Multiply Church
Just after God rested from creation there was a moment in the Garden of Eden that would change the future of all humans. Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Once the consequences were spelled out to all involved God exiled Adam and Eve to the east. God set guards on the east side of the garden to keep man from returning. This detail can be found in Genesis 3:24. Thus the separation between God and all mankind was complete. Thankfully this is not the end of the story but the beginning, or genesis, if you will.
Through the ages many prophets spoke not only of a coming messiah but a king who would rule a kingdom of many nations. The Old Testament holds over 300 prophecies regarding, the life, death, burial, resurrection and of course the birth of this great king. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene in Bethlehem in the first century He should have been recognized by all the spiritual thinkers of the day, but He was overlooked for one reason or another. After all, wasn’t this the son of the carpenter Joseph? Or can anything good come from Nazareth?
When Mary and Joseph trotted into Bethlehem that evening it would take more consideration than that of the locals in the synagogue. As Matthew tells us in the second chapter of his gospel account, men came from the east. The common idea that there were three men probably comes from the fact that the gifts presented came in three forms, gold, frankincense and myrrh. Who knows how many actually arrived to pay tribute to this newborn king.
Details are very important to God as scripture was recorded and passed to us. It should not be lost to us all that paradise was lost that day in the garden and the inhabitants were led east. How beautiful it is to know that when the person of our redemption and the source of paradise being re-gained arrives from the same direction, east. The wise men recognized him and there was a great return from the east to pay respects.
This Christmas Jesus gives us all that same chance. He is offering to all people of every nation a chance to return from exile. He says come back from the east to your home, the Kingdom. The only price for admission is belief in Him!
