At this time of year traditional Christianity celebrates the birth of Christ.

Churches will be fuller than usual in the next couple of days. It is a good time for us to be reminded of a focal point of our message.

Even though many Christians will be celebrating Christ’s birth this weekend, some of them do not believe in Jesus’ resurrection. Take Germany for example. A representative survey conducted by the German news magazine FOCUS last Easter showed that 60 percent of the Germans surveyed do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus.

Statistically some 65 percent of the German people are members of a Christian denomination.

Those two percentages overlap and call to mind what the apostle Paul wrote about people in the end time: ". . . having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:5). Whoever denies the resurrection of Christ also denies the power of God!

In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 14 Paul emphasized the importance of Jesus’ resurrection: "If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty." In this chapter Paul concentrates on a key aspect of his message, "that He [Jesus] rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (verse 4).

How do we follow Paul’s example and preach the resurrected Christ today?

Those who deny Jesus’ resurrection also do not believe in His promised return to the earth and the establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth – God’s world government.

We preach the return of Jesus Christ as part of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Like Paul some 2000 years ago, we, too, preach the resurrected Christ, because only a resurrected Christ is capable of returning to this earth!

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).

With these thoughts I wish us all a rewarding Sabbath!