Vince Deagler

hi everyone.  i hope each of you experience the merriest of christmases and the most blessed new year.  having said that, can i ask whether you really believe the christmas story?  i’m not trying to be blasphemous or anything, but when you look at the christmas story, it’s a bit unbelievable isn’t it???  i mean most of us gave up on the idea of santa claus, elves, reindeer, the north pole, etc. a long time ago, right?  usually in childhood.  i have a 3 year old granddaughter that thinks an elf that sits on on our mantle is reporting to santa whether she is being a good girl or not.  if she still believes that when she grows up, i for one will be worried.  but are any of those things more difficult to swallow than the actual christmas story?  the virgin birth, the star, the angels, shepherds, and perhaps most amazing, the incarnation.  but not at all what you would expect of a god taking human form.  it is not unusual for a culture to have that kind of concept embedded in their belief system.  but to do so as a baby born in a manger, who would grow up in relative obscurity, in an oppressed nation dominated by rome, and eventually allow himself to be taken and crucified by rome, for the sin of humanity is kind of a unique story.  certainly as unbelieveable as the santa story line.  hence the question, do you believe?  and why?

i can’t answer for you, but i can share my thoughts with you.  first, once you accept the reality of god, the miraculous is not that big of a challenge.  either the universe is a colossal accident, or god’s creation.  i believe in a creator god and because i do, the christmas story is not that big of a hurdle.

second, it is not unreasonable to believe a creator god would want to communicate with the people he created.  that is the essence of scripture.  the bible is with out any doubt the most scrutinized book in human history, yet it has not been shown to be unreliable.  there are people who disagree with what it says, but not because it has been deemed unreliable.  generally this occurs because they struggle with the idea of god and the miraculous.

third, christianity, which grows out of the christmas story, should not even exist if the story was a farce.  remember christianity originates in a very hostile environment to christ and the movement known as christianity.  the rejection of the jewish nation and crucifiction at the hand of rome are historically corroborated facts.  the gospels were in circulation within this hostile environment within years of christs life.  if these were lies, they could not have survived in that hostile environment.  in addition, that would require us to believe the perpetrators of this lie (the apostles) were willing to die for what they knew to be lies.  there may be people getting rich off christianity today, that was not true at all in the first century.  at that time there was a price to pay if you aligned yourself with this belief system.  it was a threat to judaism and rome, and treated as such.  no, christianity could not have survived if it were based in a lie.

coming back to the question, do you believe?  i do without reservation.  i shared briefly some of my reasoning.  but let me get a bit personal for a moment.  you see there are many people who believe, but there belief is limited.  they see jesus as a good moral teacher, a good moral role model, someone worthy of emulation.  really?  jesus presented himself to us as god come in human form to be our savior.  if he is an imposter, he has pulled off the greatest hoax in human history.  he would be a bigger criminal than jim jones or david koresh.  no, if he is not god, he is not a good moral teacher/role model.  he would be a liar or a lunatic.

but if he is who he claimed to be, he is much more than a good moral teacher/role model, he would be immanuel.  god with us.  the story has been around for thousands of years.  i wrestled with it and accepted it fully on january 2, 1975.  on that night, i turned from living life on my terms to accepting jesus as my savior, i surrendered the control of my life to him, i have never been the same, he has transformed my life.  in a way, that is the greatest evidence i could offer you.  i know what i have experienced.  perhaps you have met other christians, who have had the same kind of life changing experience.  there has to be an explanation…his name is jesus.  as you look into the story, consider the evidence, do the research, think about it, don’t be surprised if you come to the same conclusion i have come to…and if you do i invite you to surrender your life to christ.  when you do, he will change you just has he has changed countless others over the years.  once again, merry christmas and have a blessed new year.  vince.