Have you been hearing about the Christmas star that will be seen this Christmas season? You haven’t heard about it? Check out one source, Forbes, for the story. Other stories are everywhere on the internet. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2020/11/20/a-spectacularly-rare-christmas-star-is-coming-in-december-as-two-worlds-align-after-sunset/?sh=6dfbd0f3b084).
That first Christmas a very special star was present. The wise men followed it from the East to the house where Jesus was living at the time. No doubt the shepherds saw it as well as receiving the message from the Angel of the Lord on the night of his first coming. Maybe at the second coming of Christ a star will also be present. Do I have any biblical proof this will be the case? Absolutely NOT. Do I want this to be true? Yes, yes, I do. But wishing doesn’t make it so. Just because the first Christmas had a star appear doesn’t mean a second Christmas star must accompany the second coming. It is fun to imagine and ask each other the thoughts about it isn’t it? When my youngest daughter shared the link with me and then called wanting to know my reaction I said, “Maybe the second coming will parallel the first coming with the second star sign in the sky.” Biblically though, it is not mandated. It is just fun to talk about because 2020 has been so crazy most Christians are longing for the rapture. The NT teaches that the rapture of the church, we Christians, is imminent. That simply means it can happen anytime the Lord chooses and that there are no “signs of the times” that must happen before he comes. The “signs of the times” passages that preachers often thunder in their sermons is for the Revelation of the Lord and not the Rapture. Those two events are a little over seven years apart.
Am I looking forward to Jesus coming? Every single day, I pray as the Apostle John did on Patmos, “Even so come quickly Lord Jesus.” Let me close by offering you the answer to the second coming. In the NT, there are 318 verses that speak of Jesus coming again. That’s a lot more satisfying to my soul than to speculate about a media story about a Christmas star which is pure speculation. There is nothing speculative about the Bible. The promises of God are true and for the Christian they are our security in a dangerous world. In the coming months why not read the NT and each time you come across a verse concerning the second coming, underline it and write the reference down. This research will be extremely valuable for your Christian life. Your very soul will be blessed and strengthened. I read the following story this week in a sermon by a man named Ray Pritchard. Sharing it with you seemed a good way to connect my thoughts today.
Many years ago, Bob Harrington, the Chaplain of Bourbon Street, and Madeline Murray O’Hair, the famous atheist, had a debate on the Phil Donohue TV program. At one point someone in the audience asked Mrs. O’Hair what she was going to do when Jesus returned. What would she say then? With great confidence she declared, “It won’t happen, so I don’t have to worry about that.” To which Bob Harrington replied, “The Bible contains 318 verses that speak of the return of Jesus Christ. She’s just said he isn’t going to return. Over here you’ve got 318 verses in the book of God and over there you’ve got one verse from the book of O’Hair. Now, who you gonna believe?”
Merry Christmas!