Christmas Morning: Son Rise on a New Dayنموونە

George Washington was the first President of the United States. He was a war hero, having been the General of the United States Army during the Revolutionary War. He owned a large plantation known as Mount Vernon, was married to his wife Martha, and they never had any children of their own.

Now, how do we know that any of those things is true? Because George Washington lived in the real world. Eyewitnesses saw his life and recorded it in books that we still reference today. Like a stone hitting the middle of a pond, sending ripples out to the water’s edge, the impact of Washington’s life and leadership has rippled to the ends of the earth and reverberates still today.

Myths are made up … history happened. George Washington is a person of history, not a myth.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, really came into the world 2,000 years ago when He was born to the virgin Mary. His life made such an impact on the “pond” of the Middle East that people told others about the things He did and said, and the ripples bounced to the end of the earth. In fact, Jesus made such an impact that people are still talking about Him today! Some of the eyewitnesses even wrote down what they saw and we still read their accounts that have been translated into thousands of languages.

One of the Apostle Paul’s colleagues, a Gentile physician by the name of Luke, had many friends who were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life and ministry. Luke talked to many, most likely including Mary and some of the apostles. Being an educated man, Luke wrote down these events in his Gospel account of Jesus’ life. He presented this work to a man named Theophilus so that Theophilus’ faith would not rest on emotion or hope, but that his faith might rest on the firm foundation of who Jesus really was and what He actually did.

Jesus is no myth … He really lived.

To what is your faith anchored? To the real person and work of Jesus, or to something or someone else? Over the next several days in this reading plan, Luke will try to convince us to anchor our faith with certainty on Jesus, our solid rock, who really came to this world and offered us salvation.