Christmas- The Most Significant Event in History??
Hey my friend! Merry Christmas!
Today is a day that seems to mean something a little different to everyone. For some it means family and friends, for others it means gifts, for others it means heartache and pain, and for others it means nothing. As you likely know though, the real meaning of Christ-mas is to acknowledge and celebrate the birth of Jesus!
Although the celebration of Jesus’ birth on December 25th only dates back to the fourth century, the “Christmas story” dates back much further. It was in the 8th Century B.C. that God spoke to the prophet Isaiah and foretold the birth of Jesus:
Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign- a virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and He shall be known as “God with us”
Over 700 years later, it finally happened…
Luke 1:26-35: “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
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 conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.”
The rest, as they say, is history. Jesus went on to live a sinless life, perform miracles that proved His Lordship, and ultimately give His life as a payment for our sins. He even declared this about Himself:
John 14:6: “I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life, no one comes to the Father in Heaven but through Me”
With all that in mind, I think it’s pretty cool that most of the world acknowledges (directly or indirectly) His birth when they acknowledge Christmas. My prayer is that during this time, every person would open their heart and allow the greatest Christmas gift of all into their life…Him.
The other thing that I think is cool about Christmas, is that according to our calendar, it is the most significant event in all of history.
Although there are many opinions as to how long it has been since God created the earth, one thing is for sure…it was a LONG time ago! And, although there have been arguably millions of “significant” events in all those many years, only one has been granted the right to be seen as “the most significant” on our calendar.
Back in the 6th century a calendar was made and implemented that separated history by the birth of Jesus. Things that happened before His birth would be in the “BC” (before Christ) category, and things that happened after His birth would be in the A.D. (Anno Domini, or “The Year of Our Lord”) category. After a while this calendar spread (as did the Gospel) and now it is the official calendar of nearly every country.
I often think about how much this parallels my own life. Some people know my story but for 23 years of my life I knew virtually nothing about Jesus. I wasn’t raised in church or exposed to Him in any other way. When He came into my life on May 20th, 2006, He changed my life completely. That was, and still is the most significant event in my own personal history. The day I went from “BC” to “AD.”
I’m praying that if you haven’t yet had a “Christmas Day” of your own, by letting Jesus fully into your life to be your Lord and Saviour, that you would do that today. After nearly 17 years “AD”, I am amazed at how good He has been to me. As the song says, I just want to “go tell it on the mountain!”
I hope you have a wonderful day!
God bless you!
Chris
P.S. Here is a neat video of a group of amazing singers breaking out into Christmas songs in the middle of a busy shopping mall and captivating hundreds of peoples’ attention. It’s one of those videos that never gets old.
Click here to watch it- Christmas Choir Captivates People in a Shopping Mall