December 26, 2019
Just a Few Words
Now that Christmas is behind us, I wonder how many people who could care less about the accomplishments of our lord and savior, profited from the celebration of his birthday, which as we know is actually on September 11th. Without looking at the news I am sure a lot of people profited and I’ll also bet that they are glad that there is a Christmas Season that has so much commercial impact. Many business bottom lines are determined by the period of time from November 1st thru December 30th. However, we are instructed in Matthew 6:33:
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
In the context leading up to that verse, it refers to how God will take care of your needs.
Jesus Christ said in John 10:10b
“…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
The “abundant life” is a spiritual life and a large part of that is to build our reliance on God and our trust in Him that He will meet our needs regardless of the seasons of the year or the economic advantages they might bring.
People seem to enjoy the Christmas Season in our country and fortunately it at least shows that we are basically a Christian nation and regardless of what scriptural error may be on display, at least people’s attention is pointed to the birth of Jesus Christ.
When one looks at the birth of Jesus Christ, what a wonderful moment it must have been for Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she was given the news that she was going to birth the Christ.
Luke 1:26-33:
“And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
Those were some pretty potent words from God delivered by Gabriel. Although no human knew it at the time, that promise extends to us of the Church of the Body in this our time and place because Jesus Christ came to make eternal life available to everyone who believed in him, and that eternal life is part of that kingdom that shall not end.
Jesus Christ opened up his ministry with a very direct explanation of his purpose in Luke 4:18:
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor: he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Everything that occurred in Jesus Christ’s life, beginning from his birth through his ascension built to the Day of Pentecost, when life changed with God’s giving of His gift of holy spirit. Now we can do the works that Jesus Christ did and more.
John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.”
What a statement and a promise! The challenge is to make it an active part of our life.
We see that during Jesus Christ’s ministry, he sent out the twelve apostles to do what he had been doing.
Mark 6:7: “And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits.”
That’s the same power we have with the gift of holy spirit. They were to preach and minister. We are to preach and minister and to operate the manifestations of holy spirit that Jesus Christ came to make available. In doing this, we will be doing the greater works that Jesus Christ talked about in John 14:12.
Romans 10:14,15: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed: and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
I am thankful for the Christmas Season, because it reminds people of the birth of Christ. We needed the Christ to show us how to bring glad tidings of good things and to believe God to get man out of the mess he was in. We need the Christ for an example of how to love and walk with God in our personal lives. We need to be thankful to God for doing what He did to put Jesus Christ on this earth, so that some day we will see the “fullness of times” which will begin with the gathering together of the Church of the Body of Christ!
But for now, funglimpses to all! Thanks for reading. Respectfully submitted. Will Grove