"Jesus is coming, is here !!! " .......
Message by Rev. Shane Andersen DD
Let me first commence by throwing in a few different TIME LINES & explanations in right now...
which may help to explain the difficult situation I'm in, by preaching on BOXING DAY.
The day AFTER the BIRTH of CHRIST JESUS.... and the Sunday BEFORE EPITHANY.
OK, What IS Epiphany?????????
EPIPHANY: –noun, plural -nies.
1. A Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ
to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; (The Kings/3 Wise men)Twelfth-day.
2. "to manifest, display," from epi- "on, to" + phainein "to show" (see phantasm).
Of divine beings other than Christ, first recorded c.1667; general literary sense appeared
1840, first in De Quincey.
3. Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday on January 6 celebrating the visit of the Magi (Kings)
to the infant Jesus
4. Epiphany (feeling), a sudden realization of great truth
5. Epiphany (from Koine Greek - epiphaneia "appearance", "manifestation")
[1] is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being
in Jesus Christ. It falls on January 6 or, in many countries, on the Sunday that falls between
January 2 and January 8. Since the Julian Calendar, which is followed by some
Eastern Churches, is at present 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar
and the revised Julian Calendar, 6 January in that calendar corresponds at present to
19 January in what is the official civil calendar in most countries.
On this feast, Western Christians commemorate principally the visitation of the
Biblical Magi to the Baby Jesus, i.e., his manifestation to the Gentiles;
So, what I'm going to do tonight, is to take a broader TIME LINE, stretching this message out (but IN SHORT),
to cover a larger time period, which will, (or may) be also covered in parts the following Sunday.
So, now lets ... SQUEEZE/COMPRESS... then unravall... and TELL !!!
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Imagine, if you will, how do you envisage what heaven is like? beautiful white fluffy clouds, angels all around, your loved ones mingling with many others, and there on that lovely thrown, is God, and Jesus sitting on his right hand side. Imagine also, God is having a conversation with his son, saying "I have a very important journey for you to take, my son, a special mission, and your time has come, that I send you to Earth, and teach mankind many lessons on how to treat their fellow human beings correctly. I love the world so very much, in fact all of my creation, with all their complexities and failures. They need to love one another, and regain their faith in me, another reminder that whosoever believes in me, shall not perish, but have everlasting life".
The only problem, my son, about this mission, is that when you are about 33 years of age, I need you back here in heaven, and it will prove to be a painful exit from there....we need to talk.
Yes, infact, in John 1:1-18...
In the beginning was (Jesus)THE WORD, and (Jesus) THE WORD was with God, (Jesus was part of 'the GOD HEAD'). He (JESUS) was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through GOD, and without GOD not one thing came into being.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. We will know him later as "John the Baptist", and born at the same time as Jesus... He was given a message from God and came as a witness to testify about Jesus, so that all might believe through him. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. And (JESUS) was to become flesh and live among us.
And God said to Jesus, in his final briefing of his mission to become human , and for all the reasons his heavenly parent would explain to him in that briefing. I have set into play, details, prophesies etc, to predict your mission down there on Earth to my human creation, quite some time ago, to give my human creation some 'HEADS UP' on what will happen in their future.
The way God had planned it for Jesus to enter Earth, had to be as a baby, via a chosen woman to give him entry into Earth...
O.K., here on Earth, we have already sung our praises, of the coming of the Lord, with the struggles Mary & Joseph getting Jesus to his initial resting place, in a 'barn', destination, with animals all around them, and the visit (during EPIPHANY:) of the 3 wise men (Magi, KINGS), and to protect Jesus on his next journey, but wait, there's more !!!
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O.K., now lets hold that TIME LINE FOR A MOMENT for me to explain something relitively important...
The Christian world generally celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ on the 25th of December, but it is highly unlikely that this is the date of His birth. God doesn't provide any information in scripture on the specific day of Christ's birth, but if we would work it out from the Jewish Priestly courses in the biblical record, we would probably conclude that Jesus was born in the Fall of the year sometime between September and October.
In truth, the actual day is insignificant in the celebration of His birth, because we are not commanded to, nor are we commanded not to observe it. Those of us who do, choose to do it as a special remembrance of the "Gift of God!" While we indeed celebrate his birth on every day of the year, we can also choose to set aside a day for special celebration.
But the question arises, can we know the actual year of the Lord's birth? From my studies I conclude that we can know with relative (yet not absolute) certainty from the evidence in scripture, and make a strong Biblical case that Christ was born in 7 B.C. The circumstantial evidence in the scriptures also point to that year, and secular information agrees favorably. From the Biblical record, there are some things that we can know with certainty.
BUT WE DO KNOW, as per : Matthew 2:1 tells us that the birth of Jesus Christ was at the time when king Herod the Great, ruled!
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We now turn to... MATTHEW 2: 3-11
When HEROD the King heard about the birth of Jesus Christ, he was troubled, ( and all of Jersulsalem with him --- what an interesting assumption in Herods mind)... Feeling very threatened by the thought that someone was here to eventually overthrow him, remove and replace him as the RULER of this land. (as written by the Prophets) EGO ! EGO ! EGO ! Alarm bells ringing, even at the time that Jesus had just come to Earth, this was not going to be an easy mission for Jesus, for his time on Earth.
So, what did King Herod do???? he sent for his CHIEF PRIESTS & SCRIBES, and asked... what have you heard? what is all this about the "CHRIST".
Now they already knew, and told him, "In BETHLEHEM of Judea". AAAaaaaaaarrrrr THE PLOT THICKENS !!! Infact, they had to RUB IT IN, by telling of the prophecy (WHICH GOD HAD ALREADY SET IN PLACE) of the pending King..."And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for, from you shall come a ruler who will SHEPHERD my people Israel."
Then HEROD secretly summoned for the visiting WISE MEN, and got as much information from them, such as to what time the star had appeared (clutching at straws & trying to gather as much information as possible ).
HEROD sent them on a mission to "GO and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I may come and worship him". yea right !!!
Now of course this so called WISE KING, was speaking to THREE WISE KINGS, and one against THREE is no match. Now we all know what happened next.. The Star led them to the Child Jesus ... etc etc etc. ;-)
God knew very well that to get messages to Earthlings, he had to use a special communication method, usually in the way of dreams, and often through Angels (ANOTHER NAME FOR "MESSENGERS")
Now God sent the 3 wise men a very interesting DREAM... a warning not to return to HEROD the King, so they departed to their own country by another way.
Oh yes DREAMS & ANGELS: what magnificent ways in which God, often passed on special messages, warnings, good news etc.... not the "COURIER MAIL" (Newspaper), but the COURIER ANGELS: When the 3 Wise men had departed, WHAMMO !!!!!
MATTHEW 2: 13-16 "Then Herod (The King), when he saw that he had been tricked by the 3 wise men, ... now this was about 2 YEARS LATER, The King ordered the murder of every single male child that had been born within that 2 year period, out of frustration, and to ensure that his main perceived threat to his kingdom, that this Christ, should be put to death.
An Angel (MESSENGER) of the Lord appeared to Joseph IN A DREAM, and said "RISE and take the child and mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, and destroy him. So Joseph did, and they remained in Egypt until HEROD had died .
ONCE AGAIN ALL THIS HAD BEEN PREDICTED by the Prophet Jeremiah. Now when HEROD died, another Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph (THE PLOT THICKENS !!! ) in another DREAM while they were in EGYPT, saying: "Rise, take the CHILD and his mother and go to the land of ISRAEL, for those who sought the child's life are dead. But wait, there's more...
When Joseph heard that Archelaus had became King over Judah, in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And once again it was revealed to him in a prayer, to go to the land of Galilee. So, they came and lived in the city called Nazareth, so that what was said by the prophet might be fulfilled...He shall be called a Nazarene.
...oooO0Oooo...
Rev.Shane K. Andersen DD (Hon) has, since 2004-2011, been working in the Philippines, preaching at services & study (Bible) Groups, and 'hands on' work with flood relief assistance, and guest speaker at HUMAN RIGHTS Demonstrations etc...at MCC Quezon City, MCCPH, and MCC Baguio, plus teaching & running Photographic Workshops. Rev. Shane asks for your very special donation, so he can continue this vital work in 2012.
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Email: OMCSydney@gmail.com