Prophesy Foretold

This past Sunday was the second Sunday of Advent.  The trees and decorations are up.  Celebrations are about to begin, if they haven't already.  This is truly the "Most Wonderful Time of Year", don't you think?  

If we're going to celebrate the coming of Christ this season, we must go deep into scripture to figure some things out.  Specifically, what I want to look at, is the prophesy of Jesus' coming.  God tells us all throughout the Old Testament about Jesus if we only look.  

First, I want to look at the prophesies regarding the lineage of the Messiah.  Genesis 17:19 says this, "God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him."  Then in Genesis 49:10, God tells us 

"The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;    and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."  
    who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
    from ancient of days,
     and they shall call his name Immanuel”


Then in Jeremiah 23:5, we are told “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land."  

So, by those three passages, ranging from Genesis to Jeremiah, we can determine the lineage of the Christ child.  First, he is from the line of Abraham.  He will come from the Tribe of Judah and from the lineage of King David.  Now, let's look at the scripture in which those prophesies were fulfilled.  Matthew 1:1-2 tells us that " The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers".  Matthew tells us plainly that Jesus came from David, Abraham, and the tribe of Judah.  Then Luke 3:33 tells us that Jesus was a descendant of Judah.  

The second prophesy that I want to look at is that the Messiah would come forth from a virgin in the city of Bethlehem.  Isaiah 7:14 says, " Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."  Then Micah 5:2 says, 

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Now lets look at where these prophesies came to pass.  Matthew 1:18-23 says, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, andyou shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
(which means, God with us)."  

Luke 2:1-7 says, "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." 

Old Testament prophesies and New Testament realizations.  To me, there is no doubt about the birth of Christ.  We were told he would come.  It was a promise.  God sent His son, Jesus, to be born in a manger, in the little town called Bethlehem, to a virgin mother named Mary.  Love came down at Christmas.

Jesus also tells us that he will return one day.  It was also a promise.  We should look toward the eastern sky for his return.  If he promised it, you better believe it will come to pass.


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Worship

What does it mean to worship?  Well worship is defined as "the reverent LOVE and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object."  God wants us to worship Him.  We worship God out of fear (not being afraid, but of awe), devotion, reverence.  How do we do that?  We can sing, shout, cry out.

Why do we worship?
For starters, we worship because of the blessings that He gives.  Second, we worship in spite of difficult circumstances.  And also, because of His grace and mercy.

Psalm 66:18 says, "If I had cherished iniquity (sin) in my heart, the Lord would not have listened."

What kind of worshiper does God want me (and you) to be?  He tells us in Psalm 1:12:  "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." 

Stuart Townsend and Keith Getty penned the song "In Christ Alone".  You may have heard portions of it from the Newsboys in a song by the same name.  It says these profound words:

"In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song; this Cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm."

Psalm 34 tells us how to praise and worship and the promise that comes from that action. 

Let's look at those verses:

Action                                                       Promise
(v.1)    extol (praise)                                always speak His name
(v.2)    boast                                              rejoice who God is
(v.3)    magnify                                         exalt His name forever
(v.4)    seek                                                deliver from fears
(v.5)    look to Him                                  never be ashamed
(v.6)    cry                                                  save from troubles
(v.9-10) fear                                              not lack good things

My final thoughts I will close with Psalm 103:1, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!"

Living a Christian Life

Today we are looking at the second epistle of Peter.  It is called the “general” letter, because it was not written to one specific church, but they were probably directed to the same group that the first letter was written to.  The whole letter is a warning against danger from within, dealing with false teachers who took the message of grade too far.  These false teachers were twisting Paul’s words and turning it into a license to sin.  Peter knew he was probably going to die soon and he wanted these believers to survive spiritually without an apostle’s testimony.  So, in essence, this was Peter’s last will and testament.  The letter also serves to demonstrate the Christian life.

Here is something to think about as we jump right into the scripture.  Think about your imperfections.  Do they make you try harder, or do they make you want to quit trying?  Let’s look at what Peter has to say about our Christian life.

2 Peter 1:3-4 says this:

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” 

See that, he has granted us all we need for life and godliness.  All. Nothing is left out. 

What does godliness mean?  Godliness is defined as “devotion to God which results in a life that is pleasing to him.” Pleasing God comes by the behavior that is a result of our relationship with him. 

And do you see the rest of the verse?  He grants us precious and great promises, to be partakers of divine nature and escaping corruption that is in the world.  So, what are some of these promises?  Well, he has promised us victory over sin, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, wisdom and strength to deal with trials, and peace. 

What does it mean to be a partaker of “divine nature”?  Well, once we are called to salvation, we are given eternal life, we become a child of God.  This gift that he has given to us is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We share the life of God through the Holy Spirit.  That moment when we become a child of God, God dwells within us.  Does this mean we won’t sin?  Of course not, but our desires change.  We no longer want to live for the world, whether it is by living for sex, greed, pride, etc.  But, we do have the Holy Spirit to guide us to help us to make the right choices.

Peter then goes on to tell us the Christian attributes we should add to our faith.  2 Peter 1:5-7 says “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,^[e] and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” 

We need to add the following to our faith:

 1.   Goodness – the ability and desire to stand up for what is right in a morally defunct world.

2.  Knowledge – knowledge of God and His ways and how to live our everyday life.

3.  Self-control – discipline and diligence of controlling emotions, behaviors and desires.

4.  Perseverance – patience and steadfastness in spite of the difficulty.

            5.  Godliness – living a life pleasing to God.
            6.  Brotherly kindness – caring and kindness for others.
            7.  Love – unconditional, like the love that God shows to us.

If we aren’t continually trying to add these things to our faith, temptation will begin to creep in.  And, boy, is it strong.