MY CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO ALL

'The six men who raped a Delhi student on a bus had decided to "punish" her .... police sources said.'

Keeping the above 'news extract' of the heinous gang rape of the 23 year old medical student in Delhi as our backdrop, let us go to the following extract from the Holy Bible:

 ^{JOHN 8: 2-11} Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the centre of the court, ⁴ they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” ⁶ They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ⁷ But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the centre of the court. ¹⁰ Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, ^[a]Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

It is very easy for everyone to feel 'self-righteous' and at once get blinded by a false kind of zeal to 'punish' others for the 'wrongs' others do. In the case of the gang-rape victim, the perpetrators of the heinous crime tried to justify their loathful act by saying she deserved such a punishment!

The passage from the bible about the adulterous woman very clearly demonstrates that THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS AND ALL FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD! from the two that remain amongst the collection of stones left by the accusers, THERE IS ONE THAT IS FREE FROM SIN and by Jewish law, only he could have proceeded with the execution of the woman! Instead, He chooses to show mercy!

The core relevance of Christmas celebrations has been lost due to 'empty traditions'. It is the BIRTH OF OUR MESSIAH that we're celebrating and not His birthday! The power of the message of Christmas has been watered down by our vane traditions which have been used lucratively by traders and businessmen to make millions over this joyous season! Instead of enjoying the TRUE JOY that only our Lord Jesus can give, we chase after temporal vanities!

Isaiah 9:6 prophecies:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will ^[a]rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

The above scripture was read/heard by me many times but it never made the impact like it did today!
When God created the heavens and the earth HE LOOKED AT HIS CREATION AND SAID 'IT WAS GOOD'. It was man's disobedience to God that severed the wonderful fellowship that man enjoyed with god. We now blame God for all the wrong that happens in the world. We forget that if we do not chose Jesus as our personal saviour, we will never reach that destination that unites us with God in heaven!

An easy illustration of the above truth: If you've boarded a train to take you from 'A' to 'B', the train will eventually take you to 'B' however, if you decide to get off at any other station along the way, the train will reach the destination WITHOUT YOU!

God is not the author of religions! God wanted to restore the relationship between man and Himself but man has instead invented religions. He sent his only begotten son Jesus to earth so that whosoever believed in Him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

True joy will be experienced only when we allow the PRINCE OF PEACE to be born inside our hearts. Let us invite Him this Christmas to come into our lives and change us to the image and likeness of HIM!