Good Morning and Merry Christmas!
Greetings in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
Our Savior, Jesus Christ, was born on the Christmas Day. It was the day that all humanity finally saw the light of salvation that had been waited since the dawn of our humanity. Even the first family was tainted by an extreme jealousy of one son, Cain, who killed his own brother, Abel. From that time, no real peace among people and with God had been found. Since then, our fallen nature has been continuously working in us. Whenever there is a slightest opportunity, our fallen and sinful nature seizes the moment and drives us to a place that we don’t want to go. Apostle Paul lamented, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (Romans 7:24) Absolutely right, nobody has ever overcome and completely destroyed our sinful nature in us by our own might. Yes, we want to do what is right, we sooner or later, inevitably do what is wrong. We love God’s law with all our hearts. But there is another power within us that is at war with our own mind. Then we often witness that this power makes us a slave to the sin that is still within us. This is the nature of us and the power of sins that we cannot deny.
How to get out of this vicious cycle of our misery induced by our sinful nature? As we, natural human beings, this is not possible. If it were possible, we, human beings, already have had achieved a true peace among people and with God. When I look around, I don’t see any signs or hints of breaking this vicious cycle of our misery. We need a help. A real help that is bigger than us, which is powerful enough to plug out us from the vicious cycle. In fact, this is the common yearning of all humanity from the dawn of our human history – searching and waiting for salvation from our sinfulness.
The far eastern world from Bethlehem in Judea also waited for this salvation and the savior who could bring the salvation. One day three wise men saw the bright star. They followed the star eastwardly, and came to Judea. The Judea was reigned by King Herod, and as strangers who did not know the area, they came to Jerusalem to meet King Herod. Then they asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw His star as it rose, and we have come to worship Him.”
King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”
Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” After this interview the wise men went their way. King Herod did never see them again because God told the three wise men not to return to King Herod, and to go back their own country by another route.
The star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
They brought three gifts that signifies who Jesus was and what He would do for the entire humanity. Gold: Jesus is the true king of kings forever. Frankincense: Jesus is the true God in human form, i.e., His deity, and Myrrh: Jesus is the sacrificial lamb of all our sins so that all of us have the ultimate atonement with God. Although King Herod and the entire Jerusalem was troubled by the birth of Jesus, our Savior and Eternal King, the three wise men from the far east was in a great joy by finding the new born king and presenting the gifts foretelling the truth about the new born king, Jesus Christ. Although King Herod and the people around him tried to eliminate Jesus, God sent the three wise men to worship the new born king from their hearts. The sinful human nature directly collided with God’s love to the world, which is unfathomable. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)
God is love. Although He cannot tolerate sins, He still dearly loves us. Why? His love is greater than all our sins. Jesus Christ and His birth is the proof. Therefore, regardless who we are, or no matter what we did, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and accepted as His own children if we believe in Him. Yes, God wants only one – believing in Him.
God loved us so much that He gave His one and only Son. Believing Him means believing that God loves us and our salvation comes through Jesus Christ Some of us might question how is this possible? Yes, the power of sin is much stronger than us, the God’s love is stronger. Because of His love toward us, God sacrificed His own begotten son to take away all of our sins. The cross on which Jesus Christ died is the proof. This is our assurance to our salvation in Him. Give thanks to God, who did not spare His own son and sacrificed Him, will never forsake us, and will be our eternal ever-loving Father. Yes, all our sins are forgiven our sins, and we become His eternal children. This is done, because God is Love! Give thanks God, and offer our highest praises and honor. Praise Him. His faithful and unfathomable love endures forever, and we are taking our eternal refuge in Him and in His Love!
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)