One Solitary Life

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.

- dr.james allan francis

What Child Is This?

merry christmas guys! hope your break is awesome and that life is phenomenal!

on that note, i had one little thought that always comes about during this time of year: why do we celebrate christmas? there will be billions of dollars spent on festivities, presents, lights, etc. there will be billions of people out of school, off work, completely stress free for an extended period of time. we drop everything and celebrate, but why, exactly? what will we celebrate on the 25th of december? think about it for one minute. it's really bizarre. we are going to do all this because one little baby boy was born to a sixteen year old peasant girl and her dirt poor husband 2,000 years ago!

we like to try and make the nativity scene look like it was sweet and warm, with angelic light filling the room. that's just not true. there were no halos flying around everyone's head, and no one was feeling particularly well. marry and joseph had just traveled a ridiculously painful journey, and had just had a child. not only that, but they had him in an run down, decrepit stable! this thing was literally a dung heap for farm animals. the floor was covered in feces, the wood rotting. they were so exhausted and desperate, they wrapped their newborn in dirty, used rags and placed him in a lamb's feeding trough, filled with cud, spit, and parasites. can you imagine the humiliation, the poverty, the desperation? if that was all there was to this story, it shouldn't be celebrated, it should be lamented that this travesty ever happened to anyone in all of history!

of course, that's not the whole story, is it?

"the people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned... for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." -isaiah 9:2, 6-7

cause that baby wasn't just anyone. that was the God of the universe they placed in that manger so long ago.

so who is this baby, this man, this God? according to Isaiah, there are three ways to describe Him.

Isaiah call Jesus the Wonderful Counselor, which, when translated in context, means something along the lines of Wonderful Strategist, Thinker, and Philosopher.

einstein was pretty smart, right? a genius, in fact. when interviewed concerning Jesus, this is what this genius had to say:

"as a child i received instruction both in the Bible and the talmud. i am a jew, but i am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene... no one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality resonates in every word. no myth is filled with such life."

how can this genius say that about this worthless preacher from nazareth? because, ultimately, He was God. He planned this horrible birth, life of sacrifice, death of suffering, and wondrous resurrection.

i just can't get over the fact that the being who was able to make all of creation, every galaxy in the universe, every creature here on earth, every human soul, who was the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing, I AM of existence, became a little baby boy born to two peasants in ancient israel. to go from knowing all things to willingly limiting yourself to the point where you don't even know how to talk, or even go to the restroom? to go from being all-powerful and infinite to being in a fragile baby's body? to go from rightfully controlling all things to being born to two slave-race peasants? can we even imagine that sort of sacrafice? He went through puberty having His parents tell Him what to do, when He had made them and knew so often just how wrong they were. He went to Bible school and had teachers tell Him He didn't know a thing about the words of life He inspired. He preached and those who claimed to love Him the most, to be the most religious, rejected Him and were jealous of Him. He allowed Himself to be beaten, abused, put through a fake trial, flogged, tortured, and then crucified. then, He made it known who he was just so that the same people who had put Him through this could know His love. i find that kind of sacrifice utterly incomprehensible.

so, why? why be so drastic? to save the souls of mankind and conquer history itself.

the second way that isaiah names this Jesus is the Everlasting Father and the Mighty God. when translated, it means the "God Warrior" and "the Champion of history"

these sound like military phrases. what exactly did this warrior conquer?

first and foremost, He conquered our sin. He freed mankind from its sinful nature. we are redeemed! the love He showed us conquered our very nature, and made us who we are meant to be! and because of that freeing love He has conquered the hearts of men and history itself.

napoleon was a great conqueror. he knew how to touch the hearts of men, so much so that they would die for him in battle, and was so great that he once conquered almost all of europe and twice conquered the city of paris. this is what he had to say about this Champion of history:

"i know men and i tell you, Jesus is no mere man. the distance between Him and all others is an eternity. myself, caesar and charlamagne all built great empires, but upon what were they founded? force. Jesus built His kingdom on love, and today, millions would die for Him. history knows no conqueror like Christ."

"Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than alexander the great, mohammed, and napoleon; without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, He spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, He set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times."
-phillip schaff

He was called the Champion of history. do you know anyone else who can say that His birth is used as the focal point of humanity's existence? no one else can claim b.c., a.d.

this is what a few historians had to say about this Champion:

"i am a historian, i am not a believer, but i must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from nazareth is irrevocably the center of human history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history."
- h.g. wells

"as the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life on the planet."

-kenneth scott latourette

there is no other life on this planet that has so changed the plane of existence like Christ. but where are the effects of this change?

the last title isaiah gives Jesus is the "Prince of Peace". so what kind of peace did this Prince bring us?

about 80 years ago humanity experienced chaos unlike anything it had ever seen before, world war I. during this war, troops on both sides implemented a battle strategy called "trench warfare". both sides were about a half-mile apart. these men had been shooting, injuring, killing each other for over a year. on christmas eve, one german man began to sing the song "noel, noel, born is the king of israel!" in his native tongue. his fellow germans began to sing with him. the french and british troops on the other side of the battle lines heard the germans song, and, recognizing the hymn, began to sing along in their own languages. the germans held up a white cross of peace, and the british and french troops held up one of their own. the troops from both sides excited their trenches and met halfway between their battle lines. they exchanged gifts, sang hymns, and played soccer in the snow. the ceasefire lasted till after christmas day.

a french movie was made about the event named "Peace, Noel" by a director who was a very verbal agnostic who had often made it known that he was extremely anti-religious. when asked why he would make a movie with such blatantly christian themes, he had this to say:

"2000 years ago, a babe was born to a peasant couple in a very small village and the memory of His birth was able to suspend wwI."

is there anyone in all of history who can claim that? is there any other who has walked the face of this earth who can say that a song about their birth was so well known and carried so much power, that men from 3 different countries, all speaking three different languages, who had been killing each other for over a year would stop at the sound of it? is there anyone in history who can say that the means of torture and death they were put through could be used as a symbol of ceasefire? He is the one and only Prince of Peace, unlike any other.

that same God who is limitless, limited Himself, conquered sin, freed mankind, dominated history, and brought the power of supernatural peace wants to show you His glory, freed you from sin, and brought His peace that surpasses understanding.

to sum it all up, my prayer for this christmas is that we celebrate it experiencing Him and honoring His greatness.

have an incredible christmas and a happy new year! God bless!