by Pastor Amor P. Ruba

MALIGAYANG PASKO AT MANIGONG BAGONG TAON PO SA INYONG LAHAT AKING MGA KABABAYAN!

Let me start with what the Bible said about Christmas. “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins”. In Luke 2: 10- 12, “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger”.

In this passage, we can witness the birth of Jesus our Saviour. Now, if you go deeper to that passage, you can also witness the death of Jesus. You may say, this is impossible. But this is true. This is very clear when He was called the “Saviour” of the world. Jesus cannot be the Saviour of the world if He will not die for the sins of the whole world. You see, Jesus is the only person in the whole world that while He was born in a manger, the cross was hanging in the manger. He came to die and the way He died is already declared at His birth. That’s amazing! You and I came to live and not to die. We don’t want to die. But He came to die and be the Saviour for everyone. Why would you die if Jesus had died for you already? He is offering life and not death. And this happens if you trust Him, live for Him, obey Him, accept Him. The question is this: Why did Jesus being the Son of God and being God became a man? Let me give you several reasons:

1. Jesus became a man to tell us who God is

Christianity is much, much superior to any other religions of the world because in Christianity we can know who God is. To the Buddhist, Hindus and others, they don’t know God or they can never know God. It is because god is impersonal and impossible to comprehend. To know god, to them you have to go deep, deep inside to be enlightened and achieve nirvana and be united with god.

But this is not true in the Bible.  God revealed Himself to men. Revelation is the disclosure of truth previously unknown. Before the coming of the Son of God to earth many varied forms of revelation existed. But many people deny and continue to deny the existence of God.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19, 20). The existence and power of God are discernible to us all by the things but many people continue to deny and ignore God’s existence. Since they deny the true God, they made their own gods and worships idols or graven images made with human hands. Idols are things with eyes but cannot see, mouth but cannot speak, ears but cannot hear.

And so God became a man to reveal God to man, or to show who God is. Philip said to the Lord Jesus, ”Lord, shew us the Father . . . ” and the Lord answered, ”. . . He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father . . . ” (John 14:8, 9). When the Word became flesh He brought to man an adequate revelation of God. Before all things, God was just an abstract entity but the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ made people aware of the person of God in concrete reality. ”No man hath seen God at anytime; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him” (John 1:1,18, 9). The second reason:

2. Jesus became a man to tell us who man is

Man is grossly ignorant of his real self, and that the mission of the Son’s coming included a plan that would enable man to see and know himself as God sees and knows him.

1. Man’s Origin – People don’t know where they come from. And this is very popular idea to the atheist and evolutionist. To them we came from monkey. They have forgotten the principle that life always comes from life. It does not come from rock or from anything else. The Bible teaches clearly that the human race had its origin by the immediate creation of God (Genesis 1:26, 27). “Let us make man in our image…

Because of limited space and time given to me, let me continue this topic next issue but before I go, I like to mention to all our dear readers that God is a person and that He is willing to reveal Himself to anyone in a personal way. He created us because He loves us. And because He loves us, He wants you to love Him in return. Remember to know Him is to have eternal life. The question is this: Do you know Him in a personal way? Do you have a personal and loving relationship with Him? Do you believe in Him? Are you sure that when you die tonight you’re going to have eternal life?

If not, let me help you. You can call me and let me explain to you on how to do that. I like you to pray this simple prayer: “Lord, I want to know you in a personal way. I open my heart to you now and help me understand how to get saved. Lord be merciful to me I am a sinner. In Jesus name, Amen!

If you have any question or concern please let me know by calling me at 403-590-8445. Those who are interested to attend our Bible Study, I’m inviting everyone to come. We do this at 252 Saddlecrest Blvd NE, Calgary, Alberta.