Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. – Acts 4:12
Many non-believers actually profess a belief in God. Some have told me they believe in a soul and a spiritual source that it came from. Some have spoken of their belief in angels and believe they guard us. Some ponder breathtaking beauty and some say they have seen miraculous things that defy explanations. Yet, the name of Jesus can be an abrupt conversation ender. One has to wonder why.
We think of Christmas as a lovely time, filled with the muted glow of twinkling lights and carols about a tiny babe asleep in a stable. It is the expectation of a wondrous moment when a prince of peace took his first breath and gazed at the world with his human eyes. A tiny, helpless infant was born to fulfill the promise that a savior would come. It is a comfort, it is a joy, it is a hope for peace on earth to men of good will.
To “keep Christmas” as Charles Dickens calls it, involves acts of selflessness and charity. It renounces greed and cares for others. Gift giving exemplifies love. Christmas is associated with a happy and festive time for most, surrounded by close family and friends, filled with feasts of special foods, filled with reunions, and filled with tradition. Some even go to church because of these traditions. And they are greeted with the same lovely ambiance that exudes the joy of Christmas. But Jesus is much, much more than a silent baby in peaceful slumber.
Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Savior of the world and His name is salvation to those who call upon Him. He was born of flesh and fully God. He is the very Word of God, God incarnate, living on the earth (Jn1:1). He is King of King and Lord of Lords (Rev 16:19). He came to proclaim love and to be the sacrifice for our selfishness, our sin. He is not only the Prince of Peace and our Wonderful Counselor, but He is The Mighty God (Is 9:6). He is the Morning Star (Rev 22:16) and the Light of the World (Jn 8:12). He is the Bread of Life (Jn 6:48). He is the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God (John 1:29) and the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). He is The Way, The Truth and The Life and no one comes to the Father except thru Him (Jn 14:6), for He is our Savior.
If we heed His name, He is our Lord. We who follow Him are blessed: not with money, not with power, not with the trappings of the fruit that the world brings. We are blessed by knowing Him. We are blessed by walking this world, but being sealed by Him and living as children in the Kingdom of love and peace, the Kingdom of God. We are blessed because we are reunited with God. Our Savior has saved our souls from sin and death (Rm 6:23). We are blessed because of the name of Jesus Christ.
It is no wonder that the prince of this earth tries to suppress the wonder and the power that is the name of Jesus. A captor would not tell his prisoner they can be freed with a simple action, a mere step in a different direction. The ruse is to deny the efficacy of the plan and belittle the plan’s author. There is no other name by which a soul may know peace, know freedom from the burden of sin and the blight of death. The birth of Christ represents hope and that hope is in His redemptive and mighty name, a name that Satan longs to minimize and deny so that one can ignore the very truth that leads to salvation. There is only one name that can save us. It is the name of Jesus Christ. He is the Mighty God who chose to be born of flesh and dwell with men. Let our celebration of Christmas be more than gifts and charity and wonder at the manger; let it be worship of His Holy name that draws us to the wellspring to drink of His salvation.
Written by Janet Keefe
