Christmas is a celebration that Jesus, who was God, became flesh like us.
“In the beginning was the Word,… and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jn. 1:1,14
When He became flesh, he took all humans past and future in himself, just as all humans were in Adam when he was created. As the second Adam, all humans were objectively born again in Jesus when he was born of the virgin Mary. (Yes, a man can enter the womb and be born again-we all did when Jesus was in the virgin womb, and we were with him when he went into the virgin tomb.)
So, when Jesus was born, we were born with him, when he lived, we lived with him, when he died, we died with him, when he rose, we rose with him, when he ascended to the Father we ascended with him and are now seated in heavenly places.
“Or are you ignorant that all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death.” (Rom. 6:3,4)
“We being dead in trangression, He made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are being saved), and raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:5, 6)
“For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).
We share in the life of Jesus, his mission, his suffering, his glory, and his Triune life with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is what the angel announced when he said: “For, behold, I proclaim good news to you, a great joy, which will be to all people, because today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord was born…” (Lk. 2:10,11)
What good news! Share it! Tweet it! BBM it! MixIt!
Showing posts with label Adam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adam. Show all posts
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Sunday, November 14, 2010
I share my ancestry with Jesus of Nazareth
There is a worldwide birthday celebration coming up on December 25(I know some prefer other dates). This is the birthday celebration of Jesus of Nazareth. Well, I don't know why you will be joining those celebrations, but I know why I will be. You see, Jesus and I share our ancestry. According to Dr Luke, Shem(Jesus's ancestor) and Ham (my ancestor) were the sons of Noah. Noah was the son of Lamech. Lamech was the son of Methuselah. Methuselah was the son of Enoch. Enoch was the son of Jared. Jared was the son of Mahalalel. Mahalalel was the son of Kenan. Kenan was the son of Enosh. Enosh was the son of Seth. Seth was the son of Adam. Adam was the SON OF GOD. (Lk 3:36-38)
You see, Jesus is my brother not because I am a Christian, but because we are related. He is related to all people, including you! According to St Matthew, Jesus has all kinds of ancestors. For example, he had a number of Non-Jewish ancestors, although he was born into Jewish culture, and is considered a Jew because Joseph and Mary were both Jewish.
The split between Jews/Israelites and other nations (so-called Gentiles) has always been an artificial one from Jesus' perspective. Paul makes some startling comments about Jews and Gentiles, e.g.
Rom. 3:29-30 "After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30 There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles"
Rom. 15:8 "Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors"
Gal. 3:28 "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Eph. 2:14-15 "For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups."
Eph. 3:6 "And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News SHARE EQUALLY in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus"
(All scripture references are New Living Translation)
It is my view that Christianity is never a foreign religion to anybody. It is a religion for the Jew, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Indian, the American, the Brazilian, the African, and the European alike.
Have a Merry Christmas!
You see, Jesus is my brother not because I am a Christian, but because we are related. He is related to all people, including you! According to St Matthew, Jesus has all kinds of ancestors. For example, he had a number of Non-Jewish ancestors, although he was born into Jewish culture, and is considered a Jew because Joseph and Mary were both Jewish.
The split between Jews/Israelites and other nations (so-called Gentiles) has always been an artificial one from Jesus' perspective. Paul makes some startling comments about Jews and Gentiles, e.g.
Rom. 3:29-30 "After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30 There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles"
Rom. 15:8 "Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors"
Gal. 3:28 "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Eph. 2:14-15 "For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups."
Eph. 3:6 "And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News SHARE EQUALLY in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus"
(All scripture references are New Living Translation)
It is my view that Christianity is never a foreign religion to anybody. It is a religion for the Jew, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Indian, the American, the Brazilian, the African, and the European alike.
Have a Merry Christmas!
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