What Is The True Meaning Of Christmas2
“What is the true meaning of Christmas?”
7 Creation Miracles of Christ ,The Jesus story as told by the Apostle John
No star. No angels. No shepherds. No wise men. No mention of Bethlehem or Mary and Joseph. No compelling story of the babe in a manger. No genealogy of Jesus to introduce His birth. No elaborate "Christmas Story" describing the events preceding and surrounding the birth of Jesus.
John the Apostle does none of these things when he begins to tell the story of Jesus of Nazareth.
Instead, he pens a unique introduction to the words and works of Jesus that reaches back to eternity past, echoing the introductory phrase in Genesis-"In the beginning."John establishes the nature and character of Jesus as he begins to unfold such familiar themes as life and light to describe the One who became flesh and lived among us.Why are there four different gospels?How different are they? Do they contradict one another? Why did God inspire four accounts of Jesus' story?To enable us to objectively verify the truthfulness of their accounts. The Bible, from earliest times, states that judgment in a court of law was not to be made against a person based on the testimony of only a single eyewitness but that two or three as a minimum number were required Deuteronomy 19:1515 "You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Even so, having different accounts of the person and earthly ministry of Jesus Christ enables us to assess the truth and accuracy of the information we have concerning Him.
Although all four gospels record the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, each is distinct, written from the author's own perspective. Each author is writing to a specific audience for a specific purpose. From the pages of each gospel emerge a unique, but complementary, portrait of Jesus Christ.
Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah to his Jewish audience.
Mark presents a call to discipleship where Jesus is Lord desiring a fruitful, right relationship and proper worship from His people.
Luke emphasizes Jesus as teacher and seeks to make the Gentiles certain of the things that Jesus has taught.
John's purpose in writing is clearly defined by John himselfJesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and the source of eternal life.
John 20:30-31The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
John begins by stating and developing the "thesis" that he will defend as he tells Jesus' story. He describes the nature and character of Jesus, boldly declaring who this Person is. And while he recounts the earthly ministry of Jesus, John does not focus on His humanity, as the other gospel writers do, but rather on His deity.
John 1:1-7,12,14 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He existed in the beginning with God. 3God created everything through him , and nothing was created except through him. 4The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 6God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony12But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God... 14So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.
John systematically builds a clear and compelling case for the nature and character of Jesus in the first chapter of the gospel of John.
Rather than giving a detailed account of the birth of Jesus, John, in his own style, writes an explicit description of who Jesus is. John actually does include the essence of the Christmas story in his introduction?
Jesus, the Creator, stooped to enter His creation. In the first twelve chapters of John's gospel, we read the story of Jesus' earthly ministry, but with a primary focus on His deity and the reason why Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us.
The power and purposes of Jesus the Creator become evident as John describes His earthly ministry, particularly as he details the many miracles Jesus performed. John himself declaredJohn 21:25"There are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written".
Just how many miracles did Jesus perform while on earth? So many that no one but God knows. However, John chose to record just seven miracles to make his case for Jesus, the Son of God.
John's selection of these miracles is intentional. To validate the message of Jesus, John purposefully and strategically records (under inspiration of the Holy Spirit) these seven specific "signs" or miracles. They are unique in emphasis and in message.
And these are creationmiracles-ex nihilo ("from nothing") miracles-extraordinary supernatural demonstrations that validate Jesus' role as Creator. They give testimony to Jesus' identity as:the Son of God, the Messiah, the source of eternal life, the Saviorandthe Creator John 1:1-3In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God,and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. .
All seven of these supernatural creation events-creating something from nothing-were accomplished merely by the thought or command of the Creator.
John records these specific creation miracles so we could witness the divine nature of our Lord-the deity of Jesus, as Creator and Savior.
John 20:31But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name..
The 7 Creation Miracles of Christ tells us how each creation miracle highlighted in John's gospel demonstrates Jesus' authority over all of creation (the physical, chemical, material, and natural universe)His power over life and death as the Son of God, and the spiritual truths taught through His encounter with human need that can and should impact our lives today.Lets get back to the true meaning of Christmas ÔÇô it is love.
John 3:16-17
"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.
The true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of this incredible act of love.The real Christmas story is the story of God becoming a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ.
Why did God do such a thing? Because He loves us!
Why was Christmas necessary? Because we needed a Savior!
Why does God love us so much? Because He is love it self
1 John 4:8
But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
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Why do we celebrate Christmas each year? – Out of gratitude for what God did for us, we remember His birth by giving each other gifts, worshipping Him, and being especially conscious of the poor and less fortunate. Putting Christ into Christmas.
Luke 2:10-11. “Suddenly an Angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the Angel reassured them. Don’t be afraid he said. I bring you good news. It will bring great joy to all people. The Saviour—-yes, the Messiah, the Lord— has been born today in Bethlehem the city of David!” Scripture reading: Luke 2:8-12.
Introduction. If we were to place a person from the deepest rural area of our country into one of the our busy shopping walls, for instance, Greenstone, during the Christmas season and he was observing the hustle and bustle of the crowds, what do you think his impression of the meaning of Christmas is? Looking at the sight and sound of our Christmas preparations, would he able to understand the true meaning of Christmas? Could we explain to him the real meaning? Would he believe us? All the glitter , the tinsel, the buying and selling, drunken parties and so on—-do they speak more loudly to such people than do the testimonies of our churches and of our own individual Christian lives. Even our own children are rapidly losing the sight of the true meaning of Christmas, because Christ has been taken out of Christmas, His place having been taken by our selfish leisure in its outward celebration. At the beginning of this Christmas season let us gather our families together and remind them through the reading of the Christian story, of the real meaning of this great Christian celebration. Let us attempt to cause them to see for themselves that there is a great depth to the richness of the glorious message of Christmas. Let us teach them the Christmas season is a time for;
1 Adoration and praise of our Lord At this season of the year we ought to give full expression of our great love for the Lord through unashamed praise. 2 Arealisation of the meaning of his coming. What does the coming of Christ into the world really mean to our hearts today? What was His purpose in coming into the midst of humankind?
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