5.

It became possible to sing with

2- Eternal salvation is given
angles
As man was kept away from God due to his sin, he
was condemned for ages in his flesh and soul.
However pious man might have been, he was not
It was angles who chased man out of Garden of
Eden when he sinned and they also guarded it
with swords of flame. Hence, Adam never re-
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able to get a ransom and for God to give him the
turned to Eden. When Christ was born, the two
salvation, he had to unceasingly pray. "O, visit me
with your salvation", was man's constant prayer. Ps.
106:4; 118:25. In His promise to the people which
reconciled and sung together. They together
praised the incarnate God. This demonstrated
the true reconciliation between heaven and
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He delivered through the prophets, He has said, "In
returning and rest you shall be saved." Is 30:15
To fulfil His promise, He is born as a Saviour .
Thus, the angel has broken the news for the shep-
earth Lk.2:8-20.

Our church colourfully celebrates this birth of

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herds dispelling their fear, for the coming of Christ Christ annually. The church teaches industri-
is never to impose fear. It is rather to dispel it that ously about the grand nature of this Holy day.
he has been born. Lk.2:10-12. How about us? How are we to celebrate the
day? Are we to sing with angles or spend the
3- Grace and Glory is delivered night in Night clubs? Are we to walk by the
As Adam and Eve ate the Forbidden Fruit, they
spirit or gratify the desires of the flesh? If we
were disgraced and lost their glory. Man, though
opt for such secular feasts, we will benefit
created in God's likeness, became as ephemeral as
nothing to our soul and flesh. We are set free
the grass and flower of the land which withers away
and we are not to live like animals any more.
so soon. Isa 40:6. Pious fathers and mothers of the
When the shepherds were told in the night
Old Testament period kept asking the Lord to return
about the news of His birth, what they said
their lost glory. The Lord God accordingly willed
was, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this
to be born in due recognition of such a persevering
thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has
repentance, he liberated us from the yoke of slavery
made known to us." Luke 2:15. There, they
and reinstituted us to the glory of becoming His
went and found Christ in a manger with His
children. When the son of God is born of St. Mary,
mother. We have to always find ourselves at
He took the flesh of man only because of the love
Bethlehem, the Church, if we want to find the
which words have no power to say. The Magi have
Holy Saviour with His mother.
presented Him with gifts and bowed for Him know-
ing that He is the Lord.
Let us together sing aloud saying, "Today, our
4- Life of wandering and of fear is Saviour is born”
exterminated.
Genuine peace is from God. No one devoid of God Merry Orthodox Christmas!
is peaceful. Gen.4:13-15. The Life of man for 5 and 29 Tahisas, 2002 E.C
1/2 millennia was devoid of God and was a life of (7 January 2010)
wandering; it was a life only of no peace. Praise be
to Him, He has given us in His birth the life we
have lost for ages. Man and angels have together
Prepared by
borne witness of this restoration of heavenly peace The Botswana branch of Ethiopian
in their welcoming song. He himself has also later Orthodox Tewahedo Church ,QWKHQDPHRIWKH
in His Ministry had said that His peace is not like 3%DJ%5*DERURQH
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the one the world might offer. His peace is eternal
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while that of the world is only ephemeral. Jn.14:27.
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 of the gracious will of the Lord. The power of
There is born to you the demons over man made his body to decay
exiled Adam, to find the prodigal son, to bring
him back to the flock he belonged to, to mend
a Saviour ! Luke 2: 11 in the grave and his soul to languish in hell.
the broken, to be light to those in darkness, to
The laws and prophesies had said a lot about the For man totally detached himself from God's
feed the hungry, to quench the thirsty by the
much longed-for time of the birth of our Lord and will, the desire of his flesh dominated him
water of life, to liberate those in hell, to
Saviour Jesus Christ. It has got its fulfilment 2002 and he relegated himself into the status of
guide those in transgression to the right, to
years ago when Christ was born from Virgin Mary in animals, about which St. David has lamented
take the downtrodden to the high place of glory,
the City of David, in Bethlehem, Ephrata. saying,'' Man, though in honours, does not
Emmanuel was born.
remain [for] he is like the beasts that perish.''
Ps. 49:12.
To ransom man who disgraced himself so
appallingly as such, our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ willed to be and was born of the virgin
St. Mary. With the divine power with which
He equals the Father and the Holy Spirit
unaffected, i.e., without any relegation in His
divinity, He became a Babe and cried as a new
born. This fulfils the prophecy which runs,
'' Behold, we heard of Him in Ephrata; we
found Him in the fields of the woods.'' Ps.
132:6.
‘‘When the fullness of the time came, God sent This Birth has completely changed man's
forth His son...'' Gal 4:4. His Birth was a moment history. Man is indeed transformed to his origi- For mankind: due to this a Divine Birth of
of jubilation in which angels and men sung in uni- nal grace due to this Divine Birth. To redeem Christ:
son saying '' Glory to God in the Highest, and on man, our Lord was conceived and was born, of
earth, peace and goodwill towards men,'' herald- St. Mary all in virginity. Up until the Birth of
ing the end of the Age of Condemnation and the 1-The hovering darkness is removed.
Christ, from the time of being a foetus, any
beginning of the Age of Salvation. mortal was ill-fated to inherit Adam's Condem-
It was a moment of praise, hymn and thanksgiving. For man's heart was filled with sin, his life be-
nation through the Original Sin. This was
In that moment, the angels of the Lord revealed fore was in darkness, '' They so not know, nor
revoked once and for all when the Second
themselves to the shepherds who were guarding their do they understand; they walk about in dark-
Adam was born, of impeccable Mary who was
herd of Sheep. The angels came to the shepherds to ness," it was said of us in the psalms (Ps.82:5).
born free from the Original Sin, and remains a
tell them the grandest news of happiness which man- Man was, hence, living in sorrow. As one tread-
Virgin, of the Holy Spirit in Her flesh and soul,
kind has been waiting for millennia since his con- ing in darkness could not tell the plain from the
in and out.
demnation. It was awe-inspiring for the shepherds to escarpment or the vice versa, man was not able
Emmanuel is born needing no man’s seed from
see a magnificent Light dominating the darkness and to differentiate the good from the evil as he was
this Virgin who was prophesied to be pure and
to talk to an angel. Their fear was removed by the fully overcome by the darkness. When Christ is
holy enough to serve as His abode. She being
angel's comforting words: '' Do not be afraid, for born, the people who walked in darkness have
''the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy seen a great light; those who dwell in the land
High, God is in the midst of her ; she shall
which will be to all people. For unto you is born a of the shadow of death, upon them, a light have
not be moved.'' ps.46:4-5. A man's birth is to
Saviour” Luke. 2:10,11. Before this time, man was shined (Is.9:2). God is light. He lives in Light
his advantage in that, provided he passes his
living in Condemnation due to the Sin man commit- and is praised by Angles of Light. Being Light,
days in good faith and away from evil in accor-
ted which threw him into hell where he lived in utter God shines in the heart of man. In the Birth of
dance with God's commandments, he shall in-
disgrace for 5 and 1/2 millennia. the Living Light, Christ, from the Virgin Mary,
herit the heavenly kingdom which before the
Though created in the likeness of his Lord, man a living light has shined for man. "... the glory
creation of the earth God has made ready for
transgressed; hence demons ruled over him instead of the Lord shone around human beings”
man. Emmanuel's Birth is not for Himself; it is
Luke2:9; 1Jn.1:5; 1Tim.6:16.
rather for the glory of man. Looking for the