Christmas 2010

I read in an article recently that this Christmas, President Obama can expect to receive numerous Christmas cards urging him to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. A group called CMEP, churches for Middle East Peace is waging a campaign calling thousand of Christians and non Christians across America to send the card to the President.

Many people would like to seek world peace. In fact there is a movement call COEXIST. I am not sure if you have read or seen it, but you can look it up on the internet. The word COEXIST is drawn such that the C is a crescent representing Islam, O is the symbol of peace, the letter e is attached with the symbol of + and -> which shows males & females. Then the letter X is the star of David and the letter I is drawn to represent the pagan symbol. The letter S is cleverly drawn to show the Yin & Yang symbol to represent Taoism and Confucianism and finally the letter T is drawn as a cross to represent Christianity. The movement is advocating the co-existence of all people, males & females, of all races and religions. The problem is that to co-exist, every one is always playing the waiting game of you first. I can co-exist with you but you have to move first to accept me. And so, we have the Palestinians Arabs tell the Jews to respect and follow their belief and the Jews are saying to the Arabs, no you accept my belief first. Since no one is willing to make the first move, COEXIST foundation is only a nice concept, a nice belief.

Christmas is a wonderful and joyful season and indeed many people would like to associate peace with Christmas. Make no mistake about this, we are talking about real peace. This is not a concept but a relationship.

The bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God. Well, Have you ever wonder how come God has a son? Do you know? I don’t know. I don’t know how and why God has a son but one thing I do know, God’s son is the savior of the world. In Luke 1 we read about the birth of Jesus. The angel told Mary that she will give birth to a Son and she is to call him Jesus, the Son of the most high The child to be born will be called holy, the son of God. (Luke 1:31,35).

Continue reading in Luke 2: 7 “She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” And then the angels told the shepherds: But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Luke 2;10-14)

This is in fulfillment of the prophecy by Isaiah written hundred of years before Jesus was born. Isaiah wrote: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa 9:6).

Isaiah did not say a son is born. But a child is born, and a son is given. The Son is with the Father from the beginning.
The scripture is very clear that a Saviour name Jesus is born. He is among many things, Mighty God, the prince of peace.
Even though the Term "Son of God" occurs 47 times in the King James New Testament. Even though in reference to Jesus, it is a title as the heavenly, eternal Son who is equal to God the Father (John 5:18-24). He possesses all authority in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18), and Jesus had glory with the Father before the world was made (John 17:5).

During his ministry on the earth for about 3 years, Jesus taught and he preached and he performed many miracles. He walked on water, healed the sick. He calmed the storm and raised the dead. You name it. The teaching of Jesus Christ has been passed down to us until today and if you are to ask anyone, most people likes his teaching and most do not dispute his philosophy of love, forgiveness and justice. You know, love your enemy, turn the other cheek and protect the poor and the under privileged. He was harsh towards the hypocrites, the rich who were uncaring and the leaders who only looked after their own interest. Well who would dispute that? But if you are to mentioned he is the son of God, most would dispute. Many today question the identity of Jesus. This is the problem. If we do not accept the identity of the Prince of peace, can we expect peace in the Middle East? In the Korean peninsula? In Pakistan? In Africa and even in our country Malaysia.


One pastor make it very clear:

There will never be peace in the world until there is peace in nations.
There will never be peace in the nations until there is peace in communities.
There will never be peace in communities until there is peace in families.
There will never be peace in families until there is peace in individuals.
There will never be peace in individuals until we invite the Prince of Peace to reign in our hearts.
Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

So when you have the Prince of Peace reign in your heart, you have peace with God. This peace will bring the peace of God so that you can have peace with each other. It all begins with your relationship with God through His Son.

Ravi Zachariah told of a story that happened recently. With a few evangelical Christians, they were having a dialogues mediating between the Palestine and Israelites, trying to stop the bloodshed that killed so many innocent children and women. . In attendance was Syed Ala,one of the founder of Hamas. This is what Ravi Zachariah told him. “Syed Ala, your son is in prison, You have being in prison. 5000 years ago, Abraham took his son up to the mountain not far away from here. We don’t have to debate if it is Isaac or Ismael since the Muslim believe it was Ismael. But Abraham was about to sacrifice his son. As the axe is about to come down. God spoke to him. Do you know what God said. Sheik shook his head. Ravi continued. God spoke to Abraham “Stop. Do not lay a hand on the boy. For I myself will provide a lamb”. 2000 years ago, God took his son to another mountain, this time the axe didn’t stop. His son, His only son was sacrificed. Until you and I are willing to receive the son that God has provided for us, we will be offering ourselves as the sacrifice for the offering of power and land. Our sons will continue to fight.” You can hear a pin drop in the room in at the moment.

In March later this year, Ravi was in Damascas for the follow up meeting, In the meeting was a leading Cleric name Syed Hussein. In the midst of the discussion and translation, Ravi said that this gentle cleric bend over and spoke to him.. He said “May be it’s time for us Muslim to stop questioning if Jesus died on the cross and to start asking why he died.” Ravi said he never heard this in all his dialogues with other Muslims. He asked the cleric if he can quote him and got the permission that he even wrote an article about it.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are asked to get into the relationship with the son of God. He is Jesus. He came to died for sinners and then he rose from the dead and reign forever.

A story was told about a man in the Louvre looking at the famous painting of Mona Lisa. As he looked and looked, then he shook his head and said something like this painting is nothing special\. It’s not a nice painting. Then guard who was standing near by said to him. “Excuse me, sir. This painting is no longer on trial.” Mona Lisa is already established as a master piece and no one is asking your opinion.

So is Jesus Christ. The Bible has spoken and Jesus Christ has lived and proved He is the Son of God. He is no more on trial. Many today would like to question his identity but the fact is whatever your opinion is, He is still the Son of God, the prince of peace.

Jesus Christ born as a child into this world is not a knee jerk response by God to a tragic world that is plummeting towards destruction. It is not a last patch-job or a stop gap measure. This is a grand scheme of plan. It is a calculated choice. CS Lewis says it well: The Son of God becomes man so that men can become sons of God.

The Iphone is run with many small application programs call Apps. This Apps is very easy to use and can be customized easily. If you don’t like it, you just delete it. If you like it, then you can change the setting and run it the way you like it. We treat God like this Apps. We think we can customize God to fit our liking. We delete the part we do not like and squeeze or bend the part into our liking. But we need just to receive the gift from God, His Son, the prince of peace. Let the prince of peace reign in your heart. We don’t even have to customize it. Just receive him as you are and as He is. Once you have this relationship with Him, you can then have peace with Him.

The news gets so much better when you trust the Lord Jesus Christ with your whole heart. The Scripture promise that he who have the Son have the life, but he who does not have the son, does not have life. And if you are without Christ and have not placed your trust in the Son of God, just follow this simple prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I am a sinner and I realize my sin separate me from you. I need your forgiveness and I thank you that Christ died that I may be forgiven. I believe He died for me. I believe He is alive today having been raise from the dead. I take Him as my Saviour and Lord.

If you have make this decision today, congratulation because you have found true peace and I would encourage you to get hold of any of the church members or oversight. Let us help you as you begin your walk with Christ. It will not only transform every Christmas from now on. It will change your life.