense in which the world will never know even one of these three types of peace until the return of Jesus Christ. Now the one thing prayer will most do for us is bring our minds into a greater conformity with the mind of God. I love this word "glorify." I know that Christmas is a busy time. Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. When a person is at peace with God judicially and is experiencing increasingly in his own life that peace of God which transforms him and gives him tranquility even in the midst of great emotional turmoil and misunderstanding, then there is a firm foundation on which to overcome those interpersonal tensions that upset families, churches, cities, governments and the world. Praise the Lord! This is the perfect combination a knowledge of the Good News and men who need to hear it. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. Had He forgotten His promises? Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Wesley was praying for the second of these rests, the peace of God that Paul was writing about to the Philippians. The first of these important appearances was to Mary. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. Salvus means "healthy" or "whole." 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. Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. Christmas time is a few days away. The professor replied that he thought he had. It is in this sense a doxology, which means to express a right opinion of God verbally. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. Scripturally speaking, a Christian's celebrating a birthday is a non-issue. He wrote and remember, he is writing to Christians "What causes fights and quarrels among you? 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." Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. 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, saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? Helpful Not Helpful Praise the Lord! No doubt, these examples of the reduction of the biblical view of salvation to human dimensions are not equally bad. The difficulty with this approach does not lie in the thought that the biblical view of salvation is unrelated to such themes. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. December 26, 2015 . Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. The passage begins by speaking of the shepherds. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. It implies a diving beneath the surface. That has been the cry of God's people from the beginning "How long, O Lord, how long?" This article may not be reproduced in any other fashion without the expressed written permission of the Alliance. Q The Wise Men Were Not There. 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. How could they refuse to tell what they had seen? However, God does promise to give us what we need (Philippians 4:19), and He promises to keep our minds in His peace, if we will pray to Him. In fact, it . And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it? And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. Systematic Theology Volume 2: Existence and the Christ. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. Finally, our text suggests that we can celebrate Christmas by glorifying God and by praising Him. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. Let the wonder of that first Christmas fill your life todayand every day. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:30-33). 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. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. There are three instances. Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Well, peace with one another results from having peace with God and with finding the peace of God personally. The God who did not forget us in Christ's first coming will not forget us in His second. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. To the choirmaster. Joy is of God. A concordance soon gives the answer. Music: Pax Tecum, George T. Caldbeck and Charles J. Vincent, 1876. Of course they did! I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. Since his day no one had been raised up to declare the sure word of the Lord. Will you turn your focus toward Christevery day. The world won't let us miss the holiday. (Revelation 22:17). His works were first collected in one volume in 1858, by William Barclay Turnbull. There would have been no need for His life, His death on the cross, or His resurrection. TopicalBible In other words, peace will come when men are truly men of good will. But at the same time, the one who will come to Jesus Christ will know a great peace even in a world that denies it. 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. There are a few theories. He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Sol Invictus was a pagan god who was believed to be the unconquered sun. But the problem is that what God means by the phrase is not what men generally mean when they use it. There had been revelations from God in the past. "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" Words: Heinrich Suso (?-1366); translated from Latin to English by John M. Neale in Carols for Christmastide (London: 1853). Let's consider four reasons why Christmas doesn't meet the criteria of being "Christian.". 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. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. 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" . So they have changed the line to read "Let us find that promised rest.". Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. They are: The appearance of Gabriel to Zechariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist. Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. The noun form of the word is doxa, which we have in our words "orthodox," "heterodox," and "paradox." I And then this is what is so wonderful Joseph believed him. Christ the Lord. I wonder if you have experienced joy at this season. 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). We learn of His mercy. To what did they return? 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. Is there such a verse? (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957), page 166. What had happened to these men? One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Amen. It comes from a verb which means "to reconcile" or "to bring back into harmony." He would say that He was the life for a world that was dying. The reasons why they became witnesses are that there was an event, a great event, and that others very much needed to hear of it. Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. But I imagine that the joy of this couple on this occasion was the greatest this world has ever seen. His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. 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. This has something to do with the age in which we live as well as with the general aspirations of mankind, I suppose. What a cause for amazement! "He was born like us as well as died like us. And they know that as a result of this faith, they are at peace with one another. First, it involved her memory; for we are told that she treasured up all these things. But if that is true, why do we not see peace today? One day just before Christmas vacation, the professor said, "Well, Keiper, are you going to preach that old Christmas farce again?" Topics: Jesus Christ. (Philadelphia: Evangelical Foundation), 1961, pages 12-13. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. There will be a little Christian sentiment, some happiness, and much activity. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Many people believe that the celebration of Christmas is rooted in the pagan holiday of Saturnalia, which honored the god Saturn. Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. For you see, Joseph was in a difficult position. Pondering is work. We see the force of this verb when we recognize that it was used of persons who were becoming engaged, hence, of the engagement contract. Or that they had not been endorsed by the temple authorities? May God give you grace to do that. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with . 1. I am convinced that this thought was uppermost in Luke's mind as he set about to write this opening section of his gospel. 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. The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. The second concerns the salvation of men. The third message is of the outcome, which is joy for man and glory for God. He trusted God and received a great revelation concerning the work of the Savior. Further light is shed upon these verses by the meaning of the words for peace in the original Greek and Latin. 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 there is peace with one another. pages 24-25. Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. But of all these things, the incarnation of the Son of God is the most amazing. 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. Be amazed at the event itself. Just as we celebrate our children's birthdays every year, I believe it's entirely appropriate for us to celebrate the birth of God's own Son, Jesus Christ, every year. There are two kinds of amazement. It also teaches us of God's power, for an incarnation is beyond our ability even to conceive, let alone to bring into being. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! My family likes to read these together on Christmas Eve, right before we go to bed. Perhaps you are anxious to be delivered from some tenacious sin, but you do not seem to have deliverance. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. The question is important because of the significance of the day and because so many obviously do not know how to celebrate it. Rather, He enables us to face them with a quietness, a calmness and confidence, which makes it possible to find a solution" 10 This is the peace that Edward Bickersteth wrote about in the late nineteenth century, in a verse which has since become one of our great hymns: The first way in which we find this peace, then, is by learning of Jesus. Though Dec. 25 is considered the birthday of Jesus by a large segment of Christendom, there is no evidence that . Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. Privacy The Life! Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. Notice that this verse does not say, "In everything present your requests to God. He answered, "That old threadbare message of peace on earth, good will to men." 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. 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. R Allow it to stretch your mind, and learn that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in any human philosophy. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.. 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. The time of fulfillment has come! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 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. "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" Words: Charles Wesley, Hymns for Those That Seek and Those That Have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ, 1747. But their amazement is fitting to Christmas - it's a sample of what Christmas amazement should be for those who understand the Christmas story.

Julie Lebiedzinski Birthday, Articles W