Our Footsteps: The Nativity

Thursday, December 24, 2009

The Nativity

At this time of year, our family spends part of our weekend evenings watching our favorite classic Christmas movies... ones like 'White Christmas' and 'Miracle on 34th Street'. Last night we saw what is now my favorite Christmas movie, 'The Nativity'. It was very well done and very moving. Like all movies or dramas based on the Bible, there is some poetic and artistic license, but it seemed the writers and producers of the film stayed on course. For instance, there was great detail in the film regarding the pilgrimage from Nazareth to Bethlehem. In Luke chapter 2, you have the decree from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken in verse 1; Joseph and Mary leave for their trip in verses 4 and 5; and by verse 6 they are already in Bethlehem. For some reason, God did not tell us much about the journey. Those details are not necessary for our faith. But the movie spent a great deal of time on the journey. I had never thought much about the journey itself - the dangers, the grueling walking and hiking through rugged terrain, finding food and drinkable water, etc. And while the movie has no Biblical basis for what it depicted on the trip to Bethlehem, there probably is no harm in using sanctified imagination in piecing together geographic and cultural facts with what we do know to be true in history - as long as there is nothing contrary to the scriptures. It is useful in forcing us to think through the account of the Savior's birth and the events leading up to it. In that way, it's good for our faith... and for that reason, this movie has jumped to the top of my favorite Christmas movie list!

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I Believe...

1). I believe that there is one God. I believe God consists of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2). I believe that God is holy, righteous, loving, and just.
3). I believe that mankind is separated from God by sin; that sin entered the world through Adam and death through sin.
4). I believe that, because of sin, man is condemned. Because of God’s utter hatred for sin, there is an eternal conscious punishment in hell for all those who do not come to God on His terms, dealing with their sin.
5). I believe that confessing our sins and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is the only way to properly deal with the sin that has infected everyone. Jesus Christ paid our sin debt on the cross; reconciliation by substitution. There is nothing we can do to add to the finished work of Christ.
6). I believe in the security of the believer, that once he is truly born-again, there is nothing that would cause him to lose his salvation.
7). I believe that upon the death of a true believer in Christ, that he is ushered immediately into the presence of the Lord, where he will live in everlasting joy in Heaven, experiencing eternal fellowship with God.
8). I believe in believer’s baptism by immersion. I don’t believe baptism is necessary for salvation, but it is a beautiful outward profession of an inward possession.
9). I believe in a literal 6-day creation where God created the heavens and the earth and then rested on the seventh day.
10). I believe that the words written in the Bible are truth. I believe that the Bible is inerrant in its parts and in its whole. I believe that the 66 books that make up the canon of scripture make the Bible complete and that God inspired the words written therein. The things that were written down in the Bible are sufficient for every need we have. Not only is God’s Word sufficient, but it is far superior to any other method of handling the problems that man faces, since He has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness.