Last time I wrote about the Christmas Crisis, which immediately followed the birth of Jesus. This time I will be writing about OUR role in the Christmas story.
In Luke 2:10, we read about the angels announcing the birth of Jesus, saying, “I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people…” Fast forward about 33 years, and Jesus uses a very similar phrase when speaking to His disciples. In Mark 16:15, Jesus says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
The word the angels used for “good tidings” in Luke 2:10 is the same word Jesus uses in Mark 16:15 for “gospel.” The good news of Jesus was for all people over 2,000 years ago, and it is still for all people today.
As Christians, we are told by Jesus in Mark 16:15 to go and preach the Gospel (good tidings) to all people. The same news given to the shepherds at the birth of Jesus and what the Magi experienced when meeting Jesus is what Jesus instructs His disciples to do as well. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all people. If you are a disciple of Jesus, then you are commissioned by Him to go and share good news.
In Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” “All people” and “every creature” are clarified even further to “all nations,” which means all ethnic groups. According to the United Nations, there are 195 recognized countries globally. There are several thousand different ethnic groups in the world. The largest country by population is China, with almost 1.5 billion people. The second largest country by population is India, with about 1.4 billion. Can you guess what the third largest country by population is? It’s the USA, with about 330 million people!
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| photo courtesy of freeimages.com |
Most of us reading this article are living in the third largest populated area for sharing the Gospel. For going! For loving! We are to go and bring good news of great joy to all people:
to the shepherds and the Magi,
to the Republicans, the Democrats, the politically homeless, and the indifferent,
to the vaxxers, anti-vaxxers, and everyone in between,
to the rich, the poor, and the middle class,
to the citizens, the refugees, and the illegal aliens,
to every nation, every tribe, every tongue, and every ethnic group!
My encouragement to anyone reading this is to begin to bring the good news of the Kingdom of God with you wherever you go. Jesus is good news that will bring you and others great joy! Experience Jesus for yourself and then share Him!
The time is now; shake the earth!
- Joel
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