Thursday 25 December 2008

The Ghost of Christmas past


The character of Scrooge that Charles Dickens created has haunted us all ever since his creation! The stingy old man that had to face the Ghosts of Christmasses past before he became compassionate over the Christmas period seems to pervade the entire human condition at this time of year.
Throughout the year people do terrible things to each other and suddenly, just before christmas, they put on the breaks and skid to a halt, to be kind towards each other for a day or two, even if it is only sharing a family meal!
In actual fact Jesus came to show us a completely different life style: He went about doing good (all the time, not only at his birthday!)healing all who were oppressed of the devil for God was with him (all the time!)
My friend Mike Wood in Sydney Australia, who has always stimulated thought and discussion with his sharp wit and questioning mind, sent me an email today on Christmas day to pose the question: what are we really celebrating,the historical or personal event of Christ being born?
With that he obviously refers to the 'born-again' experience of those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord. When he is born in a life it is the true Christmas, in other words. This is a spiritual birth and not a natural one.
So in effect Mike said, 'happy birthday!' to all the believers who had already accepted Christ and are celebrating their next birthday in Christ, rather than simply remembering the historical event as a religious observance.
Quite reformational, I think.
It is good that all the world celebrates the event - all do not celebrate Easter though! Yet is is good to have moments of high celebration where everything comes to a halt and people observe the goodness that life can offer rather than the dismal, depressing rat race they are involved in.
So let the Chinese, the Russians, the Indians, the Argentinians, the Alaskans, the Americans, the Europeans, the Africans, the Australians all go ahead and celebrate Christmas, but let them not wait for the Ghost of Christmas past to remind them to be compassionate!
The life that Jesus Christ offers those who believe in him, actually celebrates His goodness every day, not just on Christmas day! It is possible to enjoy the spirit of Christmas every day of your life if you have Christ within the hope of glory!
As the earth had to receive a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, so our hearts can receive the resurrected Christ by faith and His Holy Spirit can begin to change our lives and give us His kind of divine life. This life is called Eternal Life and is freely given to all who will confess their need of Christ's sacrifice for our sins and who believe and confess that God raised Jesus from the dead - in other words, believe in a living Christ not just a dead, historical event.
This could change Christmas experiences forever, for whoever dares to believe!
Don't let the ghosts of Christmasses Past haunt you any longer trying to be a better person, but let Christ change and remould you completely form within - by His Spirit so that you can celebrate Christ's birth in you every year, rather than remember him as a little baby.
Impossible?
Well, everything about Christ Jesus' life is impossible and miraculous: from his immacualte conception, to his virgin birth, to his death and supernatural resurrection from the dead and his divine ascension on high. So we can also expect His promised return - in the same way he went up, in a cloud, as the angels promised his disciples who saw him ascend.
His miraculous life is available to all who would believe. How about you, my friend?

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