Irrefutable history


By Jim Killebrew

[December 13, 2014]  As we enter the Christmas season this year we have already read or heard about attempts to shut down the celebration of Christmas. Schools that are banning Christmas programs, public areas where Nativity scenes are being banned from display, the usual commercial retailers who change the "Merry Christmas" greetings to "Happy Holidays." Of course those little peccadilloes are minor compared to the news we hear from the Middle East where thousands of Christians are being killed by a terrorist, political group referred to as ISIS or ISIL.

Every few days we hear over our news stations that actually choose to report those atrocities that children are being beheaded when they fail to recant their Christianity; women are being raped and kidnapped and sold into slavery if they fail to renounce Jesus, and men being crucified or killed outright simply for being Christian. Older men on their jihad mission are forcing young girls as young as nine or ten years old into a "marriage" to middle-aged men. These atrocities are real, and they are aimed at those who have given themselves to Christ.

Even in light of the millions of people around our world who have rejected the deity of Christ and fail to recognize Him as God, that disbelief does not in any way negate the absolute certainty of the existence of God, or His Son, Jesus, Who is the Christ. Approximately 681 years Before Christ (BC) we are given a glimpse of a Messianic prophecy about the work Jesus did on the cross.

"3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
"4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."
"5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
"6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
"7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:3-7, KJV)

The historical fact of Jesus, His life and teachings, along with His death as a sacrifice, and subsequent resurrection three days later cannot be refuted. His ascension is also well documented along with the promise of His eventual return to gather His people to live forever with Him. People may attempt to change the historical accounts and the thousands of references made about Him throughout the ages, but regardless of any and all attempts, He remains the center of our history that simply cannot be refuted by those who would annihilate His name.

So, for those who have tried to pretend the babe in the manger should be relegated to some tiny shed in the back of the room of life, they must also discount the fact of the crucifixion that was foretold almost 700 years before it happened. In so doing, they must also acknowledge that without Him there is no foundation of hope for their lives beyond what they experience each day in their current existence.

[By JIM KILLEBREW]