The birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ is remarkable, and we get a good glimpse of how remarkable when we turn to the Bible Dictionary and look up “Christ, Names of”… Here we see hundreds of references to Christ, His name, and His ministry. Names such as Emmanuel, Wonderful, Counsellor, Prince of Peace, the Messiah, Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, make up just a handful of names for Christ, and each one helps round out Christ’s divinity and His purpose.
Many of the references occur before the Savior’s birth in the form of prophecies. In fact, the prophesies of Christ’s birth directly affected the people’s lives who heard them throughout the ages. Although it’s now been nearly 2,000 years since death of Christ, we still learn of Him.
Since the 8th Century B.C. when the prophet Isaiah announced, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14), the great hope of the world was established. And for the next eight hundred years, Isaiah would be quoted, new prophets would testify of the Savior, and one prophet would even learn the Savior’s mother’s name in a vision (Mosiah 3:8).
If we begin with Isaiah’s introduction to the Savior’s forthcoming life on earth, we realize that Christ has been the cornerstone of the Gospel for nearly 3,000 years. With this many years to look back on, as well as the volumes of scripture that testifies of His mission, have we been able to embrace the good news yet?
Do we understand the significant vision that Nephi had when he saw the Savior’s mother, then the Savior Himself as a babe in her arms, 600 years before His birth? “And [the angel] said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh. And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms” (1 Nephi 11:18-20).
Are we listening as King Benjamin listened to the angel who visited him and said, “Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy” (Mosiah 3:3).
I have been thinking about this phrase for several days now. The birth of the Savior was good news… or “glad tidings” to bring us “great joy.” Sometimes when we are caught up in our daily struggles, we forget that there are “glad tidings.” We forget that the greatest event in all of mankind has already occurred and like the angel told King Benjamin, “thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy” (Mosiah 3:4).
In 2 Nephi 25:26, Nephi says, “… we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
I love the phrase from that scripture-we rejoice in Christ. If we are believers in Christ, then we know that the Savior makes it possible to rejoice even in difficult times. Why? Because He is our Redeemer, and without Him, none of us could be saved.
The advent of Christ’s birth and the life that he lived on this earth truly is a glad tiding of great joy, and the prophesies of Him were glad tidings to Isaiah, to Lehi, to Abinadi, to King Benjamin, to Alma the Younger, and to Samuel the Lamanite. The fact that the Prince of Peace offers redemption to all of us is good news indeed.
Heather B. Moore is the author of the historical novel Esther the Queen, and the non-fiction inspirational book, Women of the Book of Mormon. Visit her website: www.hbmoore.com
