Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.for behold, I bring you good tidings/of great joy, which will be to all people:” (Louk 2:10)
About 700 B.C. or 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ as a human being in this world, God gave His word to Isaiah the prophet who foretold in Jerusalem, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace” (Bible Isa 9:1-7).
Thence, about 700 years later, God sent His Arch Angel Gabriel to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
But when she saw Him, she was troubled at His saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest, and. the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His Kingdom there will be no end”. (Luke 1:26-35).
To Joseph also, the betrothed of Mary who was thinking about these things, an angel of God appeared to him in a dream saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel which is translated, “God with us”.
Then Joseph did as commanded by an angel ofthe Lord and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son, and he called His name Jesus (Math 1: 18- 25). And, on the night when Jesus was born about 2019 years ago at Bethlehem, a town near Jerusalem of Judah (Israel), an angel of the Lord (God) stood before the shepherds on the country side of Bethlehem and the Glory of God shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you: You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloth, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” (Luke 2:8 – 14).
When the angels had gone away into heaven the shepherds went to Bethlehem with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger, and made known the saying which was told them by the angels about this Child. In another pleasant Bible Prophecy in about 600 BC, Prophet Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a king shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is his name by which He will be called: The LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jere.23:5-6). Glory be to God.
It may be noted that David was a famous King of Israel who hailed from Bethlehem and very much loved and pleased God and ruled Israel from Jerusalem during 1049-1016 BC, written also about him in 2 Samuel of the-Bible. The Prince of peace referred to here is JESUS, Son of God born as a babe to teach, to love, to suffer death on the cross as the Lamb of God to become the Saviour of mankind, to offer it the joy of His salvation even now, and to re-establish peace on earth. Amongst the many words Jesus spoke and taught the people in this world, he also said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”; “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”; “Most assuredly, I say to you, He who believes in Me has everlasting Life”. Also, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”. “You have heard me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you”, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to everyone according to his work”. “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory”. (Math 11:28; John 3:16,6:47,14:27; 15:11; 16:3).
These are some of the promises of Jesus. After he finished His work of salvation, He went up to Heaven.
The world now is rampant with strifes, ever since man fell into the temptation a — serpent (satan) and disobeyed God during the beginning of mankind. From the Bible we understand that this world condition is only because of satan (devil) the old enemy of God and father of lies and hatred. In the Bible, satan is also described as a roaring lion roaming about even now also, trying to mislead or devour anyone. And, time will come when satan will rule the world directly with his two cruel dictatorial rulers called in the Bible the “beasts”.
The first beast is an “antichrist” (anti-Jesus), while the second beast is a “false prophet” who will compel people to worship the first beast or his image and if they do not, they will be killed; and that no one small or great, rich or poor, may buy or sell, unless one has the number of the beast “666” on the right hand or on the forehead. These two wild rulers will dominate the world and make all leaders to invade Jerusalem one day, with satan himself to destroy the Jewish nation from which Jesus had His incarnation, and erase the Christian faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Lord and Saviour of the world. It will be a time of greatest trouble for the Israelites and the Christians since the beginning of the world. However, God in His mercy will pour out His Holy Spirit in Israel, and the believing people of Israel the Christians will look up to Jesus, and pray to Him with tears as their Lord and Saviour, to have mercy.
And will greatly regret with tears that they had killed Him before on the cruel cross at Calvary.
Lord Jesus will intervene, and will appear in Heaven as King of kings and Lord of lords, Faithful and True, the Word of God, and come down to earth in His great Second coming to this world in great glory, with His great Heavenly host of angels in great heavenly power seen by the whole world as he had foretold; and beat all the invaders with the sword that comes out of His mouth, and save His people.
The first beast and the second beast leading the invaders are captured, and cast alive into the great lake of burning fire (hell); satan is also captured and bound with a great chain and imprisoned in a bottomless pit for a “thousand years”, so that he can no longer deceive the nations of the world; and Jesus will destroy satan’s power and his works forever.
The believers (saints) will rule the world a thousand years from Jerusalem with Lord Jesus on the throne; and there will be perfect peace in the world. This is the fulfilment of a prophecy that Jesus will sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem and reign on earth a thousand years: When the thousand years have expired, satan will be released from his prison; and he will go out to deceive the nations of the world to gather them together again to battle, and they will go up and surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city of Jerusalem.
Then fire will come down from God, out of heaven and devour them. Satan (the devil) who deceived them is then cast into the lake of fire (hell) where there are already the first beast and the false prophet and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. 20: 10).
All the enemies have been put to an end. Jesus will sit on the great white throne of His Glory and judge the nations. All people small and great, like sands of the seas, will be gathered, and stand before Him; and the present earth has fled away. Books are opened, and another book is opened, which is the Book of Life; and Jesus will judge every-one according to his/her works by the things written in the books and separate the people into two groups, one on His right hand-side and one on His left.
Those on His left-hand side, are pushed away from God; to everlasting punishment. Jesus will say to those on the right-hand side, “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”, and He will take them to His heavenly Kingdom, where there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain; for the former things (of the world) have passed away. Jesus will be their Prince of peace and their joy forever in God’s Kingdom; in which there is no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it; for the Glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb (Jesus) is its light. Hallelujah.
Joy to the world; the Lord is come,
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.
(Contributed by CS Soanes)