Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....December 24, 2018
Terry and I would like to wish you all a very blessed and happy Christmas this year:)
I wanted to share with you all, this Christmas, something a little different than the usual stories of the day our Lord came into the world.
The Birth of Christ is described as a sign by Isaiah, this sermon explores the fact that his birth was a sign of God’s power, God’s love and God’s faithfulness!“Prophecies of Christmas” Isaiah 7:14
The Christmas story in the Bible begins earlier than you might expect, several hundred years earlier, in the Old Testament. One Old Testament prophecy after another promised the coming Messiah who would redeem the people of God. Whether you know it or not, the first promise of the coming Christ was given in very first book of the Old Testament, in Genesis 3:15.
The Prophet Isaiah writing nearly 600 years before the birth of Christ was able to see across the centuries and gave us an amazingly accurate picture of the birth of the Savior. He said, (7:14), "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 said that the birth of Jesus would be “a sign.” We find perfect harmony with this prophecy when the angels announced the birth of Christ in Luke 2:10-12, for they said, "…Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. (11) For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (12) And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
God has always used signs to get the attention and deliver His message to His people. In the birth of Christ we have a sign from God. But what is the birth of Jesus to a sign of?
First, It Is A Sign Of God’s Power.
The birth of Jesus was not a normal birth, it was a super-natural birth. He told us that “a virgin,” will conceive and bear a child. The word “virgin” used here denotes a woman who has never been sexually intimate with any man not just a young woman. The birth of Jesus was to be a miraculous event, unlike any the world has ever known.
In celebrating Christmas we celebrate the fulfillment of this prophecy. God became man. Jesus, being God in the flesh, came and dwelt amongst us, being born of the virgin Mary. In Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-38 it is made very clear that Isaiah 7:14 had its ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 1:18-25, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. (19) Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. (20) But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. (21) And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." (22) So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: (23) "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,"which is translated, "God with us." (NKJV)
Not Only Is It A Sign of God’s Power But Also…It Is A Sign Of God’s Love.
Isaiah says that He was to be called, “Immanuel” which means “God is with us.” It is a promise that God himself will appear in human form. You probably remember from the Old Testament incidents when God appeared to people as a person. In Genesis we are told that God walked in the garden with Adam. Later God appeared to Abraham as a weary traveler. So what is so unique about the appearance of Jesus? Jesus actually became a person. In the Old Testament, God took on human form, but in Jesus, God became a person. The theological word is “incarnation” that is God become flesh and blood.
In the scripture that almost everyone who has any exposure to the Bible at all knows, John 3:16, we are told, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It was because of God’s great love for the plight of man that He was willing to allow his only son to come to the earth, take human form, in order that he might pay the debt that our sin demands.
The Apostle Paul tells us the story from the viewpoint of Christ in Philippians 2:6-8, “…who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,(7) but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (NKJV)
One author said it so well when he said, “Jesus endured a human birth to give us a new spiritual birth. He occupied a stable that we might occupy a mansion. He had an earthly mother so that we might have a heavenly Father. He became subject so that we might be free. He left his glory to give us glory. He was poor that we might be rich. He was welcomed by shepherds at His birth whereas we at our birth are welcomed by angels. He was hunted by Herod that we might be delivered from the grasp of Satan. That is the great paradox of the Christmas story. It is that which makes it irresistibly attractive. It is the reversal of roles at God’s cost for our benefit.” [James Montgomery Boice. The Christ of Christmas.(Chicago: Moody, 1983) p. 59]
Not Only Is It a Sign of God’s Love But Also…It Is A Sign Of God’s Faithfulness.
“Dr. Charles Ryrie says that according to the laws of chance, it would require two hundred billion earths, populated with four billion people each, to come up with one person whose life could fulfill one hundred accurate prophecies without any errors in sequence. Yet the Scriptures record not one hundred, but over three hundred prophecies that were fulfilled in Christ’s first coming alone.”
“In his book, Science Speaks, Peter Stoner applies the modern science of probability to just eight prophecies regarding Christ. He says, “The chance that any man might have ...fulfilled all eight prophecies is one in 10 to the 17th. That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.” (one hundred quadrillion).
Stoner suggests that “we take 10 to the 17th silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state 2 feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly... Blindfold a man and tell him he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up [that one marked silver dollar.] What chance would he have of getting the right one?”
Stoner concludes, “Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing those eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, ... providing they wrote them in their own wisdom.”
Over 300 separate prophecies concerning the coming Messiah give in exquisite detail the birth of Christ.
Hosea 11:1 prophetically points to Jesus’ escape to and coming out of Egypt.
Jeremiah 31:15 prophetically points to the grief and sorrow that came to the Bethlehem mothers and their refusing to be consoled in spite of their being good reason for such.
Another of those prophecies of Christ birth is found in Micah 5:2. Here Micah told exactly where Christ would be born, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting."
This verse begins with the word “but” and is the introduction to something new, something grand, that is about to enter human history. And surprise, surprise, the origin of this grand new work is not in one of the world’s capitals, not even in Jerusalem, but in Bethlehem.
We all know about the town of Bethlehem and we are used to hearing the name of Bethlehem. There is a Christmas Carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” we have heard of this town ever since we were old enough to understand the Christmas story. But 2,000 years ago, Bethlehem was not a very well known place. It was similar to being from a small town, like Vilonia, Arkansas. When you are asked where you live and you reply Vilonia, what is the next question? “Where is that?” You not only have to tell where Vilonia is located you usually have to spell it for them as well. Bethlehem was like that, it was a pretty obscure little country town, so obscure in fact that he has to tell us what Bethlehem he is talking about! He says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah,” or the Bethlehem by Jerusalem.
Micah proclaimed that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem...but a week before Christ’s birth, Mary was still in Nazareth... 80 miles away from Bethlehem... And in a day where they walked everywhere they went, that was a long way.
But God was in control and He took care of that. Caesar Augustus order a census be taken, and this census required that Joseph be register in the city of his families roots (David’s).... Bethlehem.
So Mary and Joseph at just the right time made the four day journey to Bethlehem. As we have seen Bethlehem was to the world a small insignificant village full of blue collar workers, nothing special... But Bethlehem was significant and the thing that made it special and the reason we still sing about Bethlehem today is, that Jesus Christ was there.
Even more amazing than the prophecy of the location of the Savior birth is that his “goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” That is that this One, who was to come, is like God, He is eternal. The word “everlasting” means infinite or timeless in duration and refers to Christ eternality. The prophecy clearly predicts that the existence of Christ predates the creation of the Universe. God the Son, became God-man when he was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judea (Isa. 9:6, John 1:1, 14).
Let’s make this weeks teaching personal. Isa. 7:14 said, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.¨ I want us to l look at a couple of truths in closing.
First and foremost, God is always faithful to His word. I try to share this statement with my patients when we visit because when we share all of those comforting promise verses when you need help or have lost hope ...you can be assured that those promises made by God, will be kept.
Second, Jesus was God coming to you as a man. You could not save yourself, but God loved you enough to come to you. Jesus came to set you free from the curse of sin. The gift God gave in Jesus was a gift of hope, a gift of freedom, a gift of salvation.
This gift is PERSONAL. IT IS FOR YOU!
For all people. The Hebrew word “you” in Isaiah 7:14 is plural and means all of you! Do you remember what the angel said to the shepherds who were watching their flocks by night? In announcing the birth of Jesus, Luke 2:10: “But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.¨
God loves you so much that He sent you a personal Christmas present in the form of His son. The baby Jesus grew into a man, and died upon a cross for your sins, and God raised Him from the dead. Today, if you will put your faith and trust in Him, you can receive the greatest gift ever given to anyone – eternal life.
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
Christmas Envelope
It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas-oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it-overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma-the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented
a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he
swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat. Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them."
Mike loved kids-all kids-and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition-one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
May we all remember the Christmas spirit this year and always.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
This week, we take on the Book of Ezekiel...
Who wrote the book?
The book of Ezekiel takes its title from the priest of the same name, son to a man named Buzi. Ezekiel’s priestly lineage shines through in his prophetic ministry; he often concerned himself with topics such as the temple, the priesthood, the glory of the Lord, and the sacrificial system. Ezekiel is often called the sad prophet because of all the bad news he brought to Israel.
Ezekiel 1:1 tells us that the prophecy began “in the thirtieth year.” Scholars usually consider this a reference to Ezekiel’s age, making him about the same age as Daniel, who was exiled to Babylon nearly a decade earlier. Like many priests of Israel, Ezekiel was married. But when his wife died during his prophetic ministry, God prevented Ezekiel from mourning her in public as a sign of Judah’s lack of concern for the things of God (Ezekiel 24:16–24).
Where are we?
Ezekiel lived among the Jewish exiles in Babylon at a settlement along the river Chebar called Tel-abib (Ezekiel 3:15), less than one hundred miles south of Babylon. The invading Babylonians brought about ten thousand Jews to the village in 597 BC, including Ezekiel and the last king of Judah, Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:8–14).
Ezekiel’s prophecy began a mere five years into his time at Tel-abib (Ezekiel 1:2), and he continued to prophesy among the people for at least twenty-two years (29:17). Because he spoke to a people whom God had exiled due to their continued rebellion against Him, a majority of Ezekiel’s message communicates judgment for sins committed (1:1–32:32). However, like all the prophets, he also provided his people, now without a land of their own, some hope for the future (33:1–48:35).
Why is Ezekiel so important?
The book of Ezekiel pronounces judgment on both Israel and surrounding nations, but it also provides a vision of the future millennial kingdom that complements and adds to the vision of other Old and New Testament texts. Not only does the book present a striking picture of the resurrection and restoration of God’s people (Ezekiel 37), it also offers readers a picture of the reconstructed temple in Jerusalem, complete with the return of God’s glory to His dwelling place (40:1–48:35). This latter section of Ezekiel’s prophecy looks forward to the people’s worship after Christ’s return in the end times, when He will rule Israel and the nations from His throne in Jerusalem during His thousand year reign.
What's the big idea?
God didn’t exile the Israelites primarily to punish them. God never has been nor is He now interested in punishment for punishment’s sake. Rather, He intended the punishment or judgment in Ezekiel’s day as a means to an end—to bring His people to a state of repentance and humility before the one true God. They had lived for so long in sin and rebellion, confident in their own strength and that of the neighboring nations, that they needed God to remind them of His holy nature and their humble identity in a most dramatic way. After centuries of warnings, prophetic messages, and invasions, God decided that more significant action was required—He had to remove the people from their promised land.
How do I apply this?
Ezekiel’s entire prophetic ministry centered around the small exiled community at Tel-abib, a people uprooted from their homes and livelihoods living out their days in a foreign land. Can you imagine the feelings of disorientation and confusion that accompanied these people? Even though many of the exiles were directly engaged in the sinful behavior that led to God’s judgment, that would not prevent them from wondering why all this was happening to them.
We sometimes find ourselves in that predicament as well, asking “Why, Lord?” and waiting in silence for the answer. The exiles had to wait five years for God to send Ezekiel, and when God did, His prophet had a message that the people likely didn’t want to hear: God is the Lord of heaven and earth, and the judgment the people were experiencing was a result of their own sin.
The book of Ezekiel reminds us to seek out the Lord in those dark times when we feel lost, to examine our own lives, and to align ourselves with the one true God. Will you consider doing so today?
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou