A Baby for Two
Thousand Years
It’s Christmas time, and religious men and women (and even
those who do not profess or practice any religion at all) around the world are
setting up their nativity scenes, decorating their trees, giving and receiving their
gifts, and attending their Christmas plays (or Christmas parties). In all of
these celebrations, traditions, rituals, and earthly pleasures, there is one
constant – the Lord and Saviour of men, the Creator of all that is, the God of
Heaven and Earth, the Bringer and Sustainer of Life, and the Judge of all the
Universe – is presented to the world, both religious and heathen, as the lowly
Babe in a manger. Our God and Saviour is widely proclaimed and lauded as the
helpless babe, dressed in humble rags, and residing in a stable. Do you wonder
why this “Babe in a manger” never grows up, and why the account of Christ’s
life and ministry that is presented to the world at Christmas time, never
extends beyond His Birth? Because men don’t want Jesus to grow up! They don’t
want to hear about His Power and His Might; and they don’t want to hear about
the Gospel of Salvation – the Bloody Sacrifice for the sins of the people of
God. After all, who wants to hear the truth that men are sinners, and a great
price must be paid for the sins of those who are to be saved? Who wants to
frighten or offend the world with the Truth of God’s Word and God’s salvation,
when it is easier to appease them, and to appeal to their human senses by
presenting only a part of the Gospel – and present even that partial Gospel in
a carnal and perverted fashion? Today, it is politically incorrect, and humanly
offensive, for men and women to be told that they are sinners, to tell them
that there is a holy God that will hold all men accountable, and to inform them
that there is a gracious and willing Saviour Who died on the cross for the sins
of His people. Instead, the world (even the religious world) would rather
imagine peace and good will for men – with a manger and babe, instead of a
Saviour and a Cross – and bask in the human pleasures of idolatry, while
presenting a watered down version of Christianity that has been commercialized
and diluted (perverted) to accommodate the world’s desire for an inoffensive
religion that can be accepted by all men, without requiring a change in the
lifestyle or beliefs of those who desire to participate. For nearly 2000 years,
the Lord Jesus Christ has remained a Babe in a Manger for much of the religious
world.
In the Scriptures we read these Words about our Lord and
Saviour: “Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Heb 13:8) Jesus Christ never changes, and always has been and
forever will be, God. He didn’t come to the earth in order to become the
Saviour of men; He came to the earth because He already was (and forever will
be) the Saviour of men! Do you really think that this Eternal Christ and
Saviour is still a Babe in a Manger? If you do retain this vision of Him, you
do yourself and your God a terrible disservice. As far as I am concerned – and
I think the Scriptures bear this out – the perception (and understanding) that
I have of the eternal and unchanging Christ is of an All-powerful and Sovereign
Saviour endowed with the glories and powers of God and Heaven; Who in His
Earthly Ministry, came to earth to surely and certainly accomplish and fulfill
the covenant of salvation. However, the world of men, and the religions and
traditions of men which have taken over Christianity, would rather that the
Name of Jesus would conjure visions of babies and humble mangers, to the
detriment and loss of men’s souls. In their visions, in their Nativity scenes,
and most certainly in the desires of their minds, they portray Jesus as the
Babe, with adults hovering over Him, clutching Him to their breasts, and in all
ways depicting the Son of God as less than Who He is, and even dependent upon
the compassionate and caring adults for His very survival. They love to
consider Him as such, because it replaces the thoughts and the knowledge of God
as the Creator and Judge, with the false misconception that He is only a
helpless infant, waiting on the will and the assistance of his parents and
others. As long as the Lord Jesus remains in the manger; or as long as our
Saviour is presented as, and only thought of, as a child; then men can pretend
to be in control of their own fates, or at least pretend to have a far greater
role to play in the eternal fate of their souls. Additionally, religious men,
organizations, and even Christian denominations can appeal to the worldly
sentiments of men, by portraying the Captain of their Salvation as nothing more
than a helpless (and loveable?) Babe in a manger. This sort of harmless and
human icon of Christianity elicits softer emotions, and malleable souls, that
men can manipulate – all the while allowing the converts to live as they want,
remain in their sins, but gaining a sense of affinity for a religion of man
that cannot at all save the souls of even one individual. The type of Saviour
that they present to the world isn’t a very capable Saviour – He depends on the
will and work of men to accomplish his goals. How could such a Saviour save
souls without the help of man? He’s only a Babe in a manger! Surely, He needs
man’s help to accomplish anything good! This line of thinking, and this sort of
belief system, perverts the Gospel of Christ, and spells terminal doom for
Christianity as a religion – it is no longer a religion of God, but a religion
of man. In the celebration of Christmas, the religion of Humanism replaces the
religion of Christianity. This is the result of centuries of work on the part
of Satan, to defile and stain Christianity. His greatest tool in this regard
has been Catholicism. Through Catholicism the devil has historically promoted
works, indulgences, prayers, and idolatry as the mainstays of religion –
indeed, the Pope has been substituted for God. In many ways, Mary has been
substituted for Christ. And who do you think it was that brought the
Christ-mass into the world of religion? It was the Catholic church.
I believe it is a tragedy that so many Baptists today
participate in the Catholic Christ-Mass. The Mass itself began only as a means
to appeal to the pagans and the ignorant idolatrous peoples. In its desire to
spread its influence and to increase its numbers, the Catholic Church took a
pagan holiday, and converted it to (supposedly) Christian means. And yet, just
the name of the holiday (holyday) – Christmas, indicates its Catholic
influence, and its wholly idolatrous intentions. In the past, Baptists (and our
forefathers) have mostly rejected the notion of setting aside a day to
celebrate the birth of the Lord – especially since that day which the Catholics
have chosen, coincides with the winter solstice and a host of pagan traditions.
(In the past, Baptists and our forefathers of other names, would not even have
recognized Catholicism as a part of true Christianity!) In fact, it would have
been a terrible affront to many of the historic Churches of Jesus Christ, to
participate in a mass, or an idolatrous feast, which was propagated and
supported by the very Catholic institution that would hunt down the true
Churches, and seek to destroy them.
Today, I hope that you will consider the all-to apparent
truth that the Christmas holiday poses a great danger to True Christianity. The
Christ-mass itself is a terrible offense to God and serves as a man-made (and
Satan inspired) insult to the Scriptural account of the Person and the Powers
of Jesus Christ. Christmas is a tool of Satan, which he makes use of in
drowning religious men and women in the ways of the world – the pursuit of
worldly pleasures, the natural tendency to idolatry, and humanistic man’s
reliance on mankind for hope and salvation. The way that Jesus Christ is
presented in the Christmas season, and the emotions and reactions of religious
men and women – and their children – in response to the Christmas presentation
of Jesus Christ, goes a long way in humanizing our religion, and tarnishing our
faith in Jesus Christ – reducing our Lord and Saviour to a helpless Babe, while
elevating the position and the abilities of mankind. These are perilous times;
and these are dangerous, yet somehow, religious teachings that are imperiling
the souls of men. Our children are being deceived, while our adults are getting
carried away with the pageantry, the idolatry, and the (supposedly) good will
of men.
My Saviour – and your Saviour, if you are saved by God’s
grace – is not still that Babe in a Manger. He did submit to take upon Him
flesh; and He did deign to be born into this world as a babe; and He did
condescend to live the years it takes for a babe to become a man in the flesh;
but He was never just a Babe in a manger; He was, and is, and always will be,
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. He was with God
before the world ever was. He was there when the world was made – and without
Him was not anything made that was made. He will be there when the world of men
is judged – He will be the Judge Who will pour Hell into the Lake of Fire! He
will be there when the people of God and Heaven itself will be ushered into the
Eternal Ages. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus Christ is presented as the Lamb
of God – He is not ever presented as a helpless Babe in a manger. “And I beheld, and, lo, in the
midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders,
stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are
the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took
the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had
taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down
before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of
odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou
art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and
tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and
priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice
of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the
number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power,
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And
every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and
honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the
four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever
and ever.” (Rev 5:6-14)
Jesus Christ is today in Heaven, and He is at the Right Hand
of God! He is full of glory, and He is all-glory. Angels worship Him, and He is
exalted above Heaven itself. I don’t think He is pleased when Christians go
about presenting Him as a Babe in a manger. He is far more than the Babe that
the world prefers to envision and imagine! I know for me, it is far better –
and more comforting and inspiring – to think of my God and Saviour as One Who
is high and lifted up, the Almighty Son of God. We know that the world needs a
Saviour and a Mighty Intercessor – we don’t need a Babe in a manger dependent
upon the good will of men for his very survival.
