The Adoration of the Magi
by Fra Angelico & Fra Filippo Lippi
(~1450 A.D.)
The fifth and last verse of John Henry Hopkins’ 1857 carol We Three Kings of Orient Are is:
Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heaven replies.
(Go to 2. We Three Kings? to see a YouTube video with a good vocal rendition of the We Three Kings carol.)
This verse speaks of man’s response to the risen King and God who came to be the Sacrifice for man’s sin. The only appropriate response to the virgin birth of the God-man Jesus—born to die, rise, and reign—is, as the carol proclaims, Hallelujah, Praise be to God.
May this Christmas season be a blessed time of celebration and praising God for His Ultimate Gift.
The Magi set the precedent for giving gifts at Christmas. May every gift we exchange be done with conscious honor of the Ultimate Gift.
May every star we see, real or decorative, bring to mind His Star, the star that signaled the birth of the God-King to the Magi.
Glory to God in the highest!
Merry Christmas and a Blessed Incarnation Day to all!!!
Here are Christmas-themed selections from Handel’s Messiah, a Scriptural concert (9:48).
Soli Deo Gloria.
This concludes the series of six Christmas blog posts on the Magi and the Star of Bethlehem.
Read the prequels:
1. The Magi and The Star
2. We Three Kings? (with YouTube video)
3. Born A King!
4. His Star
5. Star of Wonder
Read my December 2007 Bible-Science newspaper column: Christmas Animals.
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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Tuesday December 25, 2007 A.D.
And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:8-14)
Bible-Science Guy 
Do you know what the star was. Was it an actual star. Or? shekinah glory of God?
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By: shomotoff on December 19, 2015
at 11:41 am
Yes, I think it was an actual star since the Bible calls it a star. I think that a supernova is the best explanation for the Bethlehem Star. The prequels in this series listed above discuss the Bethlehem Star. Also see The Star of Bethlehem and my newspaper article The Magi and The Star.
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By: BibleScienceGuy on December 19, 2015
at 1:25 pm
Mocking Christ and Christians is a very popular pass-time these days.
Something that really made me think about the wonder of Christ is that when he died, he had few followers and for over 2000 years there has been a concerted effort to kill off all Christians and somehow we just continue to grow and He still lives.
The fact that our calendar is counted from the birth of Christ and the fact that the rest of the world may not consider it their calendar but are still the most aware of our calendar is amazing to me.
His birth, life, death and resurrection have actually taken control of the world in so many ways that few actually recognize or choose to admit.
He is here and ruling now. Most do not see it or acknowledge it, but it is true. Whether they love Him or hate Him, Christ reigns.
Many in the world hate Him but his standard is the “Gold Standard” that the world is measured by and no matter what they do, they have to reference Him as that standard. If you are going to be opposed to a thing, you must know what it is that you oppose. Christ is who is opposed by the Anti-Christ. They hate it, but they are defined by HIM.
Unto us a Son was given, Unto us a child was born, and the Government will be upon His shoulders.
And He shall reign forever and ever.
He is just giving more people the opportunity to choose Him now in their lifetimes. I am so grateful He gave me that opportunity and I am grateful that He is still doing that for people.
These are dangerous times but the times have always been dangerous for Christians. When I confront the danger, I just smile and think that if they kill me, the worst thing that can happen is that I get to go home.
How bad can that be?? When I think of it, I smile and feel safe.
Merry Christmas. One day we will all be home for Christmas. Amen
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By: Elizabeth Carter on December 20, 2015
at 3:05 pm
Great insights! Thanks for reading and commenting.
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By: BibleScienceGuy on December 20, 2015
at 3:34 pm
I really appreciate what you are doing. What you did about potential world population in the trillions is something that I am sharing with people who have been taught that we must kill each other because we have too many people has been extremely helpful. Thank You for that.
You might enjoy this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE
It changes peoples perspective and I think that is something we must do.
I am reading a lot of your articles and I find them very helpful. Thank You.
My website is http://www.eacarter.com if you want to see who I am. It is for business but it sort of gives you an idea of who I am.
Liz
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By: Elizabeth Carter on December 20, 2015
at 4:12 pm
Thanks for your encouraging words. Yes, I have seen and appreciated Roy Beck’s excellent immigration presentation.
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By: BibleScienceGuy on January 3, 2016
at 7:09 pm
What you are doing and what Roy Beck is doing is taking lies that we have been taught in a very complicated way and making them so simple that people go “of course, what we were taught can’t be true.” They change their minds because it is the only thing that makes sense.
I would love to do that with evolution. I know that God created us about 6000 years ago and that evolution is ridiculous.
The problem is that the unbelievers have made it so complicated that people think it is beyond their ability to understand. I don’t even think they are unbelievers really, I think they are just Anti-Christ.
In my experience, everything that God does is totally logical, simple and perfect..
If I am studying something and it is getting more and more complex, I realize that I am on the wrong path. I spend a lot of time in prayer and when I finally understand it, it is so simple that I have an “ah ha” moment and just shake my head that I ever thought it was complicated.
The only reason it becomes complicated is all of the convoluted thinking required in order to omit God who created everything.
Jesus used few words and changed the world.
It took 6 days to make it and everything is so interdependent that no one thing could exist without the others.
God bless what you are doing.
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By: Elizabeth Carter on January 4, 2016
at 2:28 pm
Thanks for the encouragement. New Year Blessings to you and yours.
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By: BibleScienceGuy on January 5, 2016
at 2:19 pm