Apostle Francis Amoako Atta
Head Pastor of Parliament Chapel International (formerly Freedom Chapel International), Apostle Francis Amoako Atta has charged Christians and all believers of Jesus Christ to see the relevance of Christmas celebration in the birth, the name and the significance of the work of Jesus Christ and not the date -25th December- which has been set aside for the celebration.
He said the relevance of Christmas is being lost to the fact that majority of people are focusing more on the 25th December as a day worthy of celebrating which many doctrines including the Freemasons have continued to abuse peoples’ minds over.
Speaking in an interview with Prosper Agbenyega, Apostle Francis Amoako Atta explained that the date for the celebration of Christmas is not so much of relevance as to the reason why one should celebrate or not, but that the relevance lies in the birth of Jesus Christ and what he came to do on earth.
According to him, the mere fact of Jesus’ birth should give Christians and all believers cause to celebrate because Jesus Christ came to the world to save mankind and liberate them from the bondage of sin and Satan.
He said too much emphasis being placed on the Date of Jesus’ birth is making many people doubt the importance of Christmas because they failed to see the difference between Jesus and other Historians.
According to the Apostle, the name JESUS is just 400 years old saying that before the name Jesus, He was known as Yeshua which means Salvation.
“It was His birth that brought the name. And in translating the name, other names came up which eventually came to Jesus. Yeshua was translated to Yesu/Jesu and later to Jesus.” he said.
Apostle Francis Amoako Atta also explained that the name Jesus/Yeshua/Jesu carried nine (9) dimensions and until man grasps these nine dimensions, we will continue to live in a lie and wobble our faith in Jesus Christ and not understanding the relevance and why we must celebrate Christmas.
He averred that Jesus means rescue, help, defend, preserve, move on free, attain victory, bring safety, heal, and save.
“So anybody that call on the name Jesus must be saved, must be Rescued, Helped, Defended, Preserved, must Move on freely, must attain victory, must be safe and must be healed. That is the power of the name,” he said and indicated that “all these happened on the day he was born. So the importance of the birth of Jesus was the name.”
The Virgin Birth
He also mentioned that the speciality of Jesus is not about his virgin birth or his resurrection but about the work he came to do and what he was able to accomplish.
In explaining this, Apostle Francis Amoako Atta said 3000 years before Jesus Christ was born there were powerful men who were also of virgin births and who performed, even more, miracles than Jesus.
“But what makes Jesus more unique from all these people is that Jesus died, he resurrected and still lives.”
History he said, has it that people like Horus, Krishna, Romulus, Attis, Mithras among others who were born of virgin women, performed miracles, some were betrayed just like Jesus was, died and resurrected. These people Apostle enumerated, even though they resurrected they died again. But Jesus after resurrection still lives and this, he said is more than a reason why believers must celebrate HIM.
He pointed out that Horus, for instance, was conceived by a virgin mother named Meri, and had a stepfather named Seb (Joseph). He was born in a cave, his birth was announced by an angel, heralded by a star and attended by shepherds.
“Horus attended a special rite of passage at the age of twelve. He was baptized in a river at the age of 30, and his baptizer was later beheaded. He had 12 disciples and performed miracles, exorcized demons, raised someone from the dead, walked on water and he was also called the “ever-becoming son” and the “Holy Child”. He was transfigured on the Mount and was crucified between two thieves, buried for three days in a tomb, and was resurrected. People called Horus the Way, the Truth, the Light, Messiah, God’s Anointed Son, Son of Man, Good Shepherd, Lamb of God, and was supposed to reign one thousand years,” Apostle explained.
He said: “So you see that even Horus did similar things as Jesus did but we, who believe in Jesus, must know that Horus died and resurrected and he died again. But Our Lord and Saviour Jesus died and resurrected and He still lives.”
Apostle Francis Amoako Atta also makes references to powerful men like Krishna who was born without sexual union, performed miracles, was crucified and resurrected; Romulus who was born of a vestal virgin; Attis and Mithras.
He averred that among all these powerful men, it is only Jesus who reconciles mankind to God, introduces a language of Faith, introduced the Kingdom of God to mankind, introduces light to the world and introduces Hope.
“Jesus is also the only person among all these powerful men in History who brought the likeness of God back to mankind, introduced man back to his dominion stage and gave power and authority to man overall. He introduces the language of Love and Forgiveness.”
According to Apostle, Jesus is also the only one who went through the deepest pain ever and never reacted from the pain.
“As Christians, we must realise that the name Jesus is a special gift from God to the Son so Christmas which is a day set aside to celebrate Christ is not about the date (25th December), but the impact of the name Jesus to the world. We must continue to celebrate what He has done for us.” He said.
He encouraged Christians who are being confused about the relevance of Christmas to look beyond the date, saying that Jesus is greater that Nkrumah, Mugabe, Horus, Attis, Krishna and others but we set aside days to celebrate them.
Apostle said: “If we have anybody to celebrate, it must be Jesus. When we talk about Christmas, it shouldn’t be about 25th December but it should be about Jesus.”