It is our tradition on this site to bring to you, special write up on any trending issues, thus, reason why we bring our dependable Writer, Sani Michael omakoji, to give us his opinion on the celebration of Christmas.
In what he titles, “Celebration Of Christmas Is A Product Of Fulfilment Of Old Time Prophecy” Sani Michael omakoji, pours out his opinion.
Let us read his interesting write up;
” Let me short live your expectation that I am not a Bishop neither a Pastor, to write on this subject matter, but the good news is that, I am a Believer of Christ Jesus who vehemently believe and adore the doctrine of Christianity hence, I have something to say on the subject matter in my own thought.
Now why the celebration of Christmas which is now a phenomenon across the globe?
To answer the above question, let me state here clearly that I am not here to argue with those Theologians why 25th December is or is not the appropriate date for the celebration of Christmas as what matters to every true believer is that Christ (Jesus ) the saviour of the world was born as prophesied by many prophets in the Holy Book (The Bible).
In order not to lost track of this write up, let me quickly answer the above question by stating that, ” Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the globe.
Note however that the month and date of Jesus’ birth are unknown but the church in the early fourth century fixed the date as December 25th.
You may exclaim that oh! they don’t even know when exactly this most celebrated man was born, perhaps, if that is your only misgiving but believe that Jesus Christ, the one Muslim Faithfuls refer to as “Anebi Isah” was truly born of a virgin woman call Mary, then your misgiving can easily be resolved in the preceding paragraph.
In our circular world today, it is not all those living legends we call grannies that can exactly remember their date of births probably because there was no proper documentation…
You may say again that, that is not a tenable excuse thus, to partly close this chapter, I would like you to go back to history book and study ‘the cradle of civilization’ and the account of Christ’s birth… Maybe, that would help you to have an idea how it was like to document or record then.
Having established this backgrounder, let us dig out the pre prophesies culminating into the birth of Jesus Christ.
According to Prophet Isaiah in his sixty six chapters book written during the reign of Hezekiah, particularly in chapter 7 vs 14 of his book, he prophesied that a pure young woman will give birth to God’s son (Jesus).
It may interest you to know that the above prophecy was handed down in one of the books in the old Testament yet to be fulfilled in the new Testament.
As fate will have it, in the book of Matthew, the tax collector, chapter1 vs 18-25 Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled.
Let us read this interesting account as documented in Matthew 1: 18-25…it reads thus: “18 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.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately.
20 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.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS”
From the passage above, it is evidential that Jesus was born as prophesied and it is also recorded that he was born through a virgin woman, call Mary as prophesied by prophet Isaiah. Wao you may say..
From investigation also, Jesus is the only Being that came into this world without a man and a woman meeting; no wonders, he is call, Emmanuel ( meaning God with us ).
For more illustration, in the book of Micah Chapter5 vs 2, Micah also prophesied that Jesus will be born in Bethlehem.
Again, the book of Micah is in the old Testament however, in the book of Matthew chapter 2:4–6 which is according to New Testament, it is documented that the scribes knew that Bethlehem was the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah (Jesus or Saviour of the world).
Let us see this scripture also from Matthew 2 vs 4 -6 it reads, “4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, Art not the least among the princes of Juda: For out of thee shall come a Governor, That shall rule my people Israel.
Remember, the capture of this essay says, “Celebration Of Christmas Is A Product Of Fulfilment Of Old Time Prophecy”.
This simply implies that, his birth was long foresaw by some Prophets even long before he was born.
Making references to the the passages we read above; Isaiah and Micah prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus Christ came to pass in the book of Matthew as cited above.
Again, for this historic birth which is one and only in the history of the world go and the world to come not to be relegated to the background, Christmas is birth in order to serve as anniversary of Jesus’ birth on 25th December of every year.
My beloved Readers, this is the summary of why we celebrate Christmas yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Dishearteningly, in our today’s circular world, a lot of people celebrate Christmas with different motives.
For example, outside giving gifts and going on vacations or holidays this period, some people see this day as a day to drink wine, commit adultery or fornicate as the case maybe.
In the course of this write up, I even overheard a young man putting a call across to a lady while in a Restaurant …telling the lady in question to meet him up in the village so that they can have sex together during this yuletide season emphasizing that the lady in question is the reason why he is going home for Christmas.
Though, I was able to change his thought through my intervention teaching but let me not digress into how I educated him and later led him to Christ…
To some other people, it is a period to break their neighbours’ doors and carter away with some valuables since their neighbours have all traveled.
At this point, let me expressly state that Christmas is for those who believe in the ‘birth’, ‘resurrection’ and the ‘death’ of a noble man call Jesus Christ.
Curiosity may even make you to ask what is the meaning of Christ in question…
Well, if you demand that is not out of place as Christ in the Bible according to Greek word means “Christos” and the Hebrew word is “meshiakh” and both mean “anointed one.” Sometimes “Christ” appears before “Jesus” such as “Christ Jesus” and other times it follows the name “Jesus,” such as “Jesus Christ.” John 1:41 and 4:25 actually defines “Christ” for us.
He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).
John 1:41 (NASB) The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming ( He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” John 4:25 (NASB).
Having gotten some tips on the meaning of Christ, it is also pertinent to ask where does Christ appear in the Bible?
“Christ” occurs most often in the New Testament.
Records show that It appears 516 times in the New Testament and in every book of the New Testament, except for 3 John.
It occurs 66 times in the book of Romans.
The apostle Paul constantly refers to “Christ” to teach us about salvation.
The first time Christ appears in the New Testament is in Matthew 1:18 at the announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ to Joseph, the future husband of Mary.
For your education also, those who live Christ’s like life style are called Christians.
A Christ’s life style is a life style that forbids all forms of sins like evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander, magic arts, impunity, hatred and a host of many others.
Therefore, if you are found wanting of the above and you still call yourself a Christian, I am sorry to inform you that you are just a Christian by name and if you don’t repent, on the last day, you would be denied of Paradise no matter your work.
Note, the first recorded use of the term (or its cognates in other languages) is in the New Testament, in Acts 11 after Barnabas brought Saul (Paul) to Antioch where they taught the disciples for about a year, the text says: “[…] the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” (Acts 11:26).
In conclusion, you now understand that celebrating Christmas which is a fulfilment of old time prophecy, involves Christ, the saviour of the world, Christians who believe in Christ’s like life style and of course to those who are prepared to accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and their personal Saviour.
Thank you for reading this long epistle according to my humble understanding thus, you recall that in my opening savour, I did state that I am not a Bishop neither a Pastor to write on this subject matter but that the good news is I am a Believer of Christ hence, who can write as the spirit led, by and large, my opinion here does not necessarily represent opinion of anybody but my independent opinion… Shalom!
Sani Michael omakoji
A Social Commentator
For Christ Jesus.
