JUST A BLOG

Touching lives with the truth of God's Word.

My Photo
Name:
Location: Birmingham, Alabama, United States

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

The Meaning Of Christmas

Christmas is a celebration of the historic moment when God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ for the purpose of redeeming sinful man. The Christmas story begins not in a manger, but in the garden of Eden. There, God initiated a genealogical line through Adam and Eve that would remain unbroken, throughout centuries of slavery, famine, and turbulence, ultimately leading to the Messiah.
Meanwhile, God begin preparing the world for Christ's arrival. Roman conquests placed men like Caesar Augustus in charge; his call for a census served God's purposes by leading Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, where the birth of the Messiah had been prophesied. (Micah 5:2) Rome's influence also led to a network of roads, which would eventually allow Paul and others to travel the then known world preaching the Gospel.
God arranged all of this so that at just the right time, Jesus Christ could arrive on earth as a baby who would grow up to be our Savior, dying for mankind's sins. Child of God, we cannot allow ourselves to drift into a materialistic view of Christmas along with the rest of the world. In a month of colored lights and glowing candles, we should be burning brighter than ever as His lights to the world. You think about that.

Monday, December 05, 2005

What is a Christian?

What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the best answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God for his Father.
But cannot this be said of every man, Christian or not? Emphatically no! The idea that all men are children of God is not found in the Bible anywhere. The Old Testament shows God as the Father, not of all men, but His own people, the seed of Abraham. [Israel is my son, even my firstborn; and I say unto thee, Let my son go...Exodus 4:22]. The New Testament has a world vision, but it to shows God as the Father, not of all men, but of those who, knowing themselves to be sinners, put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their divine sin-bearer and master, and so become Abraham's spiritual seed. [Ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus... ye all are one man in Christ Jesus. And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed... Galatians 3:26]. Sonship to God is not, therefore, a universal status upon which everyone enters by natural birth, but a supernatural gift which one receives through receiving Jesus. [No man cometh unto the Father- In other words, is acknowledged by God as a son-- but by me... John 14:6]. The gift of sonship to God becomes ours, not through being born, but through being born again. [As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God... John 1:12].
My question to you dear friend, have you been born again? Have you been washed in the blood? Are you a son or daughter of the living God? If you cannot answer yes to these questions, then my friend you are facing a devil's hell, separated from God for all eternity. The Bible says "today is the day of salvation," also " there is no other name...(Jesus) under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Will you not receive Christ today, as Lord and Savior? And settle the issue once for all. Your very life depends on what you do with the Son of God; Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will never die." He died for my sins, as well as your sins friend. You think about that.