Day 14 in the The Heart of Christmas devotional by Hank Hanegraff. Let me share what got from the devotional today. Today devotional is title ‘Can Santa Claus Be Saved?’ Before we start today devotion let us first look at Luke 1:35 “The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”” Now question will arises: what does this passage have to with Santa Claus and why does Santa Claus need to be saved? First let me start by answering the second question of, why does Santa Claus need to be saved. There are some Christians they do not like Santa Claus at all. They think Santa Claus is stealing the show away from Jesus’ birth. There are some really extreme Christians that think that Santa Claus is from the Devil. However this not true and never was true. The answer to question Santa Claus can be save and can be great model of Christianity. To understand this we first need God back in history to understand the origin of Santa Clause. Santa Clause is a anglicized form of the Dutch name Sinter Klass, which refers to a Christian Archbishop of Myra named Saint Nicholas. His parents were wealthy Christian in Patara (a harbor city in Turkey) the 3rd century, when God finally bless them with the birth of their son Nicholas they devoted him to God. When Nicholas was still young his parents died to plague that struck their town. It was this event that would transform Nicholas life. This event drew Nicholas closer to God. His suffering gave him a tender heart for suffering of others. He would often secretly give gifts to people in the middle of night who were in need. One story goes that there was poor man that had three daughter but he could not marry them off because could not pay the dowry, so on three separate nights Nichols drop off three bags of moneys so the poor man could marry off his daughter. One third night the old man caught Nichols, thou Nichols to man not tell anyone, the poor told whole town. Ever since then when someone received an anonymous gift in the middle of the night they realize that Nichols had been there. As time went on legend grew and with help of stories like the “Night before Christmas” and “Rudolph the Red nose reindeer” Saint Nicholas went from being bishop of Myra to Santa Claus. During Nichols time as Archbishop, a violent 8 year persecution of Christian broke out under the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian and later Galerius. He and others would greatly suffer for their faith in Christ. Through it he developed a deepened godly character and more mature faith in God. On either 345 or 352 AD December 6th Saint Nicholas died, now each year on December 6th people celebrate St. Nicholas Day and a tradition of gift giving was begun in his honor Now answer question what does Luke 1:35 have to do with Santa Claus we need to learn little more about Saint Nicholas. As the Archbishop of Myra, Nicholas was at the Council of Nicea in AD 325. At was at this council that Nicholas and others would confirm that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man, that Jesus was “Son of God.” It would be through this council others that they would confirm the doctrine of the trinity. The doctrine of the trinity is supported by three points. First that Isaiah 43:10 God declared to Israel “Before me no god was form, nor will be one after me,” another words there is only one God and there is no other God but the Lord. Second scripture declared the Father is God (1 Cor 8:6), the Jesus is God (John 20:28; Heb 1:8), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). Third that spite God is one; scripture also clearly shows that God is also eternally three separate distinct persons that have subjective/objective relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Father sends the son; Jesus prays to the Father; Father and Son sends the Holy Spirit; Jesus declares the Father and Son are separate witness. The next time as we think about Saint Nicholas let us be reminded of generosity to lavish gifts on the needy and the support of the doctrine of the trinity. Instead of thinking about legend of Santa Claus living in the North Pole bringing toys to all the good boys and girls, lets instead think about the man of faith who love God and others as himself. Who live out a life faithfully to God. During Christmas season as you gather for Christmas the true story of the man of Faith, Saint Nicholas. May Saint Nicholas be another way for us to point to Jesus Christ as the reason for Christmas season. Bible Meditation Luke 1:26-35 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Matthew 25:31-40 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Christmas Carol Holy, Holy, Holy Original By Reginald Heber Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity. Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the crystal sea; Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, Who wast, and art, and evermore shalt be. Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee, Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see; Only Thou art holy! There is none beside Thee, Perfect in power, in love, and purity. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea; Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! https://youtube/watch?v=QWRgsXYf8EY
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 22:34:14 +0000