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OPINION
Christmas Much More Than the Greatest Story
By Scott Powell
Monday, 23 December 2024 03:08 PM EST
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Throughout human history, people have sought to flee oppression and escape persecution.
A recurring theme in Western classical literature and in modern classics such as "Superman" and Disney originals, which revolve around the struggle between good and evil, is the need and critical role for a rescuer or savior.
The ultimate rescuer and savior for mankind would be a "messiah," who would vanquish evil, oppression, and falsehood for eternity.
It's no accident that only Christianity has its roots and its entire reason for being in the messiah Jesus Christ. No other religion makes the claim that it was founded by a messiah.
The Meaning of Christmas
The real magic of Christmas is that it marks the birth of Jesus Christ who came into this world as the son of God — the Messiah and savior for all who accept him.
In that sense, Jesus is the most revolutionary figure of human history.
Many people think Christianity is like other religions that require performing certain works and rituals acceptable to God. However, Christ reminds us in Matthew 11:30 that, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."
When a learned Jewish Pharisee whose life revolved around living up to stressful demands of the Mosaic law asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus answered simply that if we love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, we will have fulfilled all the laws.
Even non-believers recognize Jesus as the most far-reaching revolutionary.
The power of Christ can be tangibly measured by beauty. A full collection of Renaissance Christian art, if it could be assembled, would be worth several times more than other art globally.
People Can Trust that Christ, the Savior, Lived
First, the account of Jesus Christ is more historically verifiable than other renowned figures and their works who lived in that ancient time and era — including literary greats, Virgil and Horace and military-kings like Alexander the Great — because of the number of eye-witness accounts, the lapse of time of the written record and the number of surviving manuscripts.
No one doubts Virgil and Horace lived and originated great poetic masterpieces, although the written manuscripts of their works were recorded more than 400 years after they had died.
There are only two original biographical accounts of Alexander the Great, written by Arrian and Plutarch some four hundred years after Alexander died. The eye-witness accounts of Jesus were recorded in writing within a generation of his life.
Additionally, there are approximately 1,000 times more manuscripts that preserve the deeds and teachings of Jesus than there are ancient documents preserving other classical ancient works and records of historic figures living at about the same time.
Second, Christ is the only person in history who was pre-announced starting 1,000 years before he was born — with eighteen different prophets from the Old Testament between 10th and the 4th centuries B.C. predicting his coming birth, life, and death.
Hundreds of years later, the circumstances of Christ’s birth, life and death validated those prophecies in surprisingly accurate detail. This is unique to Jesus Christ.
Third, Christ not only demonstrated his otherworldly power to heal and perform the ultimate miracle of bringing the dead back to life, but he set the absolute highest standard of love possible — being willing to die to give life to others. As Jesus prophesied, his resurrection confirmed God’s power and plan.
Jesus was brought back from the dead and buried in a tomb to being resurrected and alive, thus providing the people with living proof of who he was.
In fact, Jesus made ten separate appearances to his disciples between the resurrection and his ascension into Heaven — a period of 40 days.
Some of those appearances were to individual disciples, some were to several disciples at the same time, and once even to 500 at one time.
This was not hearsay, but a matter of record of multiple separate eye-witness accounts.
Fourth, no other religion teaches that God became flesh. God wanted his son to be approachable by people from all walks of life.
Unlike other religious paths, the Christian approaches God not by works but by a humble recognition that Christ gave his life for our sins — that he paid the price for us — and that through Christ, we find reconciliation that provides a direct relationship with God.
Christianity is Foundational to the Declaration, the Constitution
As a Christian holiday, Christmas is foundational to America’s original character.
If Christ had never been born and died the way he did, all history would have been different. Neither Columbus nor the Pilgrims would have received or have been motivated by the good news of salvation through Christ to explore or establish new communities with a higher purpose in the New World.
There would never have been a constitutional government created in the way and time that it was in America, absent two necessary conditions: First, the foundation of recognizing man’s unalienable rights of freedom and equality that came out of the teachings of Christ, but not fully recognized until the 16th century Protestant Reformation.
Second, the unprecedented collection of Christian human genius that came together — rather amazingly at the same time — people we call the Founding Fathers, who were 95% Christian in their beliefs. It was their biblical, historical, and classical learning, together with their wisdom, temperament, and practical experience which enabled them to write and frame the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and its Bill of Rights. Equally important, those Christian Founders knew the potential depravity, extant in many, can lead to abuse of power and tyranny.
Thus, they purposely structured the government with checks and balances.
So profound was the accomplishment of the Founding Fathers that it far surpassed achievements of Periclean Athens in Greece, Cicero and the Roman Republic, Florence under the Medicis, or any other nation.
The constitutional republic formed by the Founders provided for and protected individual rights of freedom and independence such that America achieved material prosperity for more people, more rapidly than any other prior civilization. This framework enabled people to move closer to the divine image in which all people are created free and equal.
The Essence and Summary
It's remarkable that Christ had no servants, yet everyone called him master. He had no formal education or degree, yet educated Jews called him rabbi and teacher.
Jesus had no medicines, yet he was desperately sought out as a healer. He had no army, yet emperors and kings feared him.
History shows that every level of human advancement was made possible by God who became man, born in the humble circumstances of a dirty stable in the small village of Bethlehem.
And while that empire would crumble and fall, Jesus, who had neither an army nor won military battles went on to become the Lord and savior for all.
Jesus taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, in which He implored that God’s "will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
In end the Christmas story is about peace, great joy, and good will triumphing over evil.
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READ MORE: https://www.newsmax.com/scottpowell/christ-messiah-mosaic/2024/12/23/id/1192700/
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THANK YOU
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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