In the Jewish Torah, ancient prophets for told of His birth. Many prophecies exist in their scriptures telling of different aspects of his birth, his life, and even details of his death.
He was to be their messiah, their king. He was going ensure that all Jews would fulfill every commandment from God, defeating the evil one once and for all. Bringing about complete repentance for the sins that tarnished the relationship Israel had with God for so many years. Evidence of his coming date back to the earliest of Jewish books, the book of Genesis.
Here God is speaking to satan after he tempted Eve in the garden of Eden, telling him that he will be crushed once and for all. Then the savior would reign over Israel in a new world of peace and order. Traditional Jews believed He would be a political/military king to bring about peace and the sovern rule of Israel for eternity. Looking into prophecies of the Torah , one finds many specific details of his birth that must be fulfilled in order for this messiah to be authentic. He had to be born of a virgin,
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be
with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
be a descendent from the family line of king David,
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The LORD Our Righteous Savior. Jeremiah 23:5
and be born in the town of Bethelhem.
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans
of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over
Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. Micah 5:2
Many more scriptures exist regarding the coming of the Messiah, his life and his death, roughly 130 of them. Here's a link to a great video from Mark Driscoll about the many prophecies of the coming of Christ, How did people know Jesus was coming?
Despite all the historical evidence of these fulfilled prophecies, the Jewish people and many others today still reject the truths about Christ. This rejection, too, was prophecied in the old testament. Christmas is the celebration of this birth. Not just the birth of Christ, but the birth of a new world order where God and man can live intimately once again as was intended from the the first Adam. Christ is sometimes considered the second Adam in this light. Trust in Him, and you will find your way back to God, right where you are created to be. He loves you more than you can ever imagine. I hope God blesses you this holiday season and in many more to come. Until next time.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Greatest Story Ever Told...part 1
Well, its that time of year again. With black Friday and cyber Monday past us, maybe we all can really focus on the real meaning behind Christmas; the birth of Jesus Christ. Many of us know about his birth, but the story of Christmas dates back to a time long before the birth of
Christ. It dates back to the beginning of creation. Man was birthed
into this world, born from God's own hands, his greatest and most
cherished creation. Out of his great love for man, gave him all he ever
needed in life, placed him in a garden with total fulfillment, even the
freedom to choose his own way. But man, out of his own naivety and
selfishness chose to listen to the temptation from the Satan, the evil one, to learn
about sin after being warned by God not to.
God's heart was broken. He had given man all could ever want and need, but man wanted something more, something that would scar him and all his offspring for many generations to come. He banished man out of his perfect garden forever, to live a life of hardship and death. In doing so, he also spoke to the evil one saying that though mankind will suffer from Satan's victory in the garden, their will be a time when he will tempt one that will not fall into his trap, but will instead be victorious over sin and death, and he will be crushed for all of eternity.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman,and between your offspring and hershe will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
God knew mankind would be in need of such a savior to separate sin's power from man so that he could join back with him the love relationship he intended from the start. In the face to temptation, man would need a strict set of rules in order to develop the discipline necessary to remain close to him and apart from sin. Yet, God knew man would ultimately fail at this, which was why he warned him from the start. Time and time again, God would redeem man and draw close to his people because he loved them. But, time and time again God would have to punish him as mankind failed to obey his tenants. This was not out of cruelty, but out of tough love as a loving father would punish a child to teach him lessons in life. God needed to show man that sin has serious consequences. He established this covenant with the people called Israel, which means 'struggles with God'.
God knew sin would separate man from Him and that man would be in need of a savior. Someone to stand in between the power of sin and man to break its bondage and reunite God and man again in a deep and intimate love relationship for eternity. God also knew that only he had this power to destroy this sin. So God came down to earth, as a man named Jesus, sinless before the world, and showed the world how much God loved his creation. Many followed Jesus as he taught about God's kingdom. He healed the sick, and loved the unloveable. His coming into the world marked a new covenant with man, one based on faith and grace, and not works and deeds.
Though he had many followers, God was again rejected and Jesus was put on trial and sentenced to die by public crucifixion. Though he was sinless and had the power to stop it, he sacrificed his own life for man's sins, to die a horrible death. But in doing so he defeated death, and the power of the evil one was destroyed. Three days later, he rose from the grave, the power of sin and death would finally be lifted from mankind, and he would live and reign together with God forever. He ascended into heaven, but sent the holy spirit after him to be our guide, Christ's voice in our lives.
That is why we celebrate Christmas. Because of Christ's work on the cross, we can be reunited with God and can live in right standing with him. Because of Christ, the purpose of our creation is made full, we are whole again, and God can once again manifest His glory into a broken and painful world.
But, just as mankind was given a choice in the garden, we too, must choose to except this truth or reject it.
But this exceptance is more than just words. To truly except and believe that Christ came as God and died for our sins is to live out our lives as a response to this great love offering from God. But it is not our works that save us. We are saved by grace alone, by faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. God still abhors sin, and we must respond to it by believing that Christ has the power to destroy it. Trust in his power to better love God, and love others. Until next time.
God's heart was broken. He had given man all could ever want and need, but man wanted something more, something that would scar him and all his offspring for many generations to come. He banished man out of his perfect garden forever, to live a life of hardship and death. In doing so, he also spoke to the evil one saying that though mankind will suffer from Satan's victory in the garden, their will be a time when he will tempt one that will not fall into his trap, but will instead be victorious over sin and death, and he will be crushed for all of eternity.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman,and between your offspring and hershe will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
God knew mankind would be in need of such a savior to separate sin's power from man so that he could join back with him the love relationship he intended from the start. In the face to temptation, man would need a strict set of rules in order to develop the discipline necessary to remain close to him and apart from sin. Yet, God knew man would ultimately fail at this, which was why he warned him from the start. Time and time again, God would redeem man and draw close to his people because he loved them. But, time and time again God would have to punish him as mankind failed to obey his tenants. This was not out of cruelty, but out of tough love as a loving father would punish a child to teach him lessons in life. God needed to show man that sin has serious consequences. He established this covenant with the people called Israel, which means 'struggles with God'.
God knew sin would separate man from Him and that man would be in need of a savior. Someone to stand in between the power of sin and man to break its bondage and reunite God and man again in a deep and intimate love relationship for eternity. God also knew that only he had this power to destroy this sin. So God came down to earth, as a man named Jesus, sinless before the world, and showed the world how much God loved his creation. Many followed Jesus as he taught about God's kingdom. He healed the sick, and loved the unloveable. His coming into the world marked a new covenant with man, one based on faith and grace, and not works and deeds.
Though he had many followers, God was again rejected and Jesus was put on trial and sentenced to die by public crucifixion. Though he was sinless and had the power to stop it, he sacrificed his own life for man's sins, to die a horrible death. But in doing so he defeated death, and the power of the evil one was destroyed. Three days later, he rose from the grave, the power of sin and death would finally be lifted from mankind, and he would live and reign together with God forever. He ascended into heaven, but sent the holy spirit after him to be our guide, Christ's voice in our lives.
That is why we celebrate Christmas. Because of Christ's work on the cross, we can be reunited with God and can live in right standing with him. Because of Christ, the purpose of our creation is made full, we are whole again, and God can once again manifest His glory into a broken and painful world.
But, just as mankind was given a choice in the garden, we too, must choose to except this truth or reject it.
But this exceptance is more than just words. To truly except and believe that Christ came as God and died for our sins is to live out our lives as a response to this great love offering from God. But it is not our works that save us. We are saved by grace alone, by faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. God still abhors sin, and we must respond to it by believing that Christ has the power to destroy it. Trust in his power to better love God, and love others. Until next time.
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