Today let us look into the facts of Christmas, Christmas without Christ in it is nothing but a religious festival. But, Christ is the reason for the celebration.
Christ the Greatest Gift of All.
True Meaning and The Truth of Christmas.
Christmas is not only about the Gifts, Cakes, Trees, Santas, etc. But it is about “Jesus Christ”, The Greatest Gift of All.
We see that Christmas gives us Joy, Peace and Meaning to our lives. But, this Truth is not known by many people. Let us look into some of the basic questions that are a hindrance for many to accept this Greatest Gift.
Some may question, How can Jesus claim to be God or the Messiah? They even may say anyone who was born at the time in Bethlehem in David’s Bloodline could have claimed to be The Messiah, but Why Jesus?
The answer is, We see that it was not only the Birthplace of Bethlehem or the Bloodline of David, but the irrefutable act of God through the Holy Spirit enabled Mary to conceive and give birth to Jesus.
Now, this claim of birth through a virgin is an impossible act of any human, as no one is born to a Virgin except for Jesus and, the Historicity of the scriptures proves that Jesus was born to a virgin, not only the historical records but also the “Prophecies”. Prophecies that date back to the creation and some 700 to 1000’s of years before the birth of Jesus.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Note: The Child is not given, but the Son.
This Son is an Everlasting Son of God, Who was with God and Was God - Jesus Christ
Many years ago now a couple of guys, Peter W. Stoner and Robert C. Newman wrote a book, “Science Speaks”. Their book was based on the science of probability and confirmed by the American Scientific Affiliation. It calculated the odds of any one man in all of human history fulfilling just eight of the 60 major prophecies fulfilled by the life of Christ. The conclusion they reached was that the probability that Jesus Christ of Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight prophecies would be 1 in 1017. That's 1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000. That’s a lot of zero’s!.
Did Christianity Copy Earlier Myths?
Skeptics claim Christianity, including the vlrgln birth, is merely a repackaging of pagan "mystery
religious." Not true, says apologist Alex McFarland. Contrary to mythology,"the New Testament
deals with actual persons and historical events open to investigation,” he said.
Researcher Gretchen Passantino agrees that Christ's birth is radically different from these
mythological tales."For example, Instead of a virgin willingly conceiving by the invisible power of God, the myths gave us lurid tales of lusty gods having forced sex with women," she said. "Instead of the Incarnation, the myths gave us half-human, half-divine superheroes subject to the same weaknesses, sins, and frustrations as we are."
Albert Schueitzer said those who claim Christianity was derived from these myths "manufacture out of the various fragments of information a kind of universal mystery religion which never existed." And C. S. Lewis confirmed Christianity originated "in a circle where no
trace of the nature religion was present."
We also see “Unlikely Characters, less respected in the society who were chosen in God’s plan for Christmas. God chose Mary, Joseph and the Angel appeared to the “Wisemen” and also to the “Shepherds”.
Now, let us look into the Gospel writers, as these were the ones who by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote to us the “Birth, Life, Death and Resurrection” of Jesus.
Matthew, A Tax Collector, comes probably only next to “judas iscariot” in the cultural standards and was chosen to write the Gospel of Matthew, which happens to be the first book in our Bible’s New Testament.
Mark & Luke were not the Eyewitness Disciples, but Luke was a gentile. But yet God chose them to write the Gospels.
Mystery of Q
The Q source (also called Q document, Q Gospel, or Q from German: Quelle, meaning "source") is a hypothetical written collection of primarily Jesus' sayings (λόγια : logia). Q is part of the common material found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke but not in the Gospel of Mark. According to this hypothesis, this material was drawn from the early Church's oral gospel traditions.
Undeniable Historical Evidence for the Existence of Jesus
Comparing Bible/Ancient History: Alexander
We see that Alexander’s first record was almost 400 years after his death, written by Plutarch in 60 AD, whereas Jesus’ was by his own disciples within a period of 20-80 years and the number of manuscripts are also around 5,000 Gospel Manuscripts.
If you can believe the facts about Alexander, you can believe the facts about Jesus.
May God Bless you in this season of Christmas.
Merry Christmas