THROUGH THE BIBLE—- BIRTHDAYS #4—- GREATEST ONE OF ALL!!!

 CELEBRATING

                         BIRTHDAYS?

                                                Part 4

                                                  by

                                           Keith Hunt


                                     
      GOD THE FATHER CELEBRATED THE GREATEST BIRTHDAY!

     Jesus Christ was a teenager.  Jesus Christ was in our
language, a grade schooler.  Jesus was a pre-schooler.  Jesus was
a toddler.  Jesus Christ was a literal flesh and blood BABY.  He
was BORN on a certain day, of a certain month, of a certain year.
     His mother Mary and Joseph KNEW the day of the week on which
He was born. The shepherds in the field knew what day of the year
He was born. The angels of heaven were there and knew when His
BIRTHDAY was.
     The Father in heaven KNEW EXACTLY the minute and the day
Jesus was born in that stable in the city of David.
     But the Father had ALREADY DECREED that that day would not
be revealed in THIS age. The Father has decreed it would be so
for very good reasons indeed.

     First, if the day of Christ's birth was common knowledge, 
you could count on it, the Church of God would want to set up
that day to praise and worship God for that blessed event. Look
what the Christianity of the world has done without knowing the
day.
     Secondly, the Father had already given to His Church the 7
annual international worship festivals to teach His plan of
salvation to His people.  And a festival of worldwide scope to
celebrate the BIRTH of Christ the Messiah was, in the Father's
wisdom and decree, not to be included as one of the 7 feasts of
the Lord, nor was it to be added to those 7 feasts.
     We may wonder why, but God is God, so it was decreed, so it
was written, so it was done. He no where tells us to celebrate
Christ's birthday.  He did not give it to us, so it's impossible
to celebrate it. For reasons presently known to heaven, the
Father wants us to only celebrate the DEATH of Jesus and not His
birth.
     But with all that said, does that mean the Father looked
upon the birth of Christ with DISTASTE?  Or with INDIFFERENCE? 
Or with callous NEUTRALITY?  As something to IGNORE or HIDE from?
     This was a member of the VERY Godhead. This was the one who
had been with the Father from eternity. This was He who WAS God,
yet dwelt WITH God. This was He who did the creating for the one
we now call the Father. He that SPOKE and it was done. He who
shaped man from the dust of the ground, who created woman from
the man's rib. This was He who, "being the form of God, did not
consider it robbery(to be held on to) to be equal with God, but
made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant,
and coming in the likeness of men, He humbled Himself and became
obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross"
(Phil.2:6-8 NKJV).

     This was He that the Father LOVED, and He who loved the
Father and was willing to put aside the GLORY and PERFECTION as
God for a time, and was willing to come and DO the Father's will
and desire.
     How could God the Father, who is LOVE, think that the BIRTH
of God into the physical world of mankind was to be IGNORED or
something unimportant?
     Such could not possibly be the way of a HOLY, PERFECT, and
JUST God. And IT WAS NOT!  The Father made sure the GREATEST
BIRTH this world has and ever will witness, DID NOT GO UN-NOTICED
BY HIM, NOR WITHOUT CELEBRATION!

     Do you think heaven was SILENT at this birth?  Do you think
the angels in heaven thought there was something evil about this
greatest of births?  Do you think the 24 elders around the throne
of God were claiming birthdays were sinful?  Do you think the
heavenly host were proclaiming that the Father does not rejoice
in birthdays?  Do you believe God the Father was telling all
heaven, "Well, we will not celebrate this day because the
deceived pagan people of earth have been observing birthdays, and
sometimes doing evil upon those days,  like getting drunk" ?  Do
you think the Father in heaven was telling the angels, "Remember
how those evil pagans celebrated the birth of that child Tammuz,
whom Satan palmed off as the savior to come. Well we sure will
not celebrate any birthday, even this day in which God is born as
a man" ?
     When Jesus - God - was born in the flesh, when IMMANUEL(God
with us) came to tabernacle with men, the angels of heaven SANG
WITH PRAISE!!  God the Father BEAMED WITH JOY, for this was to be
the first-born son of human kind, the first human to enter the
Kingdom or Family of God. This was the one who was to be the
leader of the way to the Father, the first of millions of
children to come from the realm of flesh and blood to the realm
of DIVINE SPIRIT!
     What a MONUMENTAL time in history - what a DAY in the
endless ages of eternity.  The plan of salvation had been
formulated BEFORE the world was, so it is written, so it would be
done. Now an EPIC day of that plan had arrived - God would be
born as flesh and blood to live and die that lost mankind, under
the sentence of death, could find LIFE with the Father for all
eternity.
     Was the Father CELEBRATING that BIRTHDAY?

     Oh, you BET HE WAS!!

     Heaven was having the biggest BIRTHDAY PARTY ever called. If
the angels sang for joy when the foundations of the earth were
laid (as the book of Job says they did) in anticipation of God's
plan, WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY WERE DOING WHEN GOD WAS BORN TO
REDEEM HUMANS TO THE VERY GOD LEVEL OF LIFE?
     Yes, heaven was DANCING that day (probably get some angry at
that because they think the Bible says dancing is a sin).
     And the Father made sure SOME humans were present for that
birthday party of His son. He sent angels to invite some lowly
shepherds to HONOR and APPRECIATE the greatest human ever born.
He sent wise kings of the earth from far away, guided by a star,
to come and HONOR that birth of the King of Kings, with presents
of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  So it was a little time after
the actual day of birth when these wise men arrived, but they
came to celebrate His birth and that is the plain truth.

     When did you last read about that wonderful birth?  Maybe
you need to read again about that BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION instituted
and attended by the Father and the host of heaven once more. It's
found in the first chapters of Matthew and Luke.

        PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TYPES AND CELEBRATIONS

     It has truly been said that the HUMAN family is a type of
the HEAVENLY family of God. And indeed that is so. Two Beings in
the Godhead(Father and Son - God and Christ) will be head over
the entire children of that family - the Kingdom of God. It is
written that God is head of Christ, and the man is head of the
woman, yet both work as a team in unity and love and purpose.
     Human parents can reproduce and have children after their
KIND, and so the heavenly parents (God and Christ) are
reproducing through the power of the Holy Spirit, children after
THEIR KIND (Gen.1:26).
     There is a BEGETTAL first of humans (the egg and the seed
coming together to form a child in the womb) then after about 9
months of GROWTH there is a human BIRTH. So it is with God in
type, and His reproduction of children after His kind.
     First, a BEGETTAL of divine holy spirit with the spirit in
man - Rom.8:9-17. Then comes a period of growth and developing to
a MATURE child of God, which at the RESURRECTION manifests itself
as a BIRTH into the very divine Holy Spirit body of beings, the
family called God, when we shall be fully like Him for we shall
see Him as He is (1 John 3:1-3).

     Do human parents celebrate when a new begotten child is
CONCEIVED? Yes, they do! Now does God celebrate and rejoice when
a new begotten child of His is CONCEIVED? Oh yes, indeed!  It is
written, the angels in heaven sing and rejoice over one sinner
that repents. There is a great PARTY TIME in heaven at each new
baptism into the family of God.
     Do human parents celebrate when their child is BORN?  Yes
indeed!
     Will God and Christ and the heavenly host celebrate and
rejoice when the begotten children are BORN into the Kingdom of
God?  You bet they will!  Many passages of Scripture plainly tell
us about that truth.  There will be rejoicing UNIMAGINABLE on the
sea of glass in the clouds when all the saints are born into the
very family of God, at the time of the resurrection when Jesus
returns to welcome His BORN brothers and sisters into eternity.
     For those who know the truth of when a Christian is really
BORN AGAIN———then that sea of glass day will be one HUGE BIRTHDAYcelebration!
     That will be the time - the BIRTHDAY time of God's faithful
and true children. It will be one literal day, when the last
trump will sound, when the dead in Christ shall rise together
with those who are alive in the flesh, to be caught up to meet
the Lord in the air, in the clouds, and so be with Him for ever
more (1 Thes.4:13-18; Zech.14:1-9).
     It shall be the BIRTH-DAY time of the saints from flesh and
blood to divine Holy Spirit, from the realm of the mortal to the
realm of the immortal (1 Cor.15:50-54). It shall be a PARTY like
no other - happiness, joy, rejoicing, singing, praising God and
congratulating all the saints for BEING BORN!  It will be the
biggest birthday celebration ever held to that time in eternity.
     Just imagine meeting and talking to BORN saints like Enoch,
Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, John the
Baptist, Peter, Paul, James, John, and thousands more. If you
don't think this is going to be some huge birthday celebration
then you had better re-read all the passages in the word
concerning that day.
     It will be a BIRTHDAY where PRESENTS will be handed out
FROM Christ to ALL and every saint, what we have worked for - earned - in our physical Christian life will be justly REWARDED  (Rev.22:12).

    For those who understand the truth about WHEN you are 

BORNN AGAIN, this will be a day like no other. Jesus comes to 

gather His brothers and sisters on their birthday to Him in the 

clouds, on the sea of glass, to sing and rejoice at their birth, and 

for Him to give them presents, rewards for their works.
     
     It will be a day like no other to that time because it will
also be a MARRIAGE FEAST DAY, when the bride of Christ (the
Church - the called out ones of God) has made herself ready, when
she will be clothed in white fine linen, and when she will be
called to the marriage supper of the Lamb - Revelation 19:4-9.
     
     There are MANY types used in the word of the Lord concernig
this glorious resurrection day when the saints will inherit and
be born into the Kingdom of God. There is the Shepherd, the door
to the sheep fold and the sheep that only follow the true
shepherd in. There is the wheat and the tares that must grow
together until the harvest. There is the net of fish that one day
must be sorted. There is the rich nobleman who goes away to
receive a Kingdom and returns to give his servants according to
their works.
Many types are used to teach us about that special day yet to comebut can anyone who knows the truth about when the saints with be
BORN AGAIN(at the resurrection) DENY it will be a day of
BIRTH celebration?  I think not!

     How wonderful it is that the Lord has given us the human
family - so many teachings and types does it portray to us about
the God family - what they are accomplishing here below by
creating the human family.

     Is it good to rejoice and celebrate the birthday of someone
you love?
     All of God's word and nature and types says YES, if you so
desire, for you are not commanded to so do, but it is your
freedom in Christ, your liberty in the Lord, just as it is your
liberty in Christ to eat or not eat meat(Rom.14).  God takes note
of our forming and our birth in this life (Psalm 139). He and
heaven rejoice when each and every soul is begotten and conceived
into His family now at baptism. And there will be great rejoicing
and celebration when the saints will be born into the family of
God at the resurrection.

              To be continued with an Appendix
                 ...........................

Written November 1995