An Airborne Animal, Atheists, and Authenticity

The apostle Paul, in writing to the Romans in chapter 1 of that book, wrote about the authenticity of the gospel:
1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord...  We serve a God who sent His Son to die for us and who, by virtue from His resurrection from the dead, has given us new life - that is the heart of the Christmas story.   He has come to be our Redeemer.   And, even though there are skeptics about the resurrection, despite the significant number of expert sources that believe that Jesus rose from the dead, you can look at the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy - over 300 references to the Messiah, all of them fulfilled by Jesus.   The Word of God is true, it is authentic, and it is relevant for our culture today, who want to believe myths about Jesus, rather than the accurate portrait painted in the Scriptures - He is alive, He is the Savior of mankind, and He is the Way to God.

In the book of 2nd Peter, someone who walked with Jesus wrote this:
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  19 ...So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Maybe you saw it, maybe you even thought it was real - a YouTube video of a golden eagle swooping out of the sky over a Montreal park to grab an infant in its talons.  It then dropped the child about 3 feet just seconds later.   According to CNN, despite broad and immediate skepticism of its authenticity, it had more than 5 million views by Wednesday evening.

The Canadian digital-media school where the video was created, Centre NAD, issued a statement yesterday afternoon admitting that the clip was a hoax and naming the students involved.   However the school was unapologetic about its prank, and pointed viewers to another hoax video by some of its students, showing an unlikely penguin escape.

You have to be careful these days to distinguish what is true from what is not.   And, even the organization, American Atheists, is having some trouble with that - they have purchased a billboard in New York's Times Square to the tune of $25,000.   It pictures a jolly Santa with the words under it, "Keep the MERRY!”.  Then, the second half shows a picture of Jesus dying on the cross, with the caption, “Dump the MYTH!”

This Christmas season gives us the opportunity to reflect on and share the meaning of the TRUE Christmas story.   There are a lot of myths out there - see also the expiration of the Mayan calendar tomorrow.   I'll have a few more comments on that tomorrow, if we're still here (just kidding!).   The Bible definitely speaks to the scenario about the end of time.

The Christmas story actually happened, and we can trust in the authenticity of it, not only from a historical perspective, but a personal perspective.   Historically, the pages of the Old Testament contain some 300 prophecies about the Messiah - if one were not fulfilled, you could chalk that up to maybe a misinterpretation;  if a few were not fulfilled, you could totally discredit the teachings of Scripture.   How many unfulfilled prophecies about Jesus?  0.  That's right - NONE.  So we can be totally confident on the authenticity of the story of Jesus Christ regarding His first coming, as well as His second. 

And, the personal testimonies of changed lives due to the presence of the living God in the hearts of people can also provide a living certification of the authenticity of the Christmas story.  Because He died and is risen from the dead, we can experience the reality of the living God.   When we trust in Christ and live by His principles, we become radically transformed by the power of God.

There are a lot of distractions and false representations of the Christmas story and plan of redemption - God's Word shows us the true story, not a mythical video or a misguided set of claims, but absolute reality for our lives and our culture.