Christmas...we celebrate the Advent...the first coming of Jesus. There are a lot of this time including several Old Testament scriptures. We get a glimpse of God's heart through the example of Jesus.
Hebrews 1:2-3a (ESV) "but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power."
Jesus came into a dark world. A prophet of God had not spoke in 400 years. Politically-Rome occupied Israel. Herod was an evil king. He heard about the prophecy of a "savior" and he ordered all the baby boys killed in and around Bethlehem. Herod also had one of his wives killed, a Mother in Law, a Brother in Law and 3 sons killed. He ordered the execution of thousands. The people (Jews) were looking for a Messiah. The book of Daniel pointed them to a savior. Gamaliel (a Jewish leader) spoke about false Christs (Acts 5, 2 Peter 2:1, 1 John 4:1).
Jesus came and changed everything. You can look back at a message preached on 4/6/25 titled "What difference did Jesus make?" You can also read "Under the Influence" by Alvin Schmidt.
I. God is actively and personally involved. )
Isaiah 7:14 (ESV) "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV) "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
God is not some hands off god. He cares about his creation. If Jesus did not come as God we are wasting our time. If you don't believe in the virgin birth and the deity of Christ, why do you bother?
Mary understood what a virgin birth meant. Joseph understood what born of a virgin meant. God came down and met us in our darkest time. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown in the fiery furnace...who was the 4th man in their with them. I like to believe it was Jesus.
God is not a far off God. He is with us. He was big but not distant.
II. We ought to be the same way.
Don't let it stop... our community shared the burden of loss this week. Our people ministered to people hurting in our community. Don't stop caring and comforting one another. Look for opportunities to do something this week to encourage one another.
III. God loves people. Let's do the same.
1 John 4:7-12 (ESV) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."
God showed great love to us by sending His son. He came and was like us, tempted, suffered to reconcile us to God.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (ESV) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
IV. God keeps his word.
Micah 5:2 (ESV) "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, 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 days."
Isaiah 7:14 (ESV) "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Hosea 11:1 (ESV) "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son."
Herod brought in experts to search the scriptures for evidence of where the Messiah would come from. Because God kept his word with the first coming of Christ, He will also keep His word for the second coming of Christ.
Revelation 21:3-4 (ESV) "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away'"
At the second coming of Christ everything will be made new. Imagine all the good in this life without the bad. We live in a corruptible, fallen world, nothing remains the same.
Salvation is for the righteous and is hand in hand with judgement for the wicked. Mary's song found in Luke 1:46-55...she gets it. Salvation is sure, so is judgement.
Revelation 21:7-8 (ESV) "The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
If this week hasn't made you realize that this life is temporary, it is fragile, I don't know what will. The time is now. There is no better time than now to accept Christ. Do not go another day without making a decision for Christ.
Closing Scripture
Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV) "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."
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