Epiphany

https://odb.org/2025/01/06/little-town-of-bethlehem

Today, January 6, is the day the church celebrates Ephiphany (also known as the Feast of Ephiphany) to commensurate the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles through the Magi from the East, who travelled to Bethlehem following a star and presented baby Jesus with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The Magi were likely astrologers from a place, possibly modern-day Iraq or Iran, and reflects that God’s grace through His Son, Jesus Christ, as encapsulated by John 3:16 is for all humanity and not only to Israel eventhough Christ first ministry were to the Jews. Jesus Christ came for everyone.

John 3:16 says, “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”.

Ephiphany is similar to revelation in the sense that there is a revealing scene or moments or that something is revealed. Yet it is different when it means the manifestation of a divine being, a sense not shared by revelation.

Let’s praise God for raising up Apostle Paul, whose primary goal in life was to preach Christ crucified and resurrected, particularly to the Gentiles, notably the Greek world, then existing in the first century. Western Europe was the centre of Western civilisation, and if the faith had not penetrated the Western world, Christianity would have remained a sect within Judaism and would have died a natural death as can be seen in modern day Israel. That is why the New Testament was written in Greek as opposed to Hebrew of the Old Testament.

Praise the Lord that Paul made the stand that new Gentile believers need not embrace Jewish customs to be accepted into the Kingdom of God. In fact, what started as a sect of Judaism began to be known as Christianity or its followers Christians in Antioch, the city from which Paul started his first missionary journey.

As the church celebrates Ephiphany, let us give all glory to God for His love, grace, and mercy that nations and communities from the world over have known Him through generations, enriching our lives with heavenly blessings while enjoying a communion that one day will extend beyond this natural realm into the new heaven and new earth where God in all His glory will dwell among His people.

As a Malaysian of Chinese ancestry that stretched hundreds of years in the Nusantara archipelago, I am indeed most grateful and thankful that the grace of God touched our family, my deceased parents, myself, my wife and our children. I pray that His grace will extend for generations to come in our families until He returns to this earth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen!