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Christmas

Referenced in the Old Testament

If Christmas is celebrated as the birthday of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and His birth is written about, as happening, in the New Testament, what does it have to do with the Old Testament? 

 

Throughout the New Testament it is well documented that Jesus came into this world to save mankind from sin and death.  He came as a baby, born in a stable in Bethlehem, beginning a thirty three year journey of ministry that would change the world.  His teachings and His written Word that we have today are the solid foundation of how to live a life that is pleasing to God.

 

It is based on God’s plan of salvation for man that we find Christmas in the Old Testament.  Some 700 years BEFORE the birth of Jesus, the Prophet Isaiah said it would happen, with great detail.  Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  The Prophet Micah some 600 years before the birth Prophesied that the child would be born in Bethlehem, Micah 5:2. 

 

It is humbling and gratifying to read that God was planning for our salvation way back then.  Judges 13:18,            God’s name and ways are beyond understanding.  And Jeremiah 1:5 promises that, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart”.  God’s infinite wisdom knows everything from before the existence of anything to endless eternity; He has everything on His schedule.  WOW!

 

So, even though Christmas is the celebration of our Savior’s birth that did happen in the New Testament, it was well planned and announced way back in the Old Testament.  Since it was documented in the Books of the Old Testament, you have to wonder why those Scribes and Pharisees didn’t receive the message.  They knew a Messiah was coming yet they were oblivious.  We have the benefit of having a Bible accounting of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus throughout the New Testament Gospels.  It is with knowing and believing this Good News that we can live with the confident Hope of our endless life in Eternity.

 

 

The Meaning of Christmas

You’ve heard the clichés, ‘Jesus is the Reason for the Season’, but do we really give it the thought that it deserves?  Do we really ponder the fact that Jesus was God manifested in the flesh?  The God that spoke the world into existence came to mankind wrapped within human skin.  All because of His unfailing love for His creation!

 

This was not caused by any human effort; this was not from the seed of man.  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.  (Luke 1:34-35)  This was of incorruptible seed, the Word of God, The Word became flesh. 

 

From the prophesies in the Old Testament there was a promise of a Messiah that would come, Isaiah 7:14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  And further in Isaiah, 9:6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

 

These prophecies that were concealed in the O.T., along with the facts that were revealed in the Gospels, show us two things;

 

  1. That God had a plan to save mankind from the destruction that sin had brought upon them. 

  2. That God’s Word is the Living Word and has the power of life.

 

The Bible does say that God’s ways are beyond human understanding, so when we ask ourselves why, we can’t begin to come up with an answer.  But it does boil down to the fact that God created us and has unfailing love for us, as wretched as we are, He still has unfailing love for us.  Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (that covers all things)

 

So when you see a baby in a manger this year, just know that He came to earth for you and me and for everyone who has accepted Jesus as their Savior.  Baby Jesus came to this sin filled earth to save sinners, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

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