Right on cue, I received an email from Dawn, a good friend of mine from college. She sent me a piece about the different meanings of Jesus' name. The author's name is not included in the passage, so I apologize that I can't exactly give credit where credit is due:
The Glory of His Name
The message of Christmas is not about the proclamation of a holiday or the declaration of a season. It is about the proclamation of a Person and the declaration of Salvation. The birth of the child in the manger was an event that prophets had written about, the people of
Turn back the clock 2000 years and you will hear no man or angel saying, “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” What you will hear are the things that spoke of the wonders of His name, the glory of His presence, and the meaning of His birth. You will hear the voice of the angel of the Lord proclaiming to a small band of shepherds the following good news, * “Have I got something to say to you! It’s news that is too good not to be true. It’s news that will flood you with joy from your head to your toes. God has done it! He has sent the One that He has promised to send, the Jewish Messiah, from David’s very seed. Yes, it is Yeshua, God’s Salvation, who has come to save you from your sins.” The news was so exciting that a huge number of angels could no longer contain themselves. In one thunderous voice they shouted out, * “Glory, glory to God in heaven’s highest place. He has sent to earth’s lowly place His gift of perfect peace, and it is now available for all who will believe.”
Why did the angels have such excitement and celebration? We only need to know the names that belong to Him to understand.
Jesus—the One who saves you from your sins and who brings you forgiveness from the past.
Christ—the One sent by God for you; the Messiah, the fulfillment of every promise God has made to you in His word; the only One anointed by God to redeem you.
Immanuel—the One who came from heaven to earth to bring you from earth to heaven; God living in the midst of your life, being with you, and abiding in you.
The Word—the One who formed you in your mother’s womb, brought you into existence, and created you for His eternal purpose.
Dayspring—the One who brought light to your darkness—bringing you the hope of a new day, a new beginning, and a new life.
Wonderful—the One who does wondrous things for you, good things to you, and beautiful things within you.
Prince of Peace—the One who quiets your heart, calms your spirit, and brings rest to your soul.
Counselor—the One who guides your footsteps, leads you in the paths of righteousness, and speaks the love of the Father to your heart.
May Jesus and all that He gives be your true celebration for Christmas!
4 comments:
Yeah when I was younger and used to be a Christian, I thought the same thing. Where is the Christ in Christmas? Now when I think of Christmas, I don't think of Christ, I think of a time when all of the capitalists gather around and feed off of the public. Xbox360 anyone?
Wasn't Christ born in February anyway? and the 25th is really some pagan holiday that made the "transition" to the Christian religion easier?
Not everyone is Christian, but it's rubbed into everyone's face. that's why it looses meaning. Everyone DOES have to participate in Christmas, try not to! It's impossible."Sorry mom, no I didn't get you anything. No, I don't belive in god, or that jesus is going to save us ." Yeah that's going to fly. God is on our currency, you can't get away from other people's religion.
so true, so true. yeah, if you ever use that line on your mom, let me know how it goes. hahahaahhaha
it's not so much that i want to convert the world to my religion. i respect that others are free to choose their own. it just irritates me that the meaning is lost even for some of us who "practice" the religion. it's sad.
First of all, Jesus will not save us -- He's already saved us. But He will come again to judge the Church. Even if you're not Christian, if you live by the commandment to "love" your neighbor, then God will go easy on your soul come judgement time for it is by God's grace justified by faith and works that we will be saved; not by faith alone and niether by works alone.
When somebody greets you Merry Christmas and you're not "religious" then at the very least be polite and respond back with "Happy Holidays" but don't try to correct that other person. When Christians are greeted "Happy Holidays" by non-Christians, we don't correct them either. Let's just understand that we have different reasons for celebrating the season and accept each other for our individual beliefs and set our judgements and prejudices aside. How hard is that to do? Why the need to "correct" each other when niether is wrong to begin with? We just have different beliefs, that's all.
If you are still interested in an answer to the question of whether December 25 is truly the date of Christ's birth and of why this date was chosen to celebrate His birth inspite of the fact that it used to be a pagan day of celebration, I posted an answer on my blog.
http://spaces.msn.com/members/1kwords
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