Dear Pluggers,
Today, we celebrate a momentous event in the history of man. We don't really know the exact date when Jesus Christ was born, but we do take this date, December 25, to be the representative date of this great event. For some, Christmas is just a holiday season, a time of gift-giving and merriment. A time for festivities and parties, a time for sharing, a time for giving. Christmas is a time to celebrate and remember this most important event in our history, as well as our future. Christmas is the time when God opened up the gates of heaven and showed us the way to Him. This someone is not a shining angel, a doomsday prophet, a pious priest, a meticulous rabbi, or a great majestic king of great wealth and power. This someone is a person so dearly Beloved to Him. A person who means so much to Him -- His only Son -- Our Lord Jesus Christ. Why did God choose to send His Son on earth? Because God loves us so much. Let me tell you again the whole story of our existence, our past as well as our future. Let us remind ourselves who we really are, where we're going to, and what greatness is in store for us. In the beginning, God created the angels and gave them free will. It's just so sad that the angels who refused to love God became the demons led by Satan. Then God created man. God gave man the power above all creatures on earth. God willed that man live happily in the paradise specially created by God for him. Man is not a mere creature who must live with God. God created the whole creation for man's enjoyment, then instructed man to love Him in return and enjoy His love forever in His presence. Only a Supreme, all-Loving, all Merciful God can offer His priceless gift of creation and give it to man, for man to enjoy and take care. God wants man to be happy in His love. God also gave man the free will to decide and abide in His love. The free will to choose good or evil, to choose to love God or not. Then Satan tempted man. Man deliberately choose to turn away from his Maker in his proud effort to be like God. The price of that unfortunate decision, the decision to reject God's love, is death. For there is no life without God, who is the source of Life. If we go away from the source of life, we deserve to die. Sins, sorrow, and sufferings are all consequences of our deliberate decision to reject and walk away from God's love. In spite of all this, God was still concerned with us. God said: "Man doesn't believe I really love Him. Satan always convinces man to believe I don't really love him. Satan led man to believe I created him so that he will be my hapless servant". God was very sad with man going away from Him, suffering because of man's deliberate choice to reject God's love and embrace death. God in His infinite mercy and wisdom thought about this and showed man a way out of death. God showed us a way to come back to Him and be reunited with His love. Here we can see how man is very special and dearly beloved by God. God said: "I will show man how much I really love Him. Man deserves to die because of his wrong decision to live away from my Love. This is what I am going to do to show man how much I really love Him". "I am going to send my dearly beloved Son, who is pure and free from sin, to bear the punishment and suffer the penalty of death that man deserves. My Son will die in his place so that man will be saved." "This will be My greatest Sacrifice of all. I am willing to undergo this pain so that man may believe how much I dearly love him. My only Son is the ultimate gift I can give to man." "I know it is very hard and heart-breaking for Me to bear this sacrifice, but there is no other way that I can show how much I really love man." So God sent His Son to suffer the consequences of our death. It was really painful for God the Father to see His only Son die in our place. In that heroic moment when Jesus was hanging on the cross, God's salvation plan for man was perfectly shown to us. It was indeed accomplished. What great love this is! God thinks nothing of Himself but man. His love for man. God can choose to forget man and let man destroy himself. But no. God choose to love us inspite of everything. What a loving God we have! Can a Maker and Creator suffer for His creation? Jesus said that even the godless among us will not give a snake to his son who asks for bread. Even the godless among us knows how to love their sons. How much more will the Father in Heaven love man? Only the God of Jesus is willing to sacrifice His dearly beloved and only Son for our redemption from death! This is the whole story of our Salvation. It is a salvation based on Supreme Love, free will, and Supreme Sacrifice in the name of Love. Only God can display this nobility of purpose and pureness of Heart. God invites you to accept His Love. Jesus came here on earth and died to show you the proof of that Love. God loves us. He wants us to be saved and be reunited with Him again in heaven to live forever in everlasting peace and happiness. Let us accept our destiny as the heirs of God's kingdom. God will wipe away the tears from our eyes, all sufferings and heartaches, and replace them with everlasting happiness. We are very happy this is the Almighty God of all Creation and the whole Universe. The God of Jesus Christ, the God for all people, for all eternity. Christmas is the time Jesus came down from heaven, destined to suffer our weaknesses, experience temptation, walk with us, talk with us, live with us, heal our sicknesses, give sight to the blind, feed the hungry, console the sorrowful... ...and ultimately die and overcome death by His resurrection. In his Supreme act of humility, he came not as a child born from a great royal family of great wealth and power, not from a family of the most learned philosophers and scholars but from the most humble and noble parents, born in the lowliest of all mangers to show how much he loves all of us, especially the poorest man among us. Merry Christmas everyone! Yours in Christ, Michael _ Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fully Searchable Archives With Friendly Web Interface at http://marc.free.net.ph To subscribe to the Linux Newbies' List: send "subscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
