King of Glory (3)

King of Glory

Matthew 1:18–22 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,”

possession is nine tenths of the law

Wes Huff does a study on the supposed pagan origins of Christmas, and how Christian’s had co-opted the pagan practices. During the three years after his original pictograph was published he investigated and checked with as many original sources as he could, and discovered that his belief was in fact backwards. The inception of the things that appeared to be pagan, in origin, were in fact practiced by Christian’s first, and had been appropriated from Christian’s by pagans.

Micheal Heiser and Wesley Huff, are among many historians and trusted scholar's that will help you in the break down of the fallacies surrounding the paganism of Christmas. One of the greatest points of contention is the date itself: December 25th and the belief that it had been a long time date of Greco Roman holidays, and other pagan celebrations as well. It has been said that the date was chosen to help early converts accept the celebration of our Saviors birth: by using a date that would have been familiar to them.

This might not make you shout but I sure hope it makes you better. The desire is to try and teach the uncompromising Word of God, and give you a firm foundation on which you can be rooted in understanding. The understanding that there is no God like our God. He need not beg bum or borrow from any, and the pursuit of Him is a life altering journey.

There are some that might tell you of many celebrations, and the Roman celebration of the unconquered son, Sol Invictus, was the most known celebrated on that date, but there is evidence that it was not celebrated on a set date, as well as nothing else was celebrated on this particular day. The fact of the matter is that, the most argued event for the 25th date, Sol Invictus had been celebrated in August, October, and early December, but not on the 25th; it is not until the 4th century that a connection is made with the Roman holiday and the December 25th date. History indicates that while in the 4th century Roman temple worship was on the decline, and Christianity was rapidly gaining in popularity. December the twenty fifth had been used for decades by Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus before any pagans had used it.

Source material reveals that pagans began to move their celebrations to December the 25th in order to compete with the rise in Christianity, and their celebration of their God born as the Saviour of man.

There were three dates that saints of yesteryear believed to be the death of Jesus. March 25, APRIL 7, 30 AD, and April 3, 30 AD., and from there they counted ahead 9 months.There is a belief that prophets died on the same day on which they were born, of course not the same year, and it has roots in some of the known Old Testament prophet deaths, but also in the fact that they use nice round numbers when describing those deaths. Saints there was a concerted effort to try and figure the birth date of our Lord it was not a borrowed, stolen, or date chosen simply by chance or convenience.

A Christmas tree is said to be pagan, and we would worship it. In essence we bring it gifts gather around it, sing songs to it and bow down and worship it as we get our gifts. Some would even connect it to Jeremiah 10:3–4 “For the customs of the people are vain: For one cutteth a tree out of the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.” This has nothing to do with Christmas trees, except for the fact that they are both trees, and that is the only correlation. Saint Boniface from the 18th century chopped down a sacred oak tree that was dedicated to Thor, and when he wasn’t struck by lighting declared him to be a false god, and pointed to the fur tree and dedicated it to Christ.

Some would say the paradise trees in the 1500’s, and the celebration around them. They were put in trees and decorated with fruit to remind of the garden of eden and the fall of man. the fruit was eaten on December the 24th, and redecorated on the 25th to celebrate the birth of our Redeemer. There is even a story linked to Martin Luther the protestant reformer, not to be confused with Martin Luther the Kang. I don’t have time to get to it all, but it is true that pagans used trees in ceremonies. However none of them resembled what became the Christmas tree, and specifically none are tied to fur or pine trees. There is no evidence of a direct link connecting pagan practices to Christmas trees, and the only parallel correlation is found in the fact that they are trees, rand we all know that correlation does not equal causation. Let me say that again correlation does not equal causation.

There is no clear straight line to be drawn from the celebration of Christmas and paganism, it may not be paganism, but the commercialization of Christmas that has made many forget the true reason for the season.

You might even say we shouldn’t celebrate it because the Bible doesn’t say we should celebrate it, and you can’t find it in the law or list of days of celebration. That is true but there is precedence for it, and that precedence is found in scripture. John 10:21–22 “Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.” We find that Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate Hanukah

Matthew 1:18–22 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,”

They tried to kill the boy, and not worry about the man. Much like the 3rd grade reading levels determine prison beds needed in the future.

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel.” Immanuel means God with us, and Jesus walks and He was the God that walked amongst us.

He had to come in order to die, because if He wasn’t born Jesus couldn’t have walked, and if Jesus doesn’t walk my Savior couldn’t have died and if the Savior doesn’t die then my Redeemer couldn’t get up. I’m so glad that I know my Redeemer lives, and I know he got up.

You say the pagans have a virgin birth story, and I ask what about Jesus. The child that was born: 700 years of prophecy predicted Him to be the Son given as a scapegoat. What about the inescapable problem of Jesus: the ancient of days, yet He was the God that walked in time. He was the fountain of living waters, but even He was thirsty.

You say pagans and other beliefs have a resurrection story. Osiris and his son Hours were killed by haters and resurrected back to life, but can you get a witness. To legalist Christians were heretics heathens shrouded in paganism, little secret, it was all because of Jesus. The bright and the morning Star, the Son that no man could conquer, so He just laid down His life.

Then that Christmas tree I’m reminded as I near it and look I see a tree that was born to die to remind me of my Lord walking out of heaven being born of a virgin

I see the tree draped in ornaments remind me of the tassels

Tassels

The law

Lights