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The Birth of Christ

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We are coming to the time of year that many of our friends and family will be thinking about and talking about the birth of Jesus Christ. Being New Testament Christians, we are people of The Book. That being the case, we recognize there are no Biblical commands, examples, or necessary inferences, to celebrate a religious holiday regarding the birth of Christ. The Bible does not tell us the day Jesus was born and in fact His birth was likely in the springtime as there were shepherds out at night with their flocks, Luke 2:8. This should not diminish the fact that Jesus’s birth is the most important of all births. No other birth anywhere or in any way compares to His. Time itself revolves around the birth of Christ. Prior to his birth we have B.C., Before Christ. After his coming we have A.D., Anno Domini, which means “in the year of our Lord.” Our recording of every day, month, and year signifies how long it has been since the birth of Jesus Christ.

Photo by NeONBRAND

 

Yet, since people are already thinking about the birth of Jesus, we should take the opportunity to teach people about Jesus. Such as…

Jesus’ Birth Was Fulfillment Of Old Testament Prophecy. Isaiah 7:14 prophesied of Christ being born of a virgin. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” The place of His birth was prophesied, 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.” We read of these being fulfilled in Matthew 1 and 2 as well as Luke 1 and 2. These prophecies spoke of Jesus and He fulfilled them all. See Luke 24:44.

Jesus Is the Foundation of Salvation. John the Baptist said of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” John 1:29. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” John 14:6. The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said of Mary, “she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins,” Matthew 1:21. “His people” are those who obey Him through the Gospel, both Jews and Gentiles. See Acts 15:14; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 21:3. Brother Foy E. Wallace, in commenting on Revelation 21:3 said correctly, “Here the fundamental truth that the Father and the Son are one found its expression. The kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of God are one kingdom (Eph. 5:5); the throne of God and the throne of Christ are one throne (Heb. 1:8); the church of God and the church of Christ are one church (Acts 20:28); and the great voice from the throne was the voice of God and the voice of Christ in one united sound.” Whether described as the people of God or the people of Christ, the terms are describing the same people.

Jesus will be the Judge of Mankind. Jesus is now reigning on His throne, 1 Corinthians 15:25 (see also Revelation 17:14). Jesus is currently our Advocate and our Mediator. However, when He returns at the end of time, Jesus will then be the Judge of mankind. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” See also Matthew 25:31-46; Acts 10:42, 17:31; Revelation 20:11-15.

There are those who wish to only focus on the child “wrapped in swaddling clothes, laying in a manger,” Luke 2:7. They neglect to consider Him who is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah,” Revelation 5:5. It is to Him mankind owes obedience and faithfulness because He is the Christ, Savior, and Judge of mankind.

 

-Jerry D. Sturgill 

The Prophet Pigeonhole

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To the young Thessalonian congregation, recently planted by Paul, he wrote, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). The grouping of these brief exhortations show that they primarily concern the exercise of miraculous gifts in the first-century church.

While one can quench the Spirit’s influence by pursuing a lifestyle that is contrary to God’s word—by hardening one’s heart with sin (Hebrews 3:13)—the context in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 seems to indicate they were smothering the miraculous activity of the Spirit; the next exhortation against despising prophecies refers to the Spirit’s working in a miraculous context. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul addresses these miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit; one was prophecy (v.10), a gift that some, but not all, had in the first-century church (vv. 28-29; cf. 14:2-5). Prophecy was the means by which God revealed His message and served to edify her members (1 Corinthians 14:29-33). To first-century congregations such as Thessalonica, who did not yet have a complete, written New Testament, prophets foretold the message of God (the mystery of the Gospel of Christ) that had been hitherto kept secret (Ephesians 3:3-7). Sometimes a prophet of God would foretell events to come (Acts 11:27-28). 

However, there were also false prophets who claimed to have messages from God, but were liars (Acts 13:6; 2 Peter 2:1; 2 Corinthians 11:13; Revelation 2:2). When Paul was with the Thessalonians, he warned them about false prophets who would try to deceive them leading to a great apostasy from the faith (2 Thessalonians 2:3-5). With false teachers running amok, it is possible that some in Thessalonica had the tendency of putting all who claimed to be prophets of God in the same pigeon hole as false teachers and thus despised some true prophets of God. Do we not see people who have a similar attitude in regard to religious groups today? There are those who think that all religious groups advocate abandoning reason, manipulate emotions, and prey on the gullible to make lots of money. There are individuals who, upon hearing I am a preacher, have said to me, “Oh, your all about getting money out of people.” It is similar to Nathanael’s initial criticism concerning Jesus’ hometown, when he said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Jesus was the exception. Likewise, though there were false prophets, that did not mean there were no true prophets.

Since there are both true and false prophets, the proper response Paul advocates is to, “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). This is much like the admonition of 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

It seems that Paul had to leave the congregation at Thessalonica after only three weeks (Acts 17:2, 10). His two letters to them soon after his departure, which we have preserved for us in the New Testament, were written to more fully instruct them and encourage them to grow in Christ. Those who had the miraculous gift of prophecy in the infant church of the first century would aid new congregations like Thessalonica by messages from God just as Paul’s letters aided them.

While the miraculous gift of prophecy is no longer extant in the church today since we have the entire Bible: the complete revelation of God (1 Corinthians 13:8-10; James 1:25), we must still examine what a preacher says to determine whether it is true or false according to God’s revealed word. The teaching that is good should be embraced and practiced rather than despised and discarded.

 

-Mark Day