December 2007 - Vol 3, Issue 7

In this issue...
-- Christmas - 2007
-- Hear Dr. Whitcomb speak this month
-- Merry Christmas from Whitcomb Ministries!

Christmas - 2007
By Dr. John C. Whitcomb

Especially at this time of the year, Christians all over the world are making public statements about the supreme gift God the Father made to mankind: His own eternal Son, Jesus Christ the Lord.

For hundreds of years before Jesus arrived on planet Earth, the Father had promised to His people Israel that His Son was coming to provide salvation to those who accept His Word. For example, Moses wrote (1,400 B.C.): "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken . . . And (God the Father confirmed that) it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him" (Deut. 18:15-19 [words in parentheses added]; cf. Acts 3:22).

In His own words, the Son of God explained through the prophet Isaiah (700 years before He added a true and complete human nature to His eternal divine nature): "Come ye near unto Me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was (i.e., at the creation), there am I: And now the Lord GOD, and His Spirit, hath sent Me" (Isa. 48:16). Also, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me; because the LORD hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; . . . To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD" (Isa. 61:1, 2; cf. Luke 4:18-19).

When God's only Son finally assumed a human nature - without in any way diminishing or changing His deity - in the womb of a young Jewish woman, His life on this earth began. Nine months later, Christ (the Greek word for Messiah, the Anointed One) was born. That was the first Christmas.

In His public ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ insisted repeatedly that the Father had sent Him into the world. No other human being has had or will have had a pre-existent life: neither Adam nor Eve, nor any of their descendants - only the Lord Jesus Christ! So important is this fact, the Lord Jesus stated it 26 times in the gospel of John alone!

For example: "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me . . . And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life" (John 6:38, 40).

But why did the Father send His Son to planet Earth? It was not simply to display a sinless and holy life - that would amplify our sinfulness by contrast, and confirm our condemnation before God. He came to die as our divine/human substitute, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Without being perfectly joined to a full human nature, a divine Person could never die. And we, as sinners in desperate need of a savior, would be forever without hope. But "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

No wonder the shepherds rejoiced at this news! And so did Joseph and Mary, and Zacharias and Elisabeth (the parents of Jesus' forerunner, John the Baptist), and aged believers like Simeon and Anna who had prayed for many years that God would permit them to see the Messiah (Luke 2:25-38). They were overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness.

Is that why we rejoice during the Christmas season? We must rejoice, not simply because God the Son became the God/man forever, but because He became our infinitely sufficient Savior!

"God our Saviour . . . will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Tim. 2:3-6).

May everyone who reads these words have a truly meaningful and blessed Christmas!

Hear Dr. Whitcomb speak this month
As we celebrate Christmas and the beginning of another brand new year, it is comforting to know that God's good sovereignty - displayed at the first Christmas - remains constant in each of our lives. Please rejoice with us in this season at all that He has done, and continues to do.

On Tuesday, Dec. 11, Dr. Whitcomb will address the Pre-Trib Study Group in Irving, Tex. For more information, call 972-929-8400, or visit www.pre-trib.org.

On Friday, Jan. 18, and Saturday, Jan. 19, Dr. Whitcomb will teach on apologetics and worldview at Tyndale Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Tex., as part of The Heritage Lecture Series 2008. For more information, call 800-886-1415, or visit www.tyndale.edu.

For additional details about these events, please visit our web pages at www.whitcombministries.org and www.sermonaudio.com/whitcomb.

(*Answers in Genesis-sponsored event. For more information on these conferences, visit www.answersingenesis.org/events.)

Merry Christmas from Whitcomb Ministries!
All of us at Whitcomb Ministries want to wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a joyous, Happy New Year!

While you are celebrating the holidays this month, please make full use of some special new messages that we are posting on SermonAudio.com for Christmas and the new year.

Also, during the week of Dec. 31, we will post a special message entitled "Help is Available." This three-minute recording was made in order to promote our proclamations of God's truth through Internet broadcasting. Please feel free to download and use this audio in your church, school or other ministry.

We truly want to be a blessing to you in this holiday season.