| What we celebrate on Christmas is the coming down | | | | the Roman empire, and universal peace, God decided |
| of God to earth in the person of Jesus, who was born | | | | to come down to earth. He came in the form of a |
| as an infant in a lowly manger. The creator took a | | | | fetus, conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, was |
| time out from His throne. He came down as a man - | | | | born as a helpless infant in an animal stable. |
| thus "God is with us." In other words, with the birth of | | | | As a man, He was born among the poorest of the |
| Jesus God dwelt with us. This is the doctrine of the | | | | poor. When He went about to preach repentance for |
| Incarnation. | | | | people to qualify to become citizens of His kingdom, |
| We, Christians, worship the God of the Jews. This | | | | the Power that be, both in Jerusalem and in Rome, |
| God is known as Yahweh or Jehova. This God is a | | | | opposed His preaching. |
| spirit. Thus Saint John the Evangelist says, those who | | | | The Roman Empire felt insecure with Christ's |
| worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. St. | | | | establishing His own kingdom. To derail His work, they |
| John wrote his evangel for the Greek speaking world. | | | | nailed Him to the cross. His enemies nailed Him to the |
| At the time Jesus was born, Greek was the lingua | | | | cross. He bled and died thereat. But He conquers |
| franca of the world. | | | | death. On the third day, He resurrected from death. |
| Rome was the empire that ruled the world; Jesus was | | | | The blood that He shed on the cross was the very |
| born when Augustus Caesar was the Roman | | | | cleansing detergent used by God to wash away our |
| emperor. To impose Roman law to the far reaches of | | | | sins. |
| the empire, Rome built an extensive road network. | | | | He redeemed us from sin with His blood; He |
| And there was peace throughout the empire. They | | | | resurrected from death to give us eternal life. Salvation |
| called this pax romana. | | | | from sin is Christ's gift to you and to me. This is the |
| When those three factors were in place (Greek as | | | | purpose of the Incarnation of God. |
| the universal language), the extensive road network of | | | | |