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In more than three decades of my Christian life, I have been blest by 2 types of Daily devos'
(matter not exceeding 500 words) in universal Christian literature. Not only those Devos'
which have a different theme everyday but also the ones which revolve around a certain
theme over a period of time, say a fortnight, have richly edified me. In fact, both
styles have their own inherent advantages. If the former style caters to the varying
spiritual needs of a christian from day-to-day, the latter aims 'to ground'
a child of God in a certain subject in order he derives the full benefits of the
deep insightful study of a certain topic, spread over a fixed span of time.
In my Daily devo page, I have consciously tried to go in for 'a blend of both the
styles' whereby within a constant theme, I would be aiming to focus on different
facets of it which admittedly is a closer imitation of the 'Constant theme' style
than the 'Varying topics' one.
As the month of December coincides with the Christmas season, in this month I intend to
dwell exclusively on all the topics revolving around Christmas using the visit of the
Wise man described in Matthew 2 as the base.
Let me wish you a happy and an edifying read… oh yes-MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF US!
Suresh Manoharan
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December 9th
Prophecy – History written in advance
In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has
written: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among
the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd
of my people Israel.'–
Matt 2:5-6
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In our own journey of the study of the visit of the Wise men, we now come to yet another important
dimension to the Christmas story. The
several prophesies regarding his birth, life, crucifixion, and resurrection.
The above-captioned scripture is the record of the statement of the Jewish
religious experts who were experts in the Old testament scriptures.
On the birth of Christ,
hinged the salvation of mankind. Period. The ‘Redeemer’ God, donning the robe
of flesh, was coming for a touchdown, on His sin-marred planet, to the very
place where he had given his creation a perfect start. Like the entry of any
Royal Emperor is always, heralded, His birth too was prophesied hundreds of
years back, If
Isaiah 7:14, talks about his ‘virgin birth’, then
Micah 5:2
speaks about his place of birth… Bethlehem. Why Bethlehem?
Where else, the ‘Bread of life’
(John 6:58)
could be born other than the place
known as ‘Bread’- Bethlehem in Jewish language means ‘Bread’.
If, we look beyond Christmas, there are more prophecies, if
Psalm 22, and
Isaiah 53 speak about
his impending crucifixion (Note: this was written a thousand years before
Christ, at a time crucifixion as a mode of death penalty did not exist), then
Psalm 16:10
speaks about his glorious resurrection, thereafter. Simply amazing!
Why so many prophesies, one may ask? The answer is simple; to preempt the cynics (there is no dearth of
them in this world) from attributing his birth and life to sheer coincidence.
His life was no ordinary life. On the other hand, even at the cost of sounding
repetitious, once again with one voice along with the angels and several saints
of past and present, I would like to reiterate that ‘on his life hinged the
salvation of mankind’. Hence, so many prophecies to signify its paramount
importance. Despite, all these, oh how many Christian (?) scholars give a
watered down message of Christmas, equating Christ to a social reformer. Be
warned, to call him anything less than a Saviour is SIN.Period!
Prayer:
Father in heaven, when we speak about the birth of your Holy Son, let our hearts be filled with awe,
for He is a Saviour. Amen.
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