The First Christmas

The Christmas we celebrate today is mostly about the Christmas tree, Santa Clause & gifts. It’s very different from the 1st Christmas, about 2000 years ago - but there are a few things we have preserved as tradition. Let’s take a walk back into history, and try to imagine how it was! :)

The Birth of Jesus

You might be familiar with this story.

Mary was engaged to Joseph, and they never had sex. Suddenly, she found that she was pregnant, through the Holy Spirit. Joseph was a good man. He didn’t want to disgrace Mary publicly, but he planned to divorce her quietly.

But when he was sleeping, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream & said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

So, when Joseph woke up, he decided to take Mary as his wife. But he did not have sex with her, until she gave birth. (Matthew 1:19-25)

During that time, Ceaser Augustus made it compulsory that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. So, everyone had to go back to their own hometown to register. Joseph belonged to the line of David, so he had to go to Bethlehem (the town of David). Joseph took Mary (who was expecting) to Bethlehem, to register themselves.

When they reached Bethelehem, the place was full. There were no rooms available in any of the motels or inns. But it was time for Mary to give birth!

She gave birth to a son, wrapped him in cloths & placed him in a manger ( a container to keep food & water for cows & horses to eat). Joseph named the baby, "Jesus," just as the Lord told him in his dream.

The First Carol

During Christmas, Christians like to sing carols (songs about Jesus’ birth).You might have seen a team of choir, singing from house to house, in the malls or in public places. (Carolling is one of my favourite things about Christmas! I love going from house to house, singing carols like “Silent Night,” “Gloria,” “O Holy Night” etc.)

Do you know where this idea of singing from house to house came from? Let’s have a look. (Luke 2:1-14)

When Mary gave birth to Jesus, there were shepherds living in the fields nearby. They were awake – watching their sheep at night.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to them, & the glory of the Lord shone brightly around them. They were so afraid, but the angel said to them, “"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

This is the first Christmas carol / choir team that happened! Carols are to announce the birth of Christ, with great singing & joy!

The First Visit

When the angels left & went back to heaven, the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem & check out what the Lord told them.

Just as the angels said, they found Mary, Joseph & the baby, lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. (Luke 2: 15-20)

The First Gifts

During Christmas, we have gift exchanges & everyone loves presents! The first presents given during Christmas, were not to each other, but to baby Jesus! It was gold, myrrh & frankincense.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:

‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities[c] of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.”

Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!

They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense (a type of incense), and myrrh (sweet smelling perfume).

When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.(Matthew 2:1-12 )

So there you have it - the story of our very FIRST CHRISTMAS…when the Child was born :)

Isaiah 9:6

6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,[a] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.div>

The Gift

What is your first thought when someone makes a mistake? Do you think of all the bad things about them? Do you judge them according to all your past experiences, and people’s characters you have seen in your life?

Or are you able to see the person as a unique individual, with different needs? Are you able to identify that need, and do the right thing to help the person?

Most of the problems we face in daily life, stems from one reason – SELFISHNESS. We can become very selfish at times. When we feel down, we tend to think of how people hurt ME in the past. Then, we’ll think, “How can they treat ME like this? All this time, they are looking down on me."

We will EXPECT them to treat US the RIGTH WAY.

The problem is, the other people also operate on a very SELFISH level. They will think, ‘’What did I do now? I think this person is finding fault with me."

One of the biggest problem with us as humans – we always think of the WORST, as our first reaction!

Why can’t we think, “I forgive him, for the way he hurt me in the past. I won’t hold it in my heart.”
Why can’t we think, “I may have made a mistake in the past. No harm for me to apologize now. I don’t think she has bad intentions. I don’t need to get upset.”

Why won’t we think, “It’s not about me. I want to make him /her happy.”

Well, you know what? This proves one thing – we are natural sinners. Our FIRST reaction is not LOVE. It’s SELF. That’s why we need Jesus in our life!

And it only shows one thing – there is only one JESUS in the whole world. He’s the ONLY one who can LOVE PERFECTLY. He’s the only one who will IMMEDIATELY say,“Come into my arms. I forgive you. I still love you” – when you make your biggest mistakes! There will NEVER be another person like Jesus, in the whole world!

When we are down at our lowest point, He will NEVER think the worst things. Even if we mess up, He will say, “You belong to me. I know you are better than this. Come to me, I’ll wipe away your tears. I’ll be gentle with you…try again, you can do it! I'm with you...”
Jesus thinks the BEST about US. He doesn’t judge us according to the world standards & humans.

Sometimes, we go about our daily life, expecting people to LOVE us like JESUS! But hey, wake up! That’s probably never going to happen! There’s only ONE Jesus!

You cannot expect people to LOVE you like JESUS. But you can learn to LOVE like Him!

As Christmas approaches, I am filled with gratitude towards God, who gave us the GREATEST GIFT of LOVE. He gave us JESUS CHRIST – the icon of PERFECT LOVE.

The greatest happiness we can have in our life is knowing we are LOVED by Him.

This is His Christmas gift to us.

-JJ-

The Birthday

Imagine your birthday is coming up. Your friends are all preparing a blast for your big day. The day is approaching & everyone is really busy.

But busy with what? Busy with THEMSELVES. They are busy buying new clothes for themselves. They order a cake according to their own taste, which is something you don’t like. They buy presents for themselves & each other (for gift exchange), but not a single gift for you. No one cares one bit about you!

Finally, the day arrives. It seems that they even forgot to invite you for the function! But the banner on the entrance says it’s your birthday. So, you just walk in anyway. The people seem to be a little embarrassed about you being there. Someone notices you, and ushers you in, for courtesy sake. Those who pass by wish you a very ‘Happy Birthday!’ for formality.

You sit & wait as the party goes on. Everyone is dressed to kill. You appear dressed down for the occasion. They’re drinking & dancing to their heart’s fill. Even the cake doesn’t have your name on it.

You’ve done so much for these people. That guy Bob over there - you saved him from drowing in the river last year! That girl Sally on your left - you gave her your car when she lost her job! That boy Johnny in front - you adopted him as your child when he was begging on the streets. That girl Janet over there - you saved her from the prostitution ring & gave her a new life. That man, Kenny - you forgave him even after he backstabbed you. Those colleagues in front - you've been nothing but nice to them! And to think that you even sponsored the food & money for the whole celebration!

Yet, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is about you. Nobody appreciates you. You get up & silently leave. No one even notices that you’ve left. Yet, the party goes on the whole night – celebrating YOUR birthday!

How would you feel if people did that to you, for your birthday?

Hurt? Angry? Upset? Insulted? Would you cry? Would you feel like burning the whole place down & just walking off?

Well, you know what? We do that to one person, every single year, yet he is so patient with us.

Every year, the whole world is excited about Christmas, whether or not we call ourselves Christians. We decorate the tree. The kids wait to see Santa Clause. We buy presents for each other. We shop for new clothes. We organize big dinners & parties. People get drunk & dance like there’s no tomorrow on Christmas eve. Many even continue to have a ‘one-night stand’ after losing control with partners who are not their husband / wife.

And what’s the occasion? CHRISTMAS!

For goodness sake, do we even know what is Christmas to Christians?

Christmas is the day we symbolically celebrate God’s gift to mankind. It’s the day we thank God for sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be born in this earth. Jesus came to live a holy life, & die to pay for OUR sins.

We are supposed to be celebrating Jesus’ birthday!

But does it look like we do? Does our celebration have anything to do with Christ? Do we teach the kids that Christmas is about Christ? (not Santa Claus).

Do we obey His rules of holiness as we live, & when we celebrate. Or are we sinning instead?

Do we take Christmas as a day to think back just how much the Lord loves us? Do we appreciate God's gift to us?

At the end of the day, we have made Christmas, a celebration for our OWN SELF. It’s a commercialized event where the stores are only interested in selling us things. We are only interested about buying ourselves things. We want to eat, drink & party! We love Santa Clause.

It has nothing to do with Jesus Christ or God anymore. We are having a celebration, where we don’t even want to invite the Birthday Boy for the occasion!

How have we treated God? Do we thank God for Christ? What is our gift to Him?

Are you willing to give Him your life, by obeying His Word?

This is something for us to seriously think about, this Christmas...

The Only Way Out of Karma

Many of us believe in the concept of retribution or karma; If you do bad (sin), bad things will happen to you. If you do good (righteousness), good will return to you.

How good can you really be? Can you count your sins?

Here’s a story of a man who believed in karma.(I’m NOT implying women are any better. Just change ‘innocent little boy” to ‘innocent little girl” and you get the same story!)

He’s an innocent little boy growing up in a small town. When he is 5, he learns how to lie. He is naughty, but lies that he didn’t do something when he actually did it. When he is 7, he steals his classmate’s eraser. At the age of 9, he discovers pornography. He spends all his free time during childhood, teenage years and adulthood watching the scenes of thousands of naked women (how many people’s daughters & sisters!). He think this is OK, because everyone else is doing it. But actually this is sin. Can u even count how many scenes he watched in his lifetime? Can you count the number of times he had sex in his mind, with people who were not his wife. The number of his sins - uncountable!

Then when he is 16, he puts into practice what he has learnt from all the blue videos. He steals a girl’s virginity, while he willingly throws his away. Here, another sin. Not just sexual sin, but also STEALING (stealing the first night experience of marriage and body from each other’s true husband / wife.) This teenager doesn’t stop there. He grows up and has a few other girlfriends – and he has sex with each one of them. How many people’s daughter, sister, future wife of someone! How many future husbands and fathers & sons did he steal from? How many times they had sex?Uncountable!

Sex becomes the ‘god’ in his life! He loves having sex, with no regards to the ways of the Lord.

He becomes a young adult and starts working. He is still not married. He continues his fling of affairs. He sits together with a group of friends, and they sexually lust after every sexy woman who passes by. He admires their bodies, and imagines himself undressing someone’s sister / wife / daughter’s clothes. He thinks this is ok, and does it to fit in with the group, and make the guys happy. Again, uncountable sins!

One day, he decides to get engaged. He stays in a relationship for a couple of years, and then easily calls it off. If he were an innocent man who did not sleep with her, then it wouldn’t be too much of a sin. But he’s been living with her like he was her husband. Yet, in one moment, he loses his feelings for her and ends it all. Can you count his sins?

Then he gets married to a different girl. He doesn’t confess anything about his past to her, because he assumes the whole world is like him, anyway. Here, already a sin – a lie! When he makes love to her, he makes his wife get a taste of all the women he has slept with in his life. He doesn’t even have the basic repentance to ask her to forgive him for giving away his body away, so many times, to so many girls on his way! Here, only adding to his already uncountable sins!

Soon enough, he tries to have a child. He tries so hard for many years, but his seeds just don’t seem to hit the target. When his wife finally gets pregnant, she is faced with a miscarriage. Then he thinks God is unfair. “I’ve never done any ‘major sin’ like rape or murder. I don’t even smoke! I’ve been nice and honest in many ways. I don’t hurt anyone. My good karma should bless me! How can this happen to me?” But he doesn’t realize, he has been splashing his life producing sperms very cheaply, for SIN – for uncountable times in his life! He’s been STEALING in so many ways!

Eventually, he has a child. His wife is busy caring for the baby. Business keeps him busy and he has to hang out late. He lies every time he is late, even for innocent things because LYING has become his second nature. Again, adding to his sins. Worse still, he starts to have affairs with other women as he is influenced by his friends, and learns different lying techniques from the men who share at the table. Can you count his sins?

Later in life, some guy sleeps with his daughter at a very young age. She gets pregnant and aborts the child without his knowing. After some years, she gets engaged and the guy calls it off, after having a great deal of sex with her, which causes her great hurt. She gets married to a different man, but he has affairs and divorces her. His son, on the other hand, gets married but his wife swindles away all his money, leaving him with almost a nervous breakdown. His wife is so heartbroken by all that has happened. This man feels the pain of being a father.

This man blames God again, saying God is unfair. “My daughter is such a sweet girl. How could you let this happen to her? My son really loved his wife – how could You let his wife do that to him? My wife is a good woman, why do you let her suffer?I pray every morning to your statue! I don’t believe in God anymore!”

It’s really funny to think that this is a man who believes in karma! Yet, he never realizes the sins he has done to someone’s daughter, wife, sister, child, husband, father, son etc. – in his whole life! According to his own beliefs, he is being paid back for everything he has done – in different ways. Only thing, he has also made his wife and children pay for it. Obviously, it won’t end there.

The vicious cycle continues, from one generation to the other. This is karma, isn’t it? It’s true – what goes around, comes around. It’s a law in the 10 Commandments, where the sins of a man (or woman) is carried into the future generations. This happens because we FAIL TO FOLLOW God's Commandments!

In fact, many things that are happening in our lives (or have already happened) are the result of the sins of our ancestors (parents, grandparents, greatgrandparents etc) – their unconfessed and unforgiven sins.

What we do in our own lives will affect our children and the generations that comes after.

It's true, each of us make individual choices and decisions, which bring its own consequences. But like it or not, there is an unexplainable force which repays whatever we do; influencing the time, place, people we meet and what we do.

Can this ever be stopped?

This man can only stop his ‘karma’ from continuing to the next generation if he gets rid of ALL his sins. Can he do that by himself? Can he wash away any one of his bad deeds? NO! Not at all! He can’t even remember or count all of the bad things he did in his life!

Is there a way to end this vicious cycle?

The Bible says, there is only ONE WAY to get out of the trap. Through the MEDIATOR who cancels our sins so we can walk away as a FREE MAN!

That is to BELIEVE IN JESUS – to believe that He died to pay for our sins and ask Him to forgive us. It’s the ONLY WAY to remove ALL our wrongdoings from our records.

The moment this man says this prayer with his mouth, and believes in His heart, his sins are TOTALLY FORGIVEN! :


Father,

I now believe that Jesus Christ is Your only begotten Son, that He came down to our earth in the flesh and died on the cross to take away all of my sins and the sins of this world. I believe that Jesus Christ then rose from the dead on the third day to give all of us eternal life.


Lord Jesus,

I now confess to You all of the wrong and sinful things I have ever done in my life. I ask that You please forgive Me and wash away all of my sins by the blood that You have personally shed for me on the cross. I am now ready to accept You as my personal Lord and Savior. I now ask that You come into my life and live with Me for all of eternity.

Father, Jesus – I now believe that I am truly saved and born again.


Thank you Jesus.”


In one moment, every single bad thing he has done in his life is REMOVED from the record.


He becomes BRAND NEW! Yesterday a sinner, today a saint!


This is the day he breaks the evil cycle of ‘karma’ in his life. He starts a NEW LIFE, following God’s rules, which will bring the blessing of the Lord upon his family & future generations!


This is the moment, he gives his whole life to Jesus. This is when, he is proud to say, “I am a Christian,” because he finally realizes, Jesus is the only way out.


The Lord said in Exodus 20: 3-6 (10 Commandments):

3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.


I Timothy 2: 5

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,


Jesus said in John 5:24

24 “I tell you the truth, those who LISTEN to my message and BELIEVE in God who sent ME have eternal life. They will NEVER be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

-JJ-

The Religion of the Early Indians

As I continue reading the book “Christianity in Hinduism,” I am gaining more understanding about the origin of my race. Let me share.

The book says, history proves that Dravidians (also known as Tamilians) were the first people of the Indian soil. The famous people of India who wrote great books were Dravidians. Kalidasa, the famous poet, was a Dravidian. Veda Vyasa, who compiled the nomadic songs as the 4 Vedas, compiled the Upanisads and wrote the Mahabharata which contains the Bhagavad Gita - was a Dravidian. These books were written in Sanskrit. The Sanskrit language was created by the Dravidians, to pass these teachings to commoners. Purana’s were further written by Dravidians to explain the concept of God.

In the beginning, there was no term for religions. The terms “Hinduism” & “Christianity” were given by Europeans when they came into power centuries later. Since the Europeans called themselves Christians, once they came into power, they classified those along the Sindhu river as Hindus. The terms Muslim, Buddhism, Sikhism etc. also came about in a similar manner, according to geographical area and the people there. The Europeans did this for political & administrative purposes. But in fact, these people were already believing in the same Supreme God. If the European Christians considered the “Supreme God” as part of European Christianity, this meant that the Dravidians practiced Early Indian Christianity, which they already believed before the Europeans came in. Yet, the Europeans called it "Hinduism" based on the geographical area, because they could not understand it, when it was dressed in a different language & culture.

Only difference, European “Christians” called this Supreme God as ‘The Lord” or “Yahweh” – based on the Old Testament of the Jews. And the early Indians called Him Siva/Brahma, as compiled in the Sanskrit language.

“European Christians” acknowledged that Jesus Christ was the Lord (the Supreme God) who came into the world in human flesh – after Jesus was born in a place that was politically controlled by Rome (a European country). That’s why people think that “Christianity” is an European religion. But the truth is, Christianity didn’t come from Europe . The gospel of Jesus Christ came from the Jews.

The concept of God in the Bhagavad Gita, Brahma Sutra, other early India writings & the Bible is very similar. The Lord refers to Himself as “I AM” in the Bible, and in Dravidian books, as “Aham Brahmasmi.”

According to this book, these were the original thoughts of the Dravidians. The Dravidians explained this concept in many of their writings.

The Dravidians believed in the concept of Sin (that sin came through a fruit & we shouldn’t eat of it). They explained the concept of Avatar, where God comes down to earth as one of us to save us from sins. They believed in a God without form, a God with form, & a God with semi-form. They believed that these three gods were ONE. (That’s why there are statues of one god with three heads – representing this Triune concept of 3 gods as one).In other words, they believed in the concept of Trinity. They believed that god will lose all his glory, come to earth as a human and sacrifice himself to wash away human’s sins. They believed in Eternal Life (life after death, achieved through the suffering & sacrifice of the One)

This is the exact concept of the Bible. Sin came into the world when Adam & Eve ate the forbidden fruit. The concept of Trinity ; God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), & God the Holy Spirit – 3 but ONE. God came down to earth as a sacrifice, to wash away human sins. Eternal life achieved by believing in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said He is "I AM."This same God is the Lord, who came to the world in human flesh, as Jesus Christ.

This concept is explained in the Bhagavad Gita & Brahma Sutra as well. The early Dravidian writings show Brahma as the Supreme God, who is explained in the Bible as “I AM” (the Lord). But all these early Dravidian concepts of God were twisted and manipulated by the foreigners who invaded the land.

Many foreigners conquered the Dravidians for more than 157 years, and made them slaves. The Aryans were the only ones without religion or faith in God, who conquered the Dravidians. The Aryans made the Dravidians become slaves, and controlled them. The Aryans came up with the Varnashrama Dharma concept (caste system) under the disguise of religion. ’ Varna ’ means colour, and the caste system was originally based on skin-colour. The Aryans had a white complexion, while the non-Aryans had darker skin colour. The Aryans used the term “Hinduism” to camouflage the original Dravidian concept of worship & religion, to practice Varnashrama Dharma. The Aryans used the caste system to make the Dravidians become slaves.

Adisankara, the famous Aryan, misinterpreted the verse “Aham Brahmasmi” into “I am God.” He said that Brahmins alone can claim they are gods. This is totally against the teachings of the original Dravidian religious literature. The Bhagavad Gita & Brahma Sutra say that the Supreme God is incomparable & no one can claim he is god. By introducing this misinterpreted concept, the Aryan Brahmins degraded the Dravidians to become slaves. Dravidians who went against the Aryan teachings were reduced to the level of ‘untouchables.’

This is what the Aryans did, according to the book. There was a conspiracy going on. They degraded the Dravidian religious philosophy by giving it a coating of sex. The Puranas which were originally written to explain the concept of God, were twisted to give readers sexual feelings. The sculptures & figures were kept around worshipping places, but the Aryans purposely gave it a sexual look to corrupt the people’s minds. This didn’t just happen in sculptures & art. The women who dedicated their lives for holy purpose as ‘servants of God’ (Thevaaradiyaal) were lured and forced into prostitution. Music & dances were meant for noble purposes but it was used to introduce sexual immorality. The temple was meant to be a place of holiness, but prostitutes were made to stay around the temple, and worshippers were influenced to indulge in sexual activities.

According to the book, the Aryans also systematically degraded the original Dravidians through other ways. In the media & stories, the characters of evil doers or bad people were represented by Dravidians, and those of noble roles were played by the Brahmins. This same thing was represented in the arts and sculptures. The Dravidians were also suppressed through politics. Eventually, people were made to think that the Brahmins were of a noble & superior level. Psychologically, the Dravidians were made to believe that their own race & skin colour was inferior by birth, and that the Brahmins were superior by birth.

The Dravidians were originally very loving people, living together as one big family; but the caste concept created conflicts among the Dravidian race itself, as some considered themselves superior to the other.

Based on this book, the original religion practiced by the Dravidians was named “Hinduism” along those times. But the term "Hinduism" doesn't exist in any original religious text of the Dravidians. When the Aryans came into power in India , they used the term “Hinduism” for political purposes by manipulating the teachings of the Dravidians. So, the original religious literature of the Dravidians, which was also called “Hinduism,” lost its true meanings. People were not given the chance to learn the writtings of the Dravidians. Instead, the Aryans, wrote great volumes about the caste concept, and taught it as religion.

The way I see it, in the beginning, humans had no term to call ‘religion’. They worshipped the Supreme God, They worshipped the God who created them. The Jews worshipped Him as Jehovah, the Muslims worshipped Him as Allah. The Hindus worshipped Him as Brahma / Siva. The Christians called Him, “The Lord” or “Yahweh.”

Then, the Europeans came in and gave different parts of the world, different labels for religions & beliefs. Along the way, foreign influences came in from different countries and corrupted teachings of “God” to gain political power.

But, Abraham from the place called “ Ur ” seems to play a very huge rule in the religions that worship a Creator. That’s why Abraham is called the ‘common father’ to these faiths.

In these faiths, some are still waiting for a Messiah to come one day. Some say we need to continue performing sacrifices to be saved. ‘Christians’ say, He already came.

“Christians” as we call ourselves today, believe Jesus is the Promised One, the Messiah, the Supreme God, the Lord – who already came to earth as a human to die for our sins – the One who will return again as King from heaven to judge the earth.

It’s important to note; when Jesus came to earth, He didn’t come to create religion. He didn’t come to create the “Christian” religion. The term “Christianity’’ was given by those in power, years later. Jesus came to fulfill the prophecy revealed centuries ago, in the Word. He confirmed the teachings that were already written. He came to redeem mankind from darkness. He came to wash our sins away because humans are sinners. He came to earth to become the Ultimate Sacrifice, once and for all – God in human flesh. All He asked us to do is to BELIEVE.

During the time of Abraham & the Dravidians (Tamilians), we must remember that the Bible had not been compiled yet. The inspired Word of God was passed down through word of mouth. Jesus was only born centuries later.

I feel so grateful that I can see the whole picture – now that a complete, compiled Bible is available in my hand. Added with findings of history, I believe I have come to know HIS STORY from my ancestors, being an Indian myself.

-JJ-

The Men in the Bible Spoke Tamil?

Recentely, I had been thinking about, “How come I am a Christian, being an Indian? How did my parents, grandparents & forefathers become Christians? How did Christianity reach Indians, in the first place?”

I came back to my hometown. While I was placing my watch on the bookshelf, as if planned by Providence, my eyes caught sight of an old book arranged together with my collection. I haven’t seen it before and I asked my mom where it came from. She couldn’t remember, but she must have placed it there while rearranging things in the house.

I immediately picked it up. The title was “Christianity in Hinduism” by Prof. D. M. Deivanayagam M.A., PhD & Dr. D. Devaka M.A., PhD.

The authors have made some remarkable historical discoveries about the Bible, in Hinduism & India - saying Abraham actually spoke Tamil! Allow me to share.

Abraham (Ibrahim) is the common father of Islam, Christianity, Judaism & the Israelite religion. Abraham is the father of the 2 sons – Isaac (Ishak) & Ishamael (Ismail) whose descendants are still at war with each other in the Middle East today.

The Bible says that Abraham was from a place called ‘Ur,’ the capital of the Sumerian kings. (Genesis 11:31). In Tamil, ‘Ur’ is a word for village.

The Bible says that when the Great Flood happened, 8 people from the family of Noah (Abraham’s forefather) survived because they were in the Ark. They multiplied and spread their language towards other areas after the Ark landed on Mount Ararat.

In the Old Testament, Genesis 11:1 in the Bible says that the whole world had one language and one speech during that time. The people travelled from the East to other places & lived there.

This book explored – What is the language of the East?

Historically, in the East, there was a civilization known as the Indus Valley civilization, belonging to the Dravidians, also known as Tamilians. It has been found that the Dravidian language was actually a very primitive form of Tamil! Even the old day ethnic Iranians in the villages spoke this language.

Research also proves that Sumerians moved into Babylon from the East, and there is evidence that Tamilians lived in Babylon.

Teakwood found in a place called ‘Ur’ shows that trade relationship existed between South India & Sumeria before 4000 B.C.

Hinduism is the term given to the religion that existed along the Indus, so a lot of its history dates back to the Dravidian / Tamilian way of life – and influences that have entered into the area.

There is a lot of historical evidence showing the correlation between worship in the Indus valley & the Bible.

Ashoka’s inscriptions in Aramaic (the language spoken by Jesus) tell us about the Greek, Romans, Jews & Syrians who traded with India. The Tamil Sankam literature (about 3rd c. B.C – 3rd. C.A.D) reveals that these foreigners settled in Pondichery. (Ashoka is the great Indian Emperor who ruled almost all of India during his reign, who also helped Buddhism become a world religion)

It’s very interesting to note that before 2nd c. A.D, the languages that are seen in the inscriptions in India during Ashoka’s period are Tamil, Greek, Aramaic and a few others, but not Sanskrit. Sanskrit is the language used to write the Hindu Vedas, and it’s only seen after this period.

In the Bible, Abraham is a man who worshipped the Lord and spoke the language of the East. These historical findings point to him speaking the earliest form of Tamil. This also means that Christianity existed in India, even BEFORE the Europeans brought Christianity to Indian soil!

In the New Testament, Matthew 2:1 in the Bible says, “Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem” to visit Jesus Christ when He was born. The birth & location of Christ was predicted hundreds of years before he was born, in the Old Testament. This means that people in the East had knowledge of the Old Testament & were anticipating this birth of the Savior; so they travelled to Jerusalem to visit the child. So, it is highly possible, that either of the wise men, or all of them who visited Christ, were from India!

This explains how Christianity spread from Judea to India.(The term Christianity came about after the birth of Christ. Before Christ was born in human flesh, He was worshiped as the Lord, of Abraham), Judea was controlled by the Romans & Greek during that time. That’s why the Christian Jews wrote their Books in Greek, instead of their own language. Evidence reveals that trade relationship existed between Judea & India, and this is how Christianity further spread to India. This makes it really probably that Abraham in the Bible spoke the earliest form of Tamil.

Being an Indian, these new findings that I’ve read intrigue me to delve further into the history of India, Hinduism & its link with the Bible. The Bible mentions many countries that exist today – India, Rome, Egypt, Babylon etc., even the lost city of Atlantis. Research show that Sumerians moved into Babylon from the East & there is evidence that Tamilians have also lived in Babylon.

There seems to be a HUGE link between all these countries, Babylon, India & the Bible. (The Bible indicates that religions originate from Babylon & modern researchers agree with it). And we know that Tamil is among the oldest languages in the world.

The world is a big jigsaw puzzle with a lot of missing pieces. That makes it difficult for us to understand the whole story.

But HISTORY is HIS STORY. Finding our origin will explain where we came from, save us from lies & lead us to the source of TRUTH – the Author & Finisher of the Story.

A famous man once said, “There are only 2 types of people in the world: 1) Those who search for the truth, & 2) those who justify their own behavior.”

I choose to search for the TRUTH, which is revealing itself to me, the more I seek. Jesus has never disappointed me. He is only making things clearer to me.

Till all the missing pieces are pieced together, I am still amazed to think of the possibility that the people in the Bible actually spoke Tamil!

-JJ-

The Blood

Have you ever seriously thought about the importance of blood in your life?

I continue to be amazed at how a full blood test can reveal what’s in a person’s body – from arthritis, rheumatism, cholesterol level, kidney functions, cancer to AIDS. Our blood can reveal whether we are in the pink of health, or if we are counting our days. Truly, modern science proves that the Bible (which was written more than 2000 years ago) contains high scientific standard.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood…” the Bible says in Leveticus 17:11

Throughout the centuries, extensive research has been conducted about blood since the discovery of the blood circulation system in the human body. We are alive and breathing today because of blood circulation. The blood is pumped by the heart, and it’s interesting to note, that’s it’s possible for a machine to perform the heart’s job. Yet, if the blood cannot reach the different organs of our bodies, we die. Even we start to lose blood for a prolonged time (especially women, when having period), we feel extremely tired. If we lose large amounts of blood, we die. If the blood is infected by incurable viruses that destroy our life-essential organs, we cannot live. Each cell in our blood has its own function and correct amount to protect and preserve our lives. So, it is true when the Bible says our LIFE is in the blood.

In order for us to continue living, our blood needs to be cleansed. When a dying person needs to be saved, modern science allows the blood of a healthy person (of the same blood group) to be transfused to the dying person. Contaminated blood cannot be saved by itself. It needs cleansing.

Remember, in the process of blood transfusion, the BLOOD must be transfused, or GIVEN to the sickly person. Then, the blood must be ACCEPTED by dying person, in order for him or her to be SAVED.

A lot of people ask, “Why did Jesus have to die in the first place? Why did he have to shed his blood? Why do we need to ACCEPT that his blood paid for our sins? If he really already shed his blood for all of us, why does it matter whether we BELIEVE and ACCEPT JESUS, or if we do what we like (as long as we try to be good)?”

The profound spiritual answer to these questions can be illustrated by modern science in blood transfusion.

Jesus said in Matthew 26:28,

For this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people.

It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.

God gave us Jesus to die for our sins because He is the ONLY 100% CLEAN & PURE blood in this world. He is the ONLY SINLESS PERSON, because He is GOD! It is also because of this; Jesus says His blood heals our diseases. Human blood is contaminated with sin, spiritually, and with diseases physically. Diseases are a direct result of sin, since the creation of humankind in the Garden of Eden. It’s the power of His blood that heals us.

ALL of us need a ‘blood transfusion’. It’s the ONLY WAY for our sins to be forgiven, to avoid the punishment in Hell.

God has already GIVEN us the BLOOD of Jesus.We just need to ACCEPT it. We ACCEPT by BELIEVING.

The Bible says in Romans 3:23,

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.

There is NO EXCEPTION for anyone to say he or she does good things, and doesn’t need the blood of Christ.

The way I see it, JESUS is NOT religion. He is the DIFFERENCE between of LIFE & DEATH, here on earth and in eternity.

He is THE BLOOD.

Have you BELIEVED & ACCEPTED His BLOOD?

-JJ-