CHRISTMAS 2012 IS HERE: WE HAVE GOT GOOD REASONS TO HAVE A CELEBRATION OF CHRIST!

CHRISTMAS 2012 IS HERE: WE HAVE GOT GOOD REASONS TO HAVE A CELEBRATION OF CHRIST!

Do we have a Biblical mandate to observe Christmas? The answer is YES! God has given us a right to esteem one day above another and observe it to the Lord. The Bible says in ROMANS 14:5-6, "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord;…" Yes, I'm fully persuaded in my own mind that observing Christmas is definitely worthwhile. Some critics of the concept of observing Christmas claim that since the word "Christmas" is not mentioned in the Bible, then it is not biblically right to observe Christmas. This criticism is illogical and incoherent. We don't have to see a specific word in the Bible in order for the concept it describes to be Biblically right.

There are many concepts which are Biblically right but don't have a specific word describing them in the Bible. Even the word "Bible" itself, is not mentioned in any verse from Genesis to Revelation, but the meaning of the word perfectly describes the Bible. The word "Bible" is of Greek origin from the phrase "ta biblia" which means "The Books", conveying the same meaning as "a collection of Books, The Book of Books", which is exactly what it is: A collection of 66 Books or The Book of 66 Books! Likewise, the words "Missions" and "Missionary" don't occur in the King James Bible, but they still convey a very Biblical concept. Similarly, there are so many commonly used words, terms or phrases that convey Biblical concepts but are not found in the Bible, such as: The Great Commission, Sunday School, Theology, Eschatology, Rapture, Sins of omission and Sins of commission, God's Omniscience and Omnipresence, Holy Communion, Golden Rule…. and the list goes on!

Considering the aforesaid, let us now go back and consider the meaning of the word "Christmas". The word "Christmas" originates from an Old English word "Chrīstemæsse" which means "Christ's Mass" or "the Mass of Christ". The Mass of Christ literally means "THE CELEBRATION OF CHRIST". What is the meaning of the word "celebration"? To celebrate means to extol or praise publicly, honor, commend, glorify, exalt, laud, assign great social importance to, show respect towards; to observe a day or commemorate an event with ceremonies of respect, festivity or rejoicing, do something enjoyable to mark such an occasion; to mark a significant or happy day or event with a social gathering.

Bearing all this in mind, let us now go a step further and ask: Was there any kind of celebration surrounding the event of the birth of Jesus Christ? The answer is YES! The Bible says in LUKE 2:10-14, "Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly THERE WAS WITH THE ANGEL A MULTITUDE OF THE HEAVENLY HOST PRAISING GOD and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" (NKJV - emphasis mine).

The sky above Bethlehem was filled with a multitude of angels, thousands upon thousands of angels, probably as in REVELATION 5:11-12, and they extolled, glorified, praised, exalted and lauded God publicly, praising Him for bringing the Savior to the World. WAS THIS NOT A CELEBRATION? Not only did the angels praise God, but the shepherds also glorified and praised God when they returned to their work in the fields after visiting the newborn Jesus. We read in LUKE 2:20, "Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them." These shepherds glorified and praised God for the newborn Christ. WAS THIS NOT A CELEBRATION OF CHRIST or CHRISTMAS?

A biblical account of another event which surrounded the newborn Jesus, tells us about the Star which is commonly known as the Star of Bethlehem. The Star inspired the wise men from the East to go to Jerusalem. Then from Jerusalem, the Star led them to where the young Child Jesus was in Bethlehem. We read in MATTHEW 2:9-10, "When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, THEY REJOICED WITH EXCEEDINGLY GREAT JOY" (NKJV - emphasis mine). If the wise men rejoiced with exceedingly great joy, WAS THIS NOT A CELEBRATION OF CHRIST or CHRISTMAS?

A first Century Christian writer Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch in AD 69, in his Epistle to the Ephesians (Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians Chapter XIX - Three Celebrated Mysteries), describes the appearance of the Star as follows: "How, then, was He manifested to the world? A star shone forth in heaven above all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light was exceedingly great above them all. And there was agitation felt as to whence this new spectacle came, so unlike to everything else [in the heavens]." WHAT AN ASTONISHING DECORATIVE ARRANGEMENT IN THE SKY!

If a multitude of holy angels (LUKE 9:26), who do not need a Savior to save them, celebrated the newborn Christ; and even God the Holy Father (JOHN 17:11) and the perfect Father (MATTHEW 5:48), celebrated the birth of Christ by putting up an astonishing decorative arrangement in the sky; then how much more should we, wretched people, celebrate our Savior Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation (ROMANS 5:6-11). Come on Church! Wake Up! No devil should stop us from celebrating Christ, our Savior, Lord and King! Do you remember what the Scriptures say in LUKE 19:28-40, when the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" What happened thereafter? The devil tried to stop them from celebrating the King. And some Pharisees called Jesus from the crowd and told Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." That is, if they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise! The Devil will try to stop us from celebrating Christ by telling us that December 25 is not the precise date of Jesus' birth, so stop celebrating Christ. Is the birth of Jesus Christ, a historical fact? Of course Yes! Then, WE SHOULD NEVER LOSE OUR FOCUS! WE ARE NOT HERE TO CELEBRATE THE DATE, BUT WE ARE HERE TO CELEBRATE CHRIST. Jesus Christ is the Savior, not the Date! As we greatly commemorate and celebrate the birth of our Savior, we commend the Savior to the whole World!

Come on everybody, put up Christmas decorations in and outside your houses, with superb Christmas lights and illuminations. Celebrate Christ with new songs of Praise. Publicly extol, glorify, exalt and laud Him for the grace to be reconciled to God through Him! The wise men rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. This is Good News of great joy TO ALL PEOPLE! Let the World celebrate Christ. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD! (PSALM 150:6). Thank you CHINA for your excellent Christmas decorations which you export to the whole world! On December 1, 2011; Pudong Shangri-La Hotel of Shanghai, China, made the World's longest ever Christmas cake, a 1068-meter-long (more than 1 Km) vanilla flavored log. Keep it up! Thank you Apple A Day Properties INDIA for the largest Christmas star ornament measuring 31.59 meters (103ft 8in), which surprised the world in December 2009. Thank you Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi, UAE; for the World's most expensive tree decorated for Christmas on December 16, 2010 which was worth 11.5 million US$. Thank you Sun Plaza Shopping Centre, Bucharest, ROMANIA for your grand display of a Christmas decoration made of 449,659 Light bulbs, on December 24, 2010. Thank you Credit Union Christmas Pageant in Adelaide, AUSTRALIA for the largest number of carol singers; 9,100 people singing Christmas carols at one time on November 13, 2010… And the list goes on! Thank you everybody for putting your best into the Celebration of Christ, this year 2012. May God bless you! MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

Your brother in Christ,

Bishop Zachary Kakobe