Christmas 2013

ByDon Robson

Once again we are celebrating the birth of the great messenger from God, His only son who pledged to give Himself in sacrifice before the world was created. Since He accomplished that momentous deed, we have every right and duty to celebrate God’s great gift to mankind, Jesus Christ. This process has been going on for the past two thousand years and over that time, we have developed a complete library of hymns, anthems and the story itself, found in the four gospels of the Bible.

It is good to celebrate and be happy and, like Scrooge, carry the Christmas spirit into the rest of the year. But is that enough? Should we not be preparing for the next coming of Jesus who is to become King of Kings and Lord of Lords, ruling with a rod of iron? In my opinion, this effort ought to begin with the church.

Every Christmas we hear the wonderful prophecy of Isaiah 9: 6,7, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful,, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his Kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.”

Ho- Hum! So what? All things go on as before! Well, there is another prophecy contained in II Samuel written in chapter 7. It covers several verses but I will quote from two. “Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever.”

Elsewhere it says that David shall never want a “man’ to occupy the throne!

Taken together these prophecies are dynamic! They are worth more than a simple reading. What do they mean? Let me explain.

  • All Israel is to be located in a place other than the Holy land.
  • Where is the ruler (Son of David) who is ruling to-day?
  • The place is the British Isles and the Son of David is Elizabeth II

It is time that the church picked up the story of Jeremiah and how he brought Tea Tephi to Ireland to marry the King who was a Judahite. The Royal family possesses a complete lineage of the kings through the ancient Irish to the Scottish kings down to James VI who became the first king of Israel ruling over ALL the tribes. This will be King Jesus’ throne when He returns to rule the whole world!

In my second paragraph, I used the term, “ruling with a rod of iron,” a phrase found in the book of Revelation. What does that mean? It means ruling with the law of God. That was the law that Jesus followed perfectly during His lifetime on earth which made Him the perfect sacrifice on which our atonement is based. Will this cause us problems? There are areas where we differ remarkably!

  • We have prisons. God employs the death penalty and restitution for victims.
  • We hold debts until paid. God decrees forgiveness on the Sabbath year.
  • We promote sexual liberty. God permits sex in marriage only.
  • We tax property value. God only taxes earnings or profits.
  • We provide offerings to the church. God demands tithes.
  • We operate secular governments. God demands a theocracy.

These are examples of how we have strayed from God’s eternal laws. We need discussion now. First, we must remove the idea that the laws were nailed to the Cross and we live under grace. Peter warned us not to use grace to justify iniquity. So, the first hurdle is to establish that God’s laws are in force whether we like it or not. Second, we should look at ways to return to the law of God as we seek forgiveness in our penance.

In any discussions on the law, it will be important to show the benefits of God’s laws. We have two examples of the prosperity, safety and happiness that will accrue. First, the kingdom of David and Solomon; they both had marvelously prosperous and extensive kingdoms. The Creator’s laws pay off!

Of course, the second example is the first in rank; I refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. As noted earlier, Jesus followed the law perfectly! It gave Him the ability to conquer death!

He conquered death!

When we read of the Kingdom of God in Isaiah and John’s final book, we realize that the kingdom where the law is practiced and no iniquity is allowed, we rejoice and whisper our prayer, “Even so, come Lord Jesus!” Amen.