I want to wish a Merry Christmas to all the members of my family. If you are a human being, I believe that you are one of my cousins.

Christmas is a story taken from the Christian Bible (The New Testament).

The fact that we are all cousins is a story taken from the Jewish Bible (Tanakh). The Tanakh (Old Testament) is embraced by Christians as part of our Bible.

Christians believe that the Jewish prophet Isaiah prophesied about the coming of Jesus when he wrote:

Isaiah 9:6 NASB (New American Standard Bible)

6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Why do I say that we are all cousins? The Old Testament teaches us that all human beings descend from a man who was called Adam (his name means "man") and his wife who was called Eve. The Bible says about Adam:

Genesis 1:26-27 NASB

26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

I believe that story is historically accurate.

In the New Testament, two genealogies of Jesus are given (one for Mary, the other for Joseph his step-father). Here is a portion from Mary's genealogy where Jesus is traced back to Adam:

Luke 3:38 NASB

38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

I also believe that story is historically accurate.

This contradicts the evolutionary story that is now taught in schools, but I believe the evolutionary explanation is wrong. I believe that mankind and the earth are the products of God's creation, and that none of this is a random accident of nature.

We are actually closer cousins than being descendants of Adam. I believe that we are all descendants of a man named Noah. Noah and his wife had three sons. All human beings since the time of Noah have descended from one of those 3 sons and their wives. The story of Noah is from the Old Testament which tells us:

Genesis 6:11-13 NASB

11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.13 Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.

The story goes on to tell how Noah built a great ship (more like a barge) at the direction of God, how God flooded the earth and that the only people and animals that survived were in the ark during that great flood.

And yes, I also believe that story is historically accurate.

I remember, before I was a Christian, how I thought all these stories were religious mythology and too preposterous to be fact. When I became a Christian, which was a result of revelation, I realized that the stories were all true.

Jesus himself taught from the Old Testament stories. In talking about his own return (as of now, yet to happen) Jesus said about Noah.

Matthew 24:37-39 NASB

37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

The three stories I have just referred to are VERY closely related. They represent the entire theme of the Christian Bible.

First, where did we come from? The answer to that is: Adam

Second, why did God destroy the earth with a flood? The answer to that is: SIN

Third, that Jesus came into the world to save men from their SIN.

The passage of scripture from Genesis 6:11-13 sets out in more detail man's sinfulness. Given an opportunity to do the right thing or the wrong thing, humans have a natural tendency to do what is wrong. Why is that?

Isaiah 53:6 NASB

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;

and

Psalm 51:5 NASB

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.

The Bible teaches us that sin is an inherited condition. Anyone who has raised a child from their birth will understand that you do not have to teach a child to be bad, you have to teach a child to be good. There is no natural inclination to do what is right, only a natural inclination to do what is wrong. And IF you don't teach a child the difference between right and wrong you end up with anarchy and chaos. Why? SIN. Sin is not just our acts, it is our very nature.

How bad is this sin problem?

Jeremiah 17:9 NASB

9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

God cannot tolerate sin. He can't tolerate a lot of sin and he cannot tolerate even a little sin.

Noah and his sons also had the SIN condition, "but" the Bible says:

Genesis 6:8 (NASB)

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

The same verse is translated in the King James Version:

Genesis 6:8 (KJV)

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

The New Testament, which spends a LOT of time quoting and referring to the Old Testament, tells us more about how and why Noah found favor/grace. It says:

Hebrews 11:7 NASB

7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Hebrews 11 talks of many of the important Old Testament figures including Abraham. The Old Testament says of Abraham:

Genesis 15:6 NASB

6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

All the great Jewish patriarchs mentioned in Hebrews 11 are summed up here:

Hebrews 11:39-40 NASB

39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

IMPORTANT:   Faith and belief are VERY closely connected to grace and favor. I would suggest that faith and belief are the result of grace and favor.

Hebrews 11:39-40 begs the question: What is this something that is better?. That question is answered here:

Hebrews 12:1-3 NASB

12 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus is the something better. Jesus, like the ark, is our way to escape the coming punishment for sin.

The Bible calls Jesus the second Adam:

1 Corinthians 15:45-47 NASB

45 So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.

Three stories from the Bible. They all connect and they all relate. The coming of Jesus Christ (Christ means Messiah), is the solution to the problem of sin, a problem we all share because of our ancestor Adam. Jesus Christ is literally God's gift to us; a gift of salvation from sin and judgement.

To all my cousins who have accepted that gift, I want to wish you a VERY Merry Christmas. Through the salvation provided by Jesus we have been elevated from cousins to brothers and sisters in Christ. Together let us give thanks to God for his great gift of salvation from sin through his son Jesus Christ.

To my cousins who have not accepted this gift, I would encourage you to consider this:

Isaiah 45:21-22 NASB

21 And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior;
There is none except Me.
22 "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.

and

Titus 2:11-13 NASB

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus

Earlier I quoted from Isaiah 53:6. Here is that same verse, NOW with the last part of that version that I had left out:

Isaiah 53:6 NASB

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

I believe the "Him" being spoken of was Jesus Christ. And the "iniquity of us all" are our sins.

Jesus Christ is the gift of salvation, just as the ark was Noah's salvation from the flood. You have to accept the gift of Jesus Christ to receive the gift of salvation. If you don't accept the gift, you won't get the gift.