Is it
Christmas in your heart? Has Jesus been born in your heart already? Do you
believe in the Son of God? If so, you are born again and it is Christmas in
your heart. Do you believe this? Because Jesus was telling Nicodemus, a
principal of the Jews, that he had to be born again of the Spirit, and
continued assuring that he who believes in the Son of God is not condemned
–but has everlasting life (John 3:16) –; but he who does not believe in Him
is already condemned; John 3:18. Nicodemus was an erudite in the Biblical
faith but needed to fulfil his faith with the Messiah in his heart, as Jesus
Christ was teaching him, so that he would have everlasting life and would
not be condemned. It is the greatest present of Christmas, Jesus himself
living in our heart through faith: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and His name
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6.” A prophecy received by another
principal of the Jews, in 700 B.C.
Christmas started to be celebrated already in the third century dating it
the 25th of December according to Roman birth registries that some fathers
of the Church studied, as we read in the books of Christian History. Even
though to date we cannot determine the exact date and it raises big
controversies between students, really what matters to us Christians –and
what should matter to everyone who wants to be saved from condemnation and
hell– is that we love Jesus and celebrate His birth. And my question this
Christmas is: has Jesus been born in your heart already? Has salvation been
born already, the love of God and to God, to His Word –Do you know it? – to
our neighbour, to good deeds not searching a reward, to forgiveness, to
compassion and mercy? If Jesus is born in your heart you can say you know
Jesus, you are born again. Will you answer, yes, to the question: Is it
Christmas in your heart?
Christmas was born in the heart of some Gentiles, the magi, wise men from
the East, known as “the three kings”, according to the Gospel of Matthew to
the Jews, chapters 1 and 2, who followed a star in the heavens that
according to their knowledge announced the birth of the Messiah, and it was
also born in the heart of some Jews, shepherds who kept their flock in the
watch of the night, according to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, who came to
worship Child Jesus because it was announced to them by the angels, heavenly
hosts that appeared to them in the heavens. The star and the angles; both
signs of heaven convinced Jews and Gentiles to warship that Child God, the
King of kings and Lord of lords or all times and for eternity that, that
prophet announced seven centuries earlier.
But
Christmas was born before in the heart of the Virgin Mary, the mother of
child Jesus, afterwards in John the Baptist when he jumped in the womb of
his mother Elizabeth, relative of Mary, then in her husband, priest
Zechariah, then in Joseph, Mary’s husband, and this way we can continue
reading in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke; and then in the heart of all
believers. But we must not forget that Christmas was already prophesized by
the prophets and that therefore Christmas was also born in their hearts, the
faith in the Messiah was born.
But
that Isaiah, prophet of God, as well as receiving the revelation of the
Child God that we read in the beginning, would also receive the following
revelation:
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man
of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from
him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our
griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was
bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and
with his stripes we are healed... Isaiah 53:1-12.
Both
revelations where fulfilled about 700 and 733 years after, exactly as
written. But not only this, because king David wrote another prophecy
through revelation about that Child that was going to be born unto us,
regarding His work on the Cross, in Psalm 22 of the Bible.:
“My
God, my God, why have You forsaken me?... ...He trusted the Lord; let Him
rescue Him... ...I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of
joint; my heart is like wax, it has melted within me... ...they pierced my
hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; they look and stare at me. They
divide my garments among them.”
Finally, and returning to Nativity, we celebrate Christmas in advance in the
four Sundays of Advent, remembering the story of the most relevant birth in
history. Advent is directly linked to Revelation as they mean the same in
two phases: the revelation of Christ to the world, first to save us, and in
the second to take us to His kingdom forever. When we celebrate Advent we
are celebrating the first coming of Christ, and in Revelation 1:7, the
second.
If it
is Christmas in your heart already, can you announce Christmas to others in
whom the Son of God has not been born yet, and the meaning of His birth,
expiatory death, resurrection and future advent? If it’s so and you do it
every day, it already is Christmas in your heart.
