THE BEST NEWS OF ALL TIME - Antidote to Depression

  

This piece was written by my sister, Sinikka Dixon PhD

This year is different from any other year before, but I would like us to remember the greatest and most important news ever told to mankind. We have become tired of the constant news of the pandemic and various catastrophes. We used to think, no news is good news, meaning if we hear no news everything is all right. Now we are bombarded by news day and night and none of it is good. With all of this negative messaging, we tend to forget that there is good news in God’s word, the Bible. I would like to remind us of the real meaning of the Christmas message, the good news that can give us hope not just for a few days during this season but for every day of our lives.

Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” In Isaiah 7:14 “The Lord himself shall give you a sign.  Look!  The virgin will conceive a child!  She will give  birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means God is with us).” 

In the New Testament we are told how this prophecy was fulfilled: Matthew 1:18 “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born.  His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph.  But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 

As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.  ‘Joseph, son of David, ‘ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.  For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’”  Joseph did as the angel had commanded him, “but he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.”  

 In Luke 2:1-6,  the Roman Emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire.  Because Joseph was descendent of King David, he and his fiancée Mary had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home, for the census. Verse 6:  And while they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.  She gave birth to her first child, a son.  She wrapped him  snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available to them.”

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.  Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them.  They were terrified, but the angel assured them.  ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said, ‘I  bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.  The Saviour—yes, the Messiah the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!  And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’  Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.’” When the angel had returned to heaven, the shepherds hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the manger.  The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.

Of the early years of the boy, Jesus, we are told in Luke 2:40 that “the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.”  In the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we can read an extensive account of Christ’s earthly ministry and what he taught his disciples.  The heart of the message is found in   John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

And to us in these troubled times, we find the Saviour’s comforting words in John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

May this Christmas message be a great comfort to all those who read these words.

 


Sinikka Dixon, PhD, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Burman University, AB

 

The Bible quotations are taken from – The New Oxford Pictorial Edition given to Michael, my husband, from his mother in 1945, and The New Living Translation Study Bible, 2008.
Photo: H. Ottschofski

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