Merry Christmas from the Anderson Home!

December 25th is the time we honor the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, although, it is highly unlikely that He was born on Dec 25^th (Scholars tell us December is not in the time frame that Shepherds watch their flocks by night) that is not important; what is important is that we take time to acknowledge the wonder of God being born of a woman and becoming man Himself. The amazing fact is that God sent His only begotten Son to be born of a woman, to suffer and die for the sins of the world to save a world that was bent on rebellion. Isaiah the prophet prophesying of the Messiah gave us this description: Isaiah 9:6-7 “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. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

In these verses we see that beyond the wonder that God would come down to man as a babe, we see that He was not to remain a babe; “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…” He was born into this world as a child but it was not a child who was given for these sins of the world; it also would not be a babe whose increasing kingdom has no end! It was a full grown mature Son; a child was born but it was a mature Son who was given. This sounds very victorious, at first read you see a child born, mature and inherit an ever increasing kingdom but bear in mind the reality is that the only way for His kingdom to increase and have no end was for Him to die. Jesus said it best Himself when He said: John 12:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Let us consider now to the account of His birth which is what this season is all about:

Matthew 2:1-2 “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” Here we read of the Magi who came to His birth (we can only assume there were three because of the three gifts): This event of their visit to the Christ child would, in reality, have been sometime after His birth; we know Jesus was born in the stable but he is not in the stable here; He is in Joseph and Mary’s house when the wise men saw Him (See Matthew 2:10). Interestingly Christ came unto His own but His own received Him not (because they did not recognize He was the Messiah); however, there were men outside Israel from the East who were absolutely convinced of Him (Because of a star and probably the writings of Daniel the prophet on the seventy weeks).

Matthew 2:3-6 “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, and thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” This prophecy is found in Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

Matthew 2:7 “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.” The wise men told Herod when the star appeared but little did they know this madman Herod would use this date to put to death many innocent children in an attempt to kill Christ who they said was a king; these men could not at this point have had any idea of how weighty these words would be and what the fate of many would be based on the time the star appeared. (Jeremiah prophesied of this mournful day this way: Mat 2:17-18  “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, in Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not”.)

Matthew 2:8-9 “And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.” At this point Jesus was already born in the manger; He had already been presented at the temple and was now home again (as seen in this next verse).

Matthew 2:10-12 “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.” As this verse states, they were not in the manger scene, but in the house of Joseph and Mary when they presented their gifts and He is no longer the babe in the manger but “the young child”. It was essential that these wise princes bring to Him precious gifts because this Jesus was (and is) The Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, and The Prince of Peace of Isaiah 9:6-7 whom they were worshipping. It was essential that they bore these specific gifts because they revealed this child’s Deity and His destiny. Gold is an incorruptible metal, this precious metal speaks of His deity, that he is very God. Also, they brought gifts of frankincense; this speaks to us of faith, but also suffering because it is incense that must be burned with fire. The true virtues of frankincense are only revealed with hot fire; the hotter the fire, the sweeter the smell. Also, gifts of myrrh, this speaks to us of death. Myrrh was used specifically in the embalming process to prepare the body for burial. The message conveyed through these three gifts is this: Jesus is God who must suffer and die and so we can see through these three gifts revealed his Deity and His destiny.

Let’s consider this one thought of His destiny; Jesus was God, born as a man and destined to die as a man for the sins of man. Now ask yourself this… “What is my destiny?” As we consider the busyness of our day, all the things we need to accomplish let's be apprehended with this thought, in the mind of our Savior was no other agenda than to come, to suffer and to die according to His destiny established by Hs Fathers will. We all long for our lives to have meaning, to accomplish something, to be useful in this life. This is a noble goal for us indeed; but consider that from the very beginning Jesus’ goal was to hit the mark His Father gave Him; to suffer in this life and to die on the cross. This is the purpose for which He came. To the natural mind this seems like a strange agenda for one of whom it was said that of the increase of His government there shall be no end.

What does this event teach us? First and foremost, the number one priority in our lives should be the will of our heavenly Father. Secondly, that the way up is down (by His death He creates a kingdom that will never end). Except a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies it abides alone. The Christmas message is this: The Savior was born to suffer and die, He had no self will, no time for self ambition, simply “Not My will but thine be done.” What Jesus did in the garden before His mock trial and crucifixion was a discipline He employed all His life; He, through prayer, struggled with self will and His own ambitions and aspirations and by surrendering to His Fathers will He won the victory over His human will!

In conclusion I want to ask us all a question; do we really want to follow in the steps of our loving Savior? Here is a conversation He had with James & John which highlights what it means to follow in His footsteps: Mark 10:35-40 “And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.”

Are we looking for the increase of His kingdom in our own lives? How is the increase in us going to happen? It is going to increase by a death, suffering and dying to dear desire and self will; by falling into the ground and dying, just as our Lord. Let's live our lives with the same purpose the Savior did. We are all born with a destiny to glorify our Father through the cross God has called us to bear and through our own death (to dear desire and self will) we will see His kingdom increase in our lives and this increase will never end.

Many Blessing, from our home to yours this Christmas!!

Merry Christmas

The Anderson Family