![]() And he walked to the cross as the champion of Calvary. And in the darkest moment, representing you in the Garden of Gethsemane, he said, "Not my will but thine be done". He experienced shame: yet, he was loyal to his father. And he turned Jesus loose into the hands of mad men, who wanted to kill him. The judicial system failed him when Pontius Pilate said, "Find no fault with this man".Īccording to Roman law, the trial should have been over! But Pontius Pilate, was not seeking the truth: he was seeking to please the people. Racial hatred: he was a Jewish person living in a Roman gentile world. Hebrews 4 states, "He was tempted with every temptation common to man: yet, he lived a sinless life". That's what they were doing, making a road trip to be taxed by Caesar.ĭo you want to know why babies cry when they're born? You're born naked, somebody's beating you on the rear end, and you already owe the government $75.000. The government was trying to tax his mother and father. He began his life like any human, an infant born naked in a cave. It cannot be said more clearly than that. If you have not, you are never going to be there. My question to you, the greatest you'll ever have to answer: have you received the gift of Jesus Christ into your life? If you have, you're on your highway to heaven. There is no peace that surpasses understanding. There is no authority to bind the powers and principalities of darkness. Let me say it very clearly: you're not living until you know Jesus Christ. If you have not confessed him publicly as Savior and Lord, there is no salvation, there is no hope, there is no eternal life. Because you receive him as God's gift to you, you receive his redemption at the cross. God wants you to be a follower of his son. Singing a song, giving a gift does not make you a Christian. Going to church does not make you a Christian. ![]() If you have not received Christ, he is not yours. But if you don't receive it, it's still mine. Why? Because a gift must be received before it's yours. "Us," who? "Us," everybody? No, absolutely not. Look at this awesome word from the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, concerning the birth of Christ. And Jesus Christ lived, and died, and rose from the dead: victor over death, hell, and the grave! Give him praise and glory in this house! I am here to proudly announce that Christmas was the beginning of a major-league fight for your soul. ![]() ![]() It was the fulfillment of the promise God made in the book of Genesis, "The seed of the woman (Mary) shall crush the head of the serpent". It was to break the chains that enslave you. It was to crush the head of that old serpent, Satan. Christ coming to earth was not to establish the economic madness we call Christmas. Born in a cave, mysterious, his wonders to perform. There was no lobby full of people waiting with gifts to give to whatever it might be. There was no OB/GYN there, saying, "How do you feel, baby"? There was no epidural. When God wanted to crush Satan and his evil empire, he sent his only son in the womb of a virgin, born in Bethlehem's manger. The only man in the Bible that says that. When God wanted to expose sin in Israel, he sent baby Samuel, who the Bible says, "Served the Lord all the days of his life". ![]() When God wanted to conquer Pharaoh and destroy mighty Egypt, he sent baby Moses to smash the chains of slavery. Christmas is the celebration of a child, God's gift of love. ![]()
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