The Birth of the Savior?*

What are we truly celebrating at this time of year? Is it really about Christ's birth to us? The world has co-opted the Christmas season, and is using it for buying and selling, to promote business. Christmas carols are used in commercials to sell underwear! What have we allowed Christmas to become to us? The promise of Christmas began long before Christ's birth. In Gen. 3, Adam and Eve found themselves in a fallen condition in which they are afraid to show themselves before God when He comes to walk in the garden with them in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8-10). Adam and Eve knew that their condition had changed after they had listened to the serpent and had eaten of the tree of which God had told them not to eat. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. God cursed the serpent saying, "...Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly thou shalt go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (v. 14-15). Although God said the woman's seed would bruise the head of the serpent, we know that women don't have seed; men have seed. So there is a miracle birth being prophesied by God here with the promise of a victorious confrontation between the woman's Seed and the serpent's seed. In Matthew 1, we see the recording of the generations that followed after Adam and Eve, and led to the coming birth of Christ in the earth. We are also given the account of the virgin girl named Mary who before being joined with her husband, Joseph, "was found to be with child of the Holy Ghost" (v. 18). Joseph, finding himself in this position, felt it was the kindest thing he could do to put Mary quietly aside to keep her from religious judgment and public exposure. However, Joseph dreamed and an angel appeared to him in the dream to reveal the nature of the child to be born: "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." (20-21). The name, Jesus, is Greek. The Hebrew form of the name is Yeshua, meaning "salvation". This Gospel account in Matthew also points out that this birth fulfilled another prophecy in scripture of a virgin bringing to birth a son who shall be named Emmanuel, God with us. (v. 23, see also Isa. 7:14). After Joseph's dream, the scriptures describe Joseph as "being raised from sleep..." (v. 24). The Greek root words used in this phrase can include the meaning "arouse from the sleep of death, to recall the dead to life, to raise up". We can see from this that the revelation of the birth of the Savior, fulfilling the prophetic promises of God from the beginning of man (and before!), changed Joseph's condition. Adam's condition was changed by his willful disobedience to God, but now Joseph's life was changed by the revelation of the Christ child to be born. Joseph obediently and willingly followed the rest of the instructions that he was given (v. 24-25), and death was changed to resurrection life in him. Yet the world would use the birth of this holy and prophesied Child to sell underwear. We ignore the commandments of God concerning His ordained feasts, which each prophesy of Christ, but we have adopted the customs and traditions of men concerning Christmas. We accept the date given, December 25, which tends to coincide with the old winter solstice observances, for our celebration. The Eastern Church recognizes January 6 as the date of Christ's birth. The gift giving with which we celebrate Christmas was part of the pagan Saturnalia feast. Christmas trees were part of a European tradition that did not begin until the 19th century. We enjoy following these traditions, but have we Christians lost the true meaning of the day and the season? In these evil and dangerous times in which we live, can we afford to lose the true meaning of Christ's birth? Moses warned the people not to add or take away from any of the commandments he had given to them from God, and that the keeping of them was our wisdom. The people of God were to teach them to their son's and son's sons, to all of our children and future generations (Deut. 4:1-9). In Ezekiel 22, God spoke of judgment coming to His people for iniquity that is very similar to what we are seeing now. The LORD began to prophesy to Ezekiel regarding every level of Israelite society that had become totally corrupted: "Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation." (v. 24). Of the prophets in the land, the LORD said to Ezekiel that they were like a roaring lion ravening prey; they devoured souls. The prophets prophesied things that the LORD had not given them to say. They did so for riches. The LORD told Ezekiel that the priests had violated the law and profaned His holy things. They had not shown the difference between the holy and the profane, the clean and the unclean, and had failed to lead the people in the LORD's sabbaths (v. 26). The political powers, the princes of the land, only looked at the people to take whatever they could, to get dishonest gain. The LORD said they were ravening wolves (v. 27). The people of the land followed in the same corrupt way. They oppressed each other, and those weaker and poorer than they (v. 29). Sadder still, the population had become filled with iniquity and corruption, the LORD revealed: "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." (v. 30). The violence, corruption and oppression ran so deeply through the population that there wasn't even one person who was worthy or willing to come before the LORD on behalf of his nation. We see so much of this today in our land. The LORD told Ezekiel: "Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the LORD God." (v. 31). Today we are seeing great turmoil upon our land in the form of a pandemic, floods, fires, tornadoes, violence. We need to understand the importance of the true meaning of the birth of the Savior more than ever. We need Yeshua: Salvation, and Emmanuel: God With Us. Paul wrote to the Church at Rome about those who despise the goodness of God that leads to repentance, and of the hard and impenitent heart that treasures up the wrath and righteous judgment of God: "But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew firsr, and also of the Gentile." ((Rom. 2:4-11). For those who seek the righteousness of God: "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life...glory, honour, and peace to every man who worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. For there is no respect of persons with God." (v. 7, 10-11). God is not partial in judgment, but looks upon the circumcision of the heart, and in the spirit (v. 28-29). What is in our hearts regarding the birth of the Savior? What message are we bringing to others? Ezekiel brought the word of warning to the watchmen of the city that if they see the danger coming to the land, and warn the people, but the people do not heed the warning, the watchman will not be held accountable for what befalls the people. However, if the watchman sees the danger, and fails to warn the people, the blood of those who perish will be on his hands. (Ezek. 33:1-6). The LORD makes a plea to His people through Ezekiel: "Say unto them, As I live, saith the LORD God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezek. 33:10-11). The question is, "Why will you die, O Church?" If you are going to celebrte Christmas, then understand what the Lord is calling us to do and be. What we are doing now is celebrating Mammon at Christmas, rather than Christ. Let us examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 12/19/21 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimeschool.com.