CHRISTMAS – “EVIL IN FULL DISPLAY”

The Bible makes it amply clear what kind of hatred that Satan has for God and Light. Lucifer is filled to the brim with, nothing but pure evil and total darkness. Such hatred is unseen and unheard of anywhere else. It is something many of us don’t actually know, nor can we fathom the full depth of such pure evil. We get to see it only when humans become the embodiment of that evil.

The Bible says that, the LIGHT of God shines in this world, yet man doesn’t seem to care for this LIGHT from God. Instead, man clearly demonstrates a strange fascination, affinity and love for darkness, evil and all such things. 
– “19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” – John 3:18-20
– “9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” – John 1:6-11

The above verses make it clear for us about human hearts, its depravity, and their love and wanton desire for all that is evil and darkness. This is our true reflection – the reality of the fallen human beings, and our hearts – you, me and every one of us.

The evil in the human heart, not only hates God, Light and all good things, but also wants to stop and stall the spread of its influence. It does its best to defeat Light, and its influence in the world. We see this so very clearly in one of the Christmas incidents recorded in the Bible. The Wisemen arrive at Herod’s palace, seeking to worship King of the Jews – Matthew 2:1-2

Herod the Great, did not feel all too great about a new King who is born. History tells us about Herod’s great love for power, and all what he will do to retain it. It must have come as a rude shock to him that, despite his well established network of informants, born out of his love for power, he was caught totally unawares, untill the Wisemen from East, had come seeking for this new King. He was already paranoid, just as all who love and cling on to power. Now this news was like a bolt out of the blue.
– “3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.” – Matthew 2:3-4

Herod is credited in history as an able leader and a clever politician. True to his reputation, he moves the pieces extremely carefully, in this tricky situation. It goes on to speak of his cunningness and cleverness. Small wonder then, he survived in Jerusalem, through the reigns of many Roman emperors.
– “7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” – Matthew 2:7-8

The LORD, who is the Sovereign over all that is seen and unseen, has His own ways of moving things. The Wisemen are warned of God, and are advised to slip out silently. Which the Wisemen faithfully follow.
– “12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.” – Matthew 2:12

Herod being a smart man, realises quickly, the trick played on him by the Wisemen of East. 
– “16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.” – Matthew 2:16
Herod’s cruelty reveals his evilness, which up untill then was very carefully and cleverly concealed. His true nature and character bursts out into open, revealing his heart, all its darkness, and the true depth of its depravity. He kills all the male children of the age two and below, in and around Bethlehem. What a heartless man should one be to do such a heinous act? 

The world is a wicked place, filled with evil and darkness, just like Herod’s heart. No human effort to reform the heart of man has borne any fruit till date. All what we see is our slipping from evil, into greater evil, than show any hint of a change for good, in us. Evil plays havoc with human beings because, we gave Satan the right to hold us captives. Hence, we cannot reform ourselves. 

Jesus the Messiah was born, precisely for this reason. He came to destroy all the works of the evil one, and redeem us from the clutches of Satan and sin. All through the life of the LORD Jesus Christ, hell and its evil emissaries did their best to put an end to the Messiah, and stop this divine work of redemption.
– Herod sprang up to kill the young Child – Matthew 2:16.
– Satan personally tried his best to trip Jesus the Messiah with “convincing” quotations from the Scriptures – Matthew 4:1-11.
– The religious leaders of Jesus’ day, whom God appointed, did their utmost to somehow try to trip Jesus, and catch Him at fault – Matthew 22:15.
– The Priestly class, the Pharisees and the Sadducees tried relentlessly to somehow trick Jesus into committing a mistake, so that they could take Him to task – Matthew 16:1;  Mark 12:13.
– Lucifer and his human agents have failed at every step. They tried every trick in the trade. They relentless worked with all their evil genius. Yet, they failed utterly – Luke 11:53-54; Luke 20:20.
– Ultimately, the evil in them couldn’t take this defeat after defeat, so they planned to eliminate the LORD Jesus Christ, all together. They wanted to kill him – Matthew 12:14.
– Even though the religious leaders and their sidekicks knew all too well that killing is sin according to the righteous law of YAHWEH. Yet, they were willing to commit this sin, in their quest to defeat Jesus. For the sake of all what they stood for, they were willing to cross even God’s righteous law, of which they were to be the custodians and the teachers of the same. Their blind hate, and their willingness to side with evil, was to stop God and His plans, for the redemption of the fallen human race.

We still find such evil and heartless powers as Herod, working their little schemes, even today. We see this very same Lucifer, still operating in the present world, through his human agents. Even though Jesus defeated sin, Satan, his fallen angels and his human agents, yet they still desire to destroy God’s beautiful plan, as much as possible. It only goes on to speak about the evil and the wickedness in their hearts. It displays to us, their utter depravity, their love for destruction, and their intent to hit back at God, even if it does not yield much benefit. Such is the level of hatred in the hearts and minds of the evil one, and his human agents.
– “It is not the evil itself which is horrifying about our times – it is the way we not only tolerate evil, but have made a cult of positively worshipping weakness, depravity, rottenness and evil itself.” – George Lincoln Rockwell

What about our hearts? Are our hearts welcoming the LORD Jesus Christ? Or, are our hearts walking hand in glove with the evil one, just like the religious leaders and many like them, during Jesus’ time? When we side with truth, justice and righteousness, we walk with God. When we side with lies, injustice and unrighteousness, we become the willing human agents of the evil one. Beware, what we choose to side with. Let it not be the evil side. Even so, the LORD help us.