compressed for me into one word, "Emmanuel." I had a fresh appre ciation for the meaning of this term when I went back looking through the history of the time prior to our Lord's coming. You see, the story of the incarnation does not begin with the manger, a star, or the shepherds. It begins with a little expression, "In the days of Herod." What a pregnant phrase this is. Why do you suppose God would wait for days such as these to send His Son into the world? For about 400 years there had been no voice of a prophet. This period was one of the saddest and bloodiest of all history. When the Persians were defeated by Alexander, Palestine lay in his and his successors' hands for two and a half centuries. To say the least it was a dark day. For a century and a half, Palestine became the battlefield between Egyptian and Syrian kings. There was extraordinary moral degener ation. At least 2,000 lords in Rome had, according to the figures, about 1,300,000 slaves. The rich lived in absolute profligacy. Chastity and marriage were certainly the excep tions. Many demonic cults with their seductive practices degraded the people. The emperors them selves were monsters of crime. Thousands of lives were sacrificed in the arena to satisfy their blood thirsty lust for entertainment. His torians report that the spirit of the times was to corrupt and to be corrupt. The city of Jerusalem had a population of about 250,000 peo ple. The office of the high priest, once so respected and honored, was now purchased. Herod's ex traction was from the line of Esau which had been known for its con tinuous hatred of Israel. Herod's Page 33
by nature (I John 4:9). The survival of the fittest seems not only to be the law of the jungle but the law of the land. Love is not a clever plan to get what you want. Cod demonstrated a sacrificial love. It was a giving of self to the object of its affection. Christmas means to me that we have become the objects of divine love. He loves us far more than we could ever love our earthly children. Christ's love is unlimited for His resources are without end. He can do anything and everything for He is omnipo tent. Saturated in sin, humanity has struggled through ages and millenniums past only to be de feated again and again. Christmas introduces the power of Cod in the Person of Jesus Christ. As Mary was reminded, "with God all things are possible." Emmanuel is one of the precious names for Christ. It assures us that God is with us. He brought abun dant life, gives unlimited pardon, offers a perfect righteousness, free to those who receive Him. Christ conquered sin, death and the grave. He has mastered time and opened up eternity. Because He lives we too shall live also. This is what Christmas means to me. Dr. Kraft is Pastor of First Baptist Church of Los Altos, California. Emmanuel By DR. ROY KRAFT To me, Christmas is the best season of the year. I thoroughly enjoy the fellowship and festivities with family and friends. The whole message of the season could be
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