Christmas

  So here it is my "reason for the season" blog.  Most of us know why we have Christmas, the birth of Jesus CHRIST, our Lord and Savior.  Now as the Jehovah's Witnesses will tell you, Christ was not born December 25th.  If you do your homework, you know that on this point they are correct, even if they miss the mark on just about everything else.    If we read in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 2 verse 8, we see this (KJV):  "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." 
   Shepherds don't take their flocks out into the country side during the winter, they stay closer to their homes, because of the cold, and the winter.  Christ was more than likely born sometime between September and November.

  The birth of Christ fulfilled so many prophecies, many of which were by Isaiah.  Born of a virgin, born in a stable, and laid in a manger, surrounded by animals. Born in Judea to fulfill the prophecy "And though Bethlehem in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda:  for out of thee shall come a Govenor, that shall rule my people Isreal."
His parents fled to Egypt to save him from being killed, so as to fulfill the prophecy:  "Out of Egypt have I called my son".  When the children of Isreal were being killed, yet another prophecy was fulfilled:  "In Ra'-ma was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Ra'-chel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not."  All these scriptures were taken from the 1st Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.

  We exchange gifts as a reminder of the Gift of Love, Redemption and Salvation that God the Father gave us over 2,000 years ago in the form of a baby.  A babe who grew into a man, who carried the sin and burdens of this world on His shoulders, when he made the ultimate atoning sacrifice on the cross.  The sinless man became sin to redeem us back to the Father.  We exchange gifts as a way of saying "Yes, Lord, we remember your love. We thank you for your goodness and kindness".

  If you go back and re-read the book of Genesis, you can see that Adam and Eve were created to remain immortal, to stay with God in the Garden for eternity.  God created this earth for our enjoyment, and we spat in his face.  Look at how much God loves us:  Genesis chapter 22, where God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, his beloved son Isaac.  God provided a Ram, a symbol of Christ.  See since Man's fall in the Garden, God planned on redeeming His beloved back to Himself.  That is the essence of Christmas.  The giving of one life for all.