The central Christian celebration of Christmas is approaching fast. Its true historical meaning is found only in the Bible, and if you don’t have one, it is the number one best selling book in history. A search online, or even better, asking a local pastor or a friend who is a Christian about what versions are recommended, could easily help you get one for Christmas or for someone you love.
Called “Christ-mas,” or in Greek ‘X-mas’ (the X being the first letter in the word Χριστός, which means “Christ”), is a commemoration and gathering of gratefulness to our tremendous God, who came to us in the form of a little child, in order to live a life like us, so we would know He related to our struggles, and we could identify with Him.
If one was to look at the reasons behind this “Celebration of Eternal Thanksgiving”, you would discover a Life willing to protect the value of yours through a sobering personal sacrifice of Himself. He became vulnerable to the ravages of our own internal darkness and despair by becoming human and offering Himself up as a replacement in the judgment and destruction of the power of sin over our lives. Human beings have an unfortunate habit of compromising themselves, even often when they mean otherwise. This evidence of the indwelling of a sin principle is an infection in the heart of humankind, which produces the irrational impulses of fear, coldness of heart, and the like.
Nevertheless, in order to remove those very impulses by trumping them at their source, Christ sought us and died in our place to remove habitual and religious bondage. So now we celebrate His life of Love and pay it forward to others, in gratefulness. Being of unlimited value, because the nature of His life is God Himself, Jesus acted as His own supplier of the vessel which would contain the power of guilt, fear, anger and prejudice, operating in our inner lives. That vessel was Himself. Full of the contriteness we seemed oblivious to as our need, He died in a chosen act of Love, through the agonizing method of the cross, taking from within us and transferring to Himself, the spiritual substance of sin, so we could be preserved and free from its influence permanently. Then He experienced the protective anger of God at the brutal effects of sin in us, and the pain of separation from ultimate Love that went along with it, while winning peace for us with the source of Life, God.
So as this child, once grown, He acted protectively against our mass degradation, as an immune system which has to kill a virus. That virus was too strong for any of us to beat, consequently it needed to be transferred to another host, in this case Himself, then His unlimited immune system could destroy the “virus of sin”. This was like a spiritual transfusion of all bad things, from us to Him. Once the immunities were unleashed and the virus destroyed, the inoculation was prepared and drawn from his own blood. The wisdom of this is apparent in the attempts to develop a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus today.
Many potential approaches involve taking anti-bodies, from those who have made themselves available after dealing with the virus. In a very small way they are laying down their lives to be used to save you and others, that’s “Goodwill toward [others].” Because events have gone in an unfortunate manner these persons have already contracted the virus but consequently have built an immunity to it. I watched a special on TV of those in Britain who were deliberately responding to a call for a medical procedure, one where persons, who were deemed medically healthy, would be injected with the Covid virus and remain under medical supervision until the virus had run its course, all with the intention of identifying and gleaning antibodies and knowledge with which to master this enemy. Then, with the understanding of how virology works, medical researchers would tweak it to make it useful for the systems of anyone who needs the help. What a parallel!
As far as the cure for spiritual disease, in the nature of each of us is concerned, all that remains is for us to ask for the inoculation through trust in Jesus’ sacrifice. Then it can be given by who the Bible calls the Great Physician, God our Heavenly Father himself. It’s good science, if you’ll look at it, it has been left up to us, as to what we will do with the offer of a healthy spiritual immune system. Just like the help with COVID-19 will be when an inoculation is offered in the near future, after any delivery medium problems are resolved. The reason Christ’s sacrifice hasn’t brought “Peace on Earth and Good will toward men” to so many out there, is because, just like with the future solution for Covid, it still remains for each person to come to a point where they recognize they need outside help. Many will continue to attempt to bypass the inoculation and build their immune system through organic diet, exercise, and supplementation, herbal or not. The irony is, if we all lived that way before a virus hits, we may not have inherited such a susceptibility to COVID-19 or to viruses in general, and then would have a much lower death toll and infection rate. So this goes to a regimented lifestyle, based on the sound wisdom of preventative maintenance.
Just like in Christian circles of those who trust in God, it is always advocated to follow the wisdom in the Bible. A person needs to learn about their health and the reasons for any struggles they may have. Unfortunately, in an unquestioned knee-jerk reaction, many rely on their own judgment, but when it is uninformed as to what the real issues are, even the most intelligent person will be in the dark and can make mistakes. You see, being in the dark leaves you unable to truly see feeling your way in trepidation. This is not a sound way to navigate any issue.
The fact is sin remains in the world around. Much unnecessary suffering is due to our lack of acceptance of Christ’s benefits in our hearts on a personal basis. It’s pride and fear, convincing us to not accept the needed help from the outside. Like any disease, it is cured one cell at a time, as the vaccination spreads through the body. If we accept the life of this child, born in the darkest time of the year, to provide Life, the warmth of connection through our mutual association with Him and the rule of Love in our hearts, Gods gift of substitution could then individually destroy what harms us inside, and collectively, there may be a little more “Peace on earth and goodwill toward men” all year round.
In this Season of Thanksgiving, “Merry X-mas.” [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]