https://odb.org/2024/12/20/the-truth-never-changes
Isaiah 40:8 NIV – The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
As Christians, we believe that the Word of God, that is, Scripture, is the infallible truth. Nothing in the bible is untrue. So, for example, the existence of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or even Moses and the deliverance of the 600,000 able bodied men together with their wives and children from Egypt to Canaan with 40 years spent in the wilderness are all historical facts. However, the world may not believe in such assertions and may call them tales. At the other extreme, we have believers who hold on strongly to the belief that the earth is only 6,000 years old.
As much as we put our faith in Scripture as the infallible truth, it must be read and understood in the context of the time it was written, from the prevailing thought and knowledge that existed at that time. Scripture was written by hundreds of people, compiled, and agreed upon or canonised by the church over centuries from multiple sources.
We are now at the tailend of the timeline, with the endtimes already started. While we accept Scripture as it is, we should not take our beliefs to the extreme in light of current archaeological evidence. Thus, even as we believe that God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it, it need not be in 6 days in the sense that one day is one rotation of the earth of 24 hours, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same.
That doesn’t mean that the truth is changing. The truth remains unchanging, but the articulation of certain concepts or words may mean different things in different eras of time and existence. Most importantly, the message of the bible on the role and coming of the Messiah to save the world from sin is unchanged. The character of God, as revealed in His interactions with His people, is unchanged. His appearance on earth in the form of His Son as the Immanuel is the unchanging truth.
As we celebrate Christmas this year, don’t quibble over things like is 25th December, the actual calendar date of the birth of Christ? As someone put it so wisely, it is just a container of the explosive truth. It is not the actual birthday of our Lord. It is symbolic but is meant to propagate to the world the good news of salvation encapsulated by John 3:16. Any date could have been chosen, but the church chose this date, and I quote from a WhatsApp message I received on this yesterday:
Why December 25th?
By the 4th century, when Christians began officially celebrating Jesus’ birth, the early church fathers chose December 25th with beautiful intentionality, particularly noting its proximity to the winter solstice – the darkest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere where Christianity was first spreading. They saw deep meaning in celebrating Christ’s birth at the very time when daylight began to increase, viewing it as a powerful symbol of how Jesus, the Light of the World, came to dispel darkness.
They chose the shortest day, from which subsequent days begin to lengthen, as a picture of how Christ’s coming brings increasing light into the world. This timing wasn’t about adopting pagan festivals (which happened during the same time), but rather making a bold declaration about Jesus being the true Light, fulfilling John 1:9, “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.”
Early church father John Chrysostom expressed it beautifully when he said, “What does it matter when the precise moment was? For what we celebrate is not the time, but the event: the incarnation of our Lord.”
The date doesn’t diminish the miracle. If anything, it amplifies it – showing us how one holy moment can transform every season, every culture, every heart that makes room for it.
The date is just the container. The miracle is the content!
Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Ronnie's Thoughts 