Plots, Purges, Palace intrigue . . .
. . . Not to mention Satanic attacks.
The Birth of Jesus is NOTHING like you find on a Christmas card.
(Part One here) (Part Two here)
The exciting conclusion to the Christmas Story can be seen in our two minute video:
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
Blessings on The Holiday, from all of us at The Comenius Institute.
Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here). Subscribe to “Truth in Two” videos from Comenius (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), hosts a weekly radio program with diverse groups of guests (1 minute video), and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video).
Picture Credit: Snappy Goat
FULL TEXT:
“In our last episode” are the words spoken on television programs to remind us of what we watched last week. The same goes for this “Truth in Two.”
In our last episode, we discovered that death threats were real in the chase to kill Jesus.
Attacks on Jesus did not begin in Matthew. As “the ruler of this world” Satan has shed blood repeatedly over the millennia to wipe out the Messianic Line. Since Cain gave Steinbeck the storyline for East of Eden, “the ancient serpent” has attacked relentlessly.
An Egyptian pharaoh imposed a death sentence on Hebrew boys in Exodus which was stopped dead in its tracks by two Hebrew midwives. Starvation and death forced the Hebrew woman Naomi to include foreigners in her family, only to open Messiah’s genealogy to Gentiles through Ruth. Inept planning by Haman is undermined through palace intrigue by Esther, a “closet” Jewess.
Follow the pattern through the ages and we discover murderous plots and purges against God’s chosen people who would bring Messiah. But Evil intentions never catch Heaven unaware.
The entrance of God-in-flesh is the central chapter in the supernatural battle; here we must begin in Genesis 3. The whole of The Old Testament anticipates His coming. Matthew and Luke take up the narrated story; something akin to Law and Order or the latest detective show. Blameless people die. Evil seems to triumph. But then, the tables are turned. An authority figure appears. The bad guys lose. 1 John 3:8 is a verse that summarizes it all: “The reason The Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
We must never forget the supernatural battle against Jesus at Christmas time. But we should always remember: He has overcome the world.
For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel. For all of us at the Comenius Institute, we wish you and your family a blessed season, celebrating Jesus’ birth.