THIS LITTLE CHILD

"This Little Child" is the title of a powerful song written and sung by American Christian music artist/ missionary, Scott Wesley Brown, and featured on his 1981 album titled: SWB. The song, as you might have already realized, especially if you have taken the time to listen to the You Tube track above, is about the child Jesus, and His impact on humanity as He grew to become a man, and fulfilled His purpose as the Saviour of the world. Below are the lyrics to this song:

Who would of thought

That long ago, and very far away

A little child would be born

And in a manger laid

And who would have thought

This little child

Was born the King of Kings

The son of just a carpenter

But for whom the angels sing

And who would have thought

That as He grew

And with other children played

This child with whom

They laughed and sang

Would die for them some day

And who would have thought

This little child

Could make a blind man see

Feed the hungry, make rich the poor

And set the sinner free

Oh, who would have thought

This little child

Was who the prophets said

Would take away the sins of man

And rise up from the dead

Oh, I believe and I will always sing

This little child is the King

Oh, I believe and I will always sing

This little child

He is the King of Kings

Many years have come and gone

Yet this world remains the same

Empires have been built and fallen

Only time has made a change

Nation against nation

Brother against brother

Men so filled with hatred

Killing one another

And over half the world is starving

While our banner of decency is torn

Debating over disarmament

Killing children before they're born

And fools who march to win the right

To justify their sin

Oh, every nation that has fallen

Has fallen from within

Yet, in the midst of this darkness

There is hope, a light that burns

This little child, the King of Kings

Someday will return

And I believe and I will always sing

This little child is the King

And I believe and I will always sing

This little child

He is the King of Kings

And who would have thought this little child

Is who the prophets said

Will return to judge this world

The living and the dead

Oh, can't you see

That long ago, so very far away

This little child our only hope

Was born a King that day

In Philippians 2:5-8, the Apostle Paul, speaking to all who identify as Christians, true followers of Christ:

 Let this mind be in you all,

 which was also in Christ Jesus, 

who, being in the form of God, 

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

But He emptied Himself, 

taking upon Himself the form of a servant,

and was made in the likeness of men.

And being found in the form of a man,

He humbled Himself

and became obedient to death,

even death on a cross.

The Christmas season is here once again, where we remember with great joy the birth of the baby Jesus in a dirty stable in the little town of Bethlehem, not far from Jerusalem - where He was laid in a manger, an animal feeding trough filled with hay.

Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit together make up the Trinity, the one true God, who has always existed - this same Jesus willingly became one of us, born into this world, taking on a human body, and in so doing, emptied Himself of some of His divine attributes and privileges while confined in time and space during His thirty three years living amongst us in bodily form.

The Greek word kenosis describing the self-emptying in the above passage in Philippians 2 makes it clear that Jesus as the God-man could not be omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent in Himself. The Bible says that He fully relied on the power of the Holy Spirit within Him, and only did those things told to Him by the Father.

Of Jesus, the apostle Paul says in Colossians 1:

By Him all things were created that are in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and by Him, all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell, and to reconcile all things to Himself by Him, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him, I say - whether they are things on earth or things in heaven.

And you, who were formerly alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.

Isaiah says that: All our righteousnesses before God are as filthy rags.

Romans 3:23 states that: All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

The Greek word for sin hamartia means "to miss the mark." One way of picturing this is that of someone shooting arrows at a target. No matter how hard one tries to hit the target, the arrows all fall short.

Once, the Bible says, we were a people without God, and without hope in the world.

Once we were not a people, but are now the people of God (speaking of those who have committed their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ).

Speaking of Jesus, the word of God says that: He became sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

We who were far away from the covenants and promises of God have been brought near by the blood of Jesus.

At Christmas, we remember God sending His Son to earth to be born in  a humble stable. Today, we honour and worship Him as the crucified, and risen Lord of Glory, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, who, as the Bible says, ever lives to make intercession for us.

If you would like to know how you can become a Christian, there are many online resources to help guide you. One resource I can recommmend is: www.vision.org.au This is the online home of Australia's Vision Christian Media, which includes Vision Christian Radio, broadcasting to well over 700 cities, towns and small population centres across the nation. Click on the "Grow your faith" tab, then from the dropdown menu, click on "Looking for God?" God Bless. 

If you have made a commitment to Christ as a result of reading this blog, please comment below.

 

JOY TO THE WORLD 

If you haven't already watched and listened to the above YouTube video of the Christmas carol "Joy To The World", why not do so now - and be blessed as popular singer/ songwriter Chris Tomlin sings with the backing of the Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda in Africa. The song echoes the wonderful news told to a group of shepherds tending their flocks in fields in Galilee, one night a little over 2,000 years ago.

Luke the Physician, in his Gospel recounts the event:

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

"And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest,

                          And on earth, peace, goodwill to all men." Luke 2:8-14 NKJV

Luke goes on to describe how the shepherds went to Bethlehem and just as the angel had said, they found the baby Jesus lying in a manger (in a stable) together with Joseph and His mother, Mary. The shepherds were so excited that they told many others of the revelation concerning Jesus' birth and how they had seen him. They then returned to tending their flocks, praising God for all they were privileged to see and hear.

In his popular book, "The Harvest" by pastor and author, Rick Joyner, Founder and Director of MorningStar Ministries based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, in one of the chapters, he has a section headed "God Was Born In A Stable."

Quoting from this passage, he writes: In Biblical times, the stable was a most offensive place....By today's standards, they would not be fit even for animals. That the Lord of Glory would choose such a place to make His entry into the world is one of the more profound revelations of His message to man. We would do well not to miss His point as He has not ceased to use such places to make His appearances.

Human reasoning would never lead us to a stable to find God. The only way He could be found was by revelation; only those who were led by the Spirit would come. This has not changed. That which has been born of God is usually found in a place that is repulsive to the pride and presumptions of carnal men. As the Apostle Paul stated it: But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,

that no flesh should glory in His presence.

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God - and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption - 

that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NKJV

After His birth, Jesus was then raised in the most despised town in the nation. Even His physical appearance was such that no one would be attracted to Him. Isaiah 53:2

He left this world after the most degrading torture and execution yet devised by the demented schemes of fallen men. This gospel is foolishness to the natural man and always will be. It will never attract those who live by human wisdom. Only those who love truth more than anything else in this world will walk with Him in the reproach of the true gospel.

The birth, life and death of  Jesus put the axe to the root of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is the most powerful message the creation has ever heard; it is the most profound testimony of the character and nature of God. When we embellish this gospel to make it appeal to carnal men, we destroy its power to set them free and we ourselves start to drift from the path of life. For this reason Paul preached nothing but Christ and Him crucified. He knew that if one was compelled to come by any other message, it would be a false conversion.

Like the humble shepherds who had the revelation concerning the birth of Jesus, which would be Joy To The World to those who would receive Him as their Saviour and Lord, each one of us today has the wonderful opportunity afforded by our Creator God to be restored to fellowship with Him - a fellowship destroyed by the entrance of Sin into the world.

This Christmas, as we remember the birth of Jesus in a dirty barn in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago, let us also know that He is no longer a baby in a manger. He grew up and at the age of thirty three, He hung on a Cross of wood for us with nails through His hands and feet, and a crown of thorns on His head. He suffered and died in our place, that, through His death, we might experience new life in Him. He rose from the dead the third day, defeating all the powers of Sin and Death.

He is the triumphant King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are told by Jesus in Matthew 6:33 that our priority in life should be to: Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and everything we need will be added to us.

The Apostle Paul in Romans 14:17 says The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

YES, the Lord is declaring at this Christmas season of the year that His desire for each one of us is that we would know His True Joy, BUT, deep abiding joy comes out of our quest for Righteousness, becoming more like Jesus as we are changed by His Life within us.

2021 is just around the corner. 2020 has certainly been a very different year and a very difficult year for many around the world with COVID-19 and its multitude of spin-off effects, impacting the whole of society, as well as the Church of Jesus Christ. There certainly has been a lot of shaking going on, as we are told in Hebrews 12, but as Christians, we have come to a kingdom which cannot be shaken. The King is coming! The King is coming! Let us be ready for His return, whenever that will be!

If you would like to know more about how you can become a Christian, go online to www.vision.org.au This is the home of Australia's Vision Christian Media. Click on the "Grow your faith" tab, then from the dropdown menu, click on "Looking for God?" God Bless!