The wonder of wonders as she looked down and smiled
That He was her Maker as well as her child
He created the womb that had given Him birth
He was God incarnate come down to the earth.
The wonder of wonders oh how could it be
That God became flesh and was given for me
The Almighty came down and walked among men
The wonder of wonders He died for my sin.
We are in what we call, “The Christmas Season.” When I think of Christmas songs, this one is always a favorite. As Christians, we celebrate Christmas because we remember Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, came to earth as a baby, born of the virgin Mary.
A few verses from Luke 2 (ESV) about the birth of Christ.
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Jesus came to be the Saviour of the world. But why do we need a Saviour?
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. The Word was Jesus. Verse 14 says: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus was with God in Genesis 1 when God created the world and mankind.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
After God created man, he placed man in the Garden of Eden with a few instructions; one of which was to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Man did not pass the test.
Chap. 3: 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
When man sinned, man became separated from fellowship with God. From that time on, man needed a Saviour to be reconciled back to God.
Jesus, the Creator, God’s only begotten Son, the Word, came to be our Saviour. It is His coming to Earth as a baby that we celebrate at Christmas. We read those verses first, but the story does not stop there. Man rejected Jesus.
John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
They took Him and crucified Him. After three days, Jesus rose from the dead. We celebrate His resurrection at Easter each spring.
His death and resurrection were necessary so we could find eternal life through faith in his shed blood to take away our sins.
The familiar verse: John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus is coming again too. The next time He comes, He will be coming as King and Lord.
Mt 16: 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
This will be a glorious time for those that believe on Him, and a fearful time for those that do not. We are all invited to come to Him, but we need to come to Him here in this life. Once we leave this world we will be in eternity—either heaven or hell. There will not be any more opportunity for those who are lost.
As we celebrate Christ’s birth this Christmas, let’s remember the reason He came was to save us from our sins if we turn our lives over to Him. Let’s also remember that He is coming back again, and let’s each be among those who are found watching for His return.
This is the world’s greatest love story. The Prince of Peace coming to give us His peace that passes understanding. He came to die for us so we can live with Him for all eternity.
The vision of Heralds of Hope is: we will use media to make disciples of Jesus Christ to accomplish the Great Commission in our lifetime. We want to reach as many people as we can with this Good News.
I am one of the newest members of the Board. One of the highlights for me is reading stories of how people found Hope, who had been searching for answers. Through radio, people can hear the gospel whether they are behind the iron curtain, in prisons, or illiterate without the opportunity to read the Word for themselves. Here are some of the testimonies.
“Hello brothers and sisters. I am 64 years old. I cannot see well, so the radio receiver is good spiritual food for me. No matter what, the radio is always with me. Thank you for doing such things for God; this is a big support for us. May God bless you a hundredfold! We still need radio receivers; we want others to be able to feed spiritually through the radio too. Thank you for everything!”
“I am listening to your programs especially the Heralds of Hope Amharic. The place I live at is very remote and there is no church around. I am listening to this program with my wife and children. We came here for work from the Eastern region. As you know, people living around this place need to be evangelized. So, I tuned my radio louder and our neighbors are also listening to the program. God uses HOH radio program to protect and guide us in such difficult situations. Here there are very small Christians who came from different part of the Country for work. We just wait for this program to listen to the Word of God and be encouraged. Please pray for us to be good witnesses of God.”
“I’m an Egyptian man, 36 years old. I’m a Muslim, but after listening to many of your episodes, I feel I want to talk to someone to help me understand Christianity better. I’m becoming more attached to the idea of Jesus Christ because of your program. I need to communicate with someone who would help me in my new findings and knowledge of Christ. My heart is overflowing with a new feeling and all is pushing me towards Jesus.
It might be considered a long journey (Conversion) to some people, but I’m hoping you’d tolerate me and help me, and I’d be heartily grateful to you if you would answer me and continue this dialogue. Thank you.”
I am Kevin Shank, a board member for the last year. My wife, Bethany, and I have six children, five boys and one girl, plus two daughters-in-law.