Topic: Jesus Christ
What if you have an unrespecting guest while your house in mess? You would probably have quick greeting and shut the door. Or you may invite the person in your house and would say that you are sorry that the house is in mess. What if this guest is a person from the church who likes to share with you the love of Jesus Christ?
In this series, we will look to many aspects of Christmas tradition and the Christianity. But also on this series, we will look to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and today’s Church. Before we read the passage, consider to these questions. Why we celebrate the birth of our Savior? What was the earliest church tradition of Christmas? And how we celebrate this holiday today? We may not go through all three questions at once, but we will go into them through this study series.
Please, let’s read Luke 1:29-33 together.
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." (Luke 1:29-33.)
In this passage, we have found that the angel was going to announce great news to Mary. But Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be (Luke 1:29). Why she felt greatly trouble in her heart? I think that she was afraid because God would judge her. Or she was filled with fear because she never had been seen one of God’s angels in her life. We do not know why Mary was greatly troubled in her heart, but she let the angel to speak.
In our generation, some of us have fear of God as Zechariah and Mary did. But the most people might have the fear of something else, such as the school board administration, government, and court. Nowadays, many school students can’t spend their time with God in the campus. ACLU has refused the name of God in many schools and prohibited the sexual education in the public school. To have successful life before we enter the eternal life, we need to pay attention to God as Mary did.
In Luke 1:30, an angel of the Lord began to say Mary that she doesn’t have to be afraid, because she has found a favor with God. What favor? God gave this woman a favor to be the mother of Jesus. This doesn’t mean that Mary began to reveal her divine nature of the creation. Most today’s Paganism teaches on the Holy Mother Mary as the Mother of God, which the people of Israel practiced to worship their gods (Jeremiah 44). Throughout the research on the pagan religion, this is the most common misinterpretation about Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. There is no scriptural reference about God asked to be His mother. I am not trying to criticize our sisters and brothers of Christ in Catholic Church rather than telling you the truth of the Word of God and the Christianity.
Listen when the one of Catholic members asked about Mary: I would like to know why the Bible doesn't tell much about Virgin Mary. This question came from the Website is called Just for Catholics. It is the Website that would help those who want to know the difference between the Roman Catholicism and the true concept of the Christianity. This is what Just for Catholics (www.justforcatholics.org) response to the question:
“It is true, the Bible does not say much about Mary - though it tells us enough about her that we should know. She is the virgin mother of our Lord, whom God chose by His grace. And for the unique privilege she will ever be called blessed by all Christians.
“The Roman Catholic doctrines about Mary, namely, the perpetual virginity, the immaculate conception, the ascension to heaven, Queen of Heaven, mediatrix, and others are conspicuously absent from the Bible.
“Why so? Simply because the Bible is a book about Another person, who was chosen and appointed by God to be the mediator and savior of the world. That person is Jesus Christ.
“’The Lord Jesus said: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). The Bible is the Book about the Lord Jesus Christ. “
God called Mary to be in His favor, not because creating another religion, but bring Jesus to save His people from the bondage of their and our sins.
Read Luke 1:31. The angel says that Mary will be with child and give a birth to a son. In Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah prophesied this before the coming of Messiah, which is Jesus Christ. The name Jesus came from the word Joshua, which it means Savior or Justus. In the Bible, the name Jesus mentioned as Joshua twice and 1,975 times mention for Justus, which it means the word just or justice. He is the justice God among all nations. You and I can have God who is the justice and love us. There is no other gods like Him.
In Luke 1:32-33, the angel announces that Jesus will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; God will give Him the throne of David and He will rule over the House of Jacob forever. In Psalms 2:7, God said, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” In 2 Samuel 7:14 and 1 Chronicles 17:13, He said, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.”
The word Christmas has nothing do with the birth of our Savior, because it came from the people own idea to make a worldwide holiday. If you read Luke 1 and 2, there was no fancy decoration around the barn. If we turn to Jeremiah 10, the people of Israel decorated the tree to turn against God. According to the historical document, Christmas was originated from the Paganism and it Christianized by the Roman Catholic Church in about between 300s and 440s AD.
As we read in Jeremiah 10, the people of Israel made themselves gods through the decoration of tree. But the celebration of Jesus’ birth has brought the meaningful in our own life. He came to the world, so we may be saved to the eternal destiny that where God wants us to be. Again, it is God’s grace through Jesus Christ to you to be saved. It is not our choices to live in His kingdom, because Jesus said clear that He choose us to be set apart from this world (John 15:19). If we love the world, then we are not His (John 15:19a). Do you belong to this world or to God’s kingdom? Once you make the decision of your life to accept Jesus Christ, you will see the huge difference from your old to new life.
Are you saved? Are your love ones and friends saved in the grace of God through Jesus Christ? The purpose of this ministry is to share with you how much God loves you and me and wants to come in our own life to take us through any obstacles in our daily life. As Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3.)
If you are lukewarm in your relationship with Jesus Christ and want to know Him as your personal Savior and Lord of your life, please consider asking Him to forgive your sins and invite Him into your life. Paul says, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believed and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10.) If you have done in your private room or workplace, then you need to tell to your friends or love ones about what you have done, so they may rejoice with you and want to have that relationship with Christ in their own life. There are many occultisms in the world, which do not know the love of God and His great plan for those who believe in Him. As it is written in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
