Some two thousand years ago a man was born in Israel, a nation that was favored by God due to the great faith portrayed by its ancestor Abraham. The birth of Jesus was forecasted by many prophets including Isaiah as follows; “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 (NKJ). Indeed the birth of Jesus Christ was extra-ordinary as prophesied. The Virgin Mary betrothed to Joseph (who was a descendant of King David) conceived outside wedlock and her fiancé had no idea whose baby it could be but God gave him understanding and grace to accept the situation just when he was getting cold feet. The Messiah’s life from the beginning was a humble one, fathered by a poor carpenter and persecuted to flee from his home area, Nazareth to Bethlehem where He was born in a manger! God chose that exact spot and not some posh place so as to invite even the poorest of world to his kingdom through salvation. Think of it, if Jesus had been introduced to the world as a rich fellow, would the peasants of this world ever have accessed so freely the gift of salvation considering the social classes that exist. Even the Pharisees of that time looked down upon him and his disciples as some filthy hooligans who never washed their hands before meals. Well, as we all know God resists the proud (see Proverbs 11:2) so He chose a poor family to raise his son and give him the basics for carrying out the greatest mission ever -- to save the world from eternal condemnation and enmity with God. To think that He never attained any formal education apart from the scriptures which seemed to be engraved in his mind. Nonetheless his mission was important-shown by how much time and effort he dedicated to it-even though despised by the world. His teachings were rejected and resisted from the word go and surprisingly the religious sector headed this criticism to the point of inciting the government to kill him. But in his humility he never fought this as he pointed out to his disciples that he could ask God to send a battalion of angels to save him but had to face death to fulfill the scriptures (see Mathew 26: 53-54). He was then beaten and spat on, cursed and jeered at and had to carry a heavy cross on his bleeding back before being stripped in shame and nailed mercilessly to the cross for a crime he had not committed. In preparation for this, he had submitted totally to God’s will and prayed for strength from the Almighty, to show us that as a human being he could not manage to make the sacrifice but needed the grace of God(See Luke 22:40-44). He prayed till he sweated blood! This underlines just how dependant we are on God’s will and grace. Some people think they are superior because they are saved and they never seek God’s will in their prayers like Jesus did. Instead they command God to do this and that for them - mainly material blessings- while never thinking of what God would like them to do for him. Others do not even appreciate Jesus’ gift of salvation or they accept it and do nothing about it. They are engulfed by the businesses and pleasures of this world that they have failed to see the truth of the Bible and stick to it. As a result there is so much lackluster attending of the church and serving God with ungodly intentions. With the ongoing spread of Christianity, one would expect virtues of morality, compassion, peace and brotherliness to abound. But because the world has ignored the importance of humility portrayed in Jesus’ life and teachings, there is so much oppression, hypocrisy and greed as we all strive to promote self-interest. This has taken its toll on the economy, politics and even the church. As a result salvation has lost its true meaning and God’s people though ‘saved’ are still bound by oppression, moral degradation and poverty. However those who know the truth shall be set free. The truth is that the Messiah is returning to take his flock to heaven (refer to Revelation). Woe unto you if He does not find you ready! Contact: jidgas@gmail.com
