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In Europe, Latin America and the famous Jazz capital of the world, New Orleans, the Feast of Epiphany or Twelfth Night is celebrated twelve days after Christmas. This feast commemorates the coming of the magi or wise men who brought gifts to the infant Jesus after His birth in Bethlehem .
One of the most popular customs is the baking of a brightly decorated, oval King Cake with a tiny plastic baby hidden inside it. In New Orleans the person who finds the baby in his or her piece of cake brings another King Cake to the next get together. This is repeated daily in schools, offices and homes throughout the January season, literally hundreds of thousands of times.
As I mentioned last Sunday, these wise men or magi, mentioned in the Bible, arrived in Jerusalem, which was Israel's capital city (cf Matthew, 2:1-12), which was only about 10-15 km from the tiny village of Bethlehem. I guess if we were to try to make an approximate modern day comparison of distance, Caboolture/Morayfield would be Jerusalem and Beachmere would be Bethlehem.
We know these wise men came from the east, probably from Babylonia or Persia (today’s Iraq or Iran). Now the magi in those empires were high priests of tremendous influence... more like "king makers" than kings themselves.
Like witch doctors in more primitive cultures, these magi practiced magic (hence the word magi). They were astronomers and studied the stars for signs. They were men of great learning and they they asked, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him." (Matt.2:2) Now I don’t know about you, but it blows me away a bit that a group of astrologers cared more about this birth then did the Jews themselves.
So why did they think this that this King of the Jews would be born? Their own cities were hundreds of miles away. They were not Jews themselves. How could they know?
History tells us the Jewish people had been conquered and exiled to Babylonia in 586 B.C., as predicted in the Bible by the Hebrew prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. In Babylon, the Hebrew prophet Daniel became prime minister of the country to King Nebuchadnezzar and later to Darius and Cyrus, who were kings of Persia. So Jewish influences were present in that part of the earth, which no doubt continued for a considerable length of time.
Now, the magi were certainly familiar with the Bible and its specific predictions of the coming of the Jewish Messiah or Christ. (Our word "Christ" is simply taken from the Greek word for the Hebrew "Messiah" ... which means the Anointed One of Israel ... the Son of God.) Daniel predicted exactly when the Messiah would be born (Daniel 9:24-25). The prophet Micah predicted the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Dozens of other prophecies, later confirmed by specific facts of the birth and life of Jesus (the Christ ... the Messiah), are found throughout the ancient Hebrew Scriptures (the Bible) including Jesus' genealogy as a direct descendant of King David and even Abraham the father of the Jewish people. All the historical evidence of fulfilled prophesy confirms Jesus as the Messiah. But was he a king?
History records no earthly coronation of this person we call Jesus Christ. He was recognised as the Messiah by thousands of Jewish people and rejected by others. Why?
People, including you and me, are proud and wilfully independent. After all, if we were to write a mission statement on reflection of today’s society it would have to be "The individual’s choice is the most important, consideration of others only comes after my own wants and needs".
To extend this further, this would also mean that where a relationship with God means some personal self sacrifice, then God becomes rejected because many people say what they want is more important than what God wants for them. This is called sin in the Bible and it separates us from God because it is rejecting God’s place in our lives.
A Jewish Rabbi in the time of Jesus, who was initially violently opposed to Jesus and his followers, called Saul of Tarsus, who we know today as Saint Paul, said, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Because of this, God established a two part program for the Messiah which was not fully understood until explained by the Messiah, Jesus Christ Himself.
The prophet Isaiah talked about the Messiah in two ways ... as the suffering servant and as the exalted servant. In Isaiah, chapter 53, one of the great passages in the Bible about a coming Messiah says, "All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (the Messiah).(Isaiah 53:6,7). "My Servant will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities (sins)." (Isaiah 53:11)
God knew that the sinful heart of men and women had to be dealt with. Romans 3:10 says, "There is none righteous not even one." Then Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned."
To justify us sinners to a pure, holy and righteous God an atonement had to be made. In other words sin had to be paid for - A sacrifice had to be made - Someone had to die.
The "suffering servant" Messiah predicted by Isaiah came to pay the penalty for sin ... to die in our place. Only Christ was qualified. He was the perfect, sinless man. For His substitution in our place to be fully effective He had to be fully man. He was. He was crucified and died. The only coronation He received was described by a Roman tax-collector who wrote the gospel of Matthew. Here we read that the Roman soldiers took Him and put a crown of thorns on his head, "and they kneeled down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King Of the Jews" They spat on Him and beat Him on the head. Then they led Him away to crucify Him. (Matthew 27: 27-31)
So Jesus was fully man... "the suffering servant". But His resurrection from death on the third day also proved He is fully God. Hundreds of eyewitnesses verified it before He ascended into Heaven weeks later.
According to the Bible, some day the whole world will see Christ return as King, the second coming of the Messiah. The Apostle John describes the scene prophetically in the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. He wrote, "And I saw heaven opened; and behold a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war." (Revelation 19:11) "And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, 'King of Kings, and Lord of Lords". (Revelation 19:16).
This is a wonderful promise for those who know God in a personal relationship through Jesus Christ, but it is equally a sad thing for millions of people, for them, Christ’s return will be too late. They will have lived without choosing to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. On Sunday I explained what the difference is between just saying in our heads that God is real and that Jesus Christ is our Saviour, to saying from our hearts which is evidenced by our lifestyle that He is LORD and Saviour.
Many people will have lived the way they wanted independent of God. Luke 12:19 says "And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have any goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."
But life is not just a carnival, its not like one continuous party, it comes to an end. Luke 12:20 says "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you!" And Hebrews 9:27 "It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgement."
I want to encourage you to decide for God through His Son Jesus Christ, if you haven’t already done so, while there is hope.
Accept the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross on your behalf. It is the only way to peace with God ... it is the only way to heaven - to eternal paradise with God. Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." (John 14:6)
The work of salvation was brutal for Jesus and God the Father but it is a piece of cake for you and me. Ephesians 2:8-9 says "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as the result of works, that no one should boast."
God loves us to this extent, that: Nothing you ever do will cause God to love you more and nothing you ever do will cause God to love you less. You and I have sinned. We have earned the payment for those sins. But God has a way out for us. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
God simply asks you to admit that you cannot save yourself , no matter how good of a person or how charitable you are to others... you, like the rest of us are a sinner when it comes to the criteria set down by God - which is simply, not denying His right to your life.
Tell God you are sorry for denying Him in your life - ask for His forgiveness. Repent, which is turning around 180 degrees, for the remission (pardon and acquittal) of sins.
Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me shall live even if he dies." (John 11:25)
If we refuse His offer of forgiveness we must suffer the penalty for our sin .... death ... eternal separation from God. Revelation 20:15 says "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
THE CHOICE is YOURS. Not mine, not God’s, not someone else’s - only you can decide for or against God yourself - it is your responsibility.
This time of year we celebrate the fact that Christ came as a baby. We can also reflect on the fact that He's coming again ... as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Are you ready to meet God face to face? He is offering you the gift of eternal life right now. If you want to accept it here's what to do.
Tell Him you know you need to be forgiven and that you want to turn away from your sins which is repentance. That you acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and that you are prepared to let Him be Lord of your life - that means that you are prepared to trust Him and obey Him in how He directs your life.
May God bless you richly with His presence this Christmas. And I hope that the Christmas of 1997 can be one that you look back at with great fondness, marking it as the day that you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Maybe you can then celebrate not only the birthday of Jesus Christ, but you can also celebrate your own spiritual birthday with the Lord on this special day.
By Scott Douglas, Burdekin Baptist Church, 25th December 1997