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4 Advent - Sunday |
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Isaiah 7:10-14
(15-17) The Sign of Immanuel In 734-733* B.C., when Ahaz was king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and Pekah was king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Pekah allied with the king of Syria to attack Jerusalem. God sent Isaiah, the prophet of Judah, to Ahaz, to tell him not to fear but to trust and obey God. God assured Ahaz that the enemies would not prevail. God told Ahaz to ask for a sign, no matter how seemingly “impossible,” which God could give him, in order for Ahaz to trust and obey God, But Ahaz said that he would not put God to the test. Then Isaiah said to Ahaz, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman (a virgin) shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:13-14). Isaiah prophesied that before the child was old enough to eat solid food he would know right from wrong, and before that, the lands of the kings who threatened Judah would be deserted. The Lord declared that he would also bring tribulation on Judah greater than that of the time Ephraim split to create the divided monarchy (i.e. the Northern Kingdom). [The psalm, which is attributed to David, may have been used as a processional, led by the Ark of the Covenant (representing the presence of God), ascending to the temple gates.] Remember that the earth and everything and everyone in it belongs to the Lord, who has established solid ground from the primordial flood (watery chaos; Genesis 1:9-10). Only those who are cleansed of sin and pure in heart, who do not desire what is false or practice deceit, can ascend the hill of God and stand in his temple. They are the ones who will be blessed and vindicated by God who has provided their salvation. They are the ones who seek God and a personal knowledge of and fellowship with him. The Psalmist cries out, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in! Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle! Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory” (Psalm 24:7-10 KJV)! Paul was writing to the Roman Church which had already been established by others. He was writing to introduce himself, to announce his intention of visiting them, and to set forth his understanding of the Gospel. Paul was a servant of Jesus Christ who had been called and set apart for the Gospel (the “Good News” of God’s Plan of Salvation, which see: sidebar, top right), which God had revealed beforehand by his prophets and recorded in the Holy Scriptures (the Bible). This Gospel was fulfilled in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was, by his earthly family, the descendant of David, the great shepherd-king, and revealed as the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus we have received grace (unmerited favor; a free gift) and apostleship (the call to be a messenger; of the Gospel), to bring about the obedience of faith (faith is obedient trust) for the sake of his name among all the nations” (Romans 1:5b), including the Roman Christians and all who have responded to the call to belong to Jesus. “To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Mary was betrothed to Joseph, a descendant of David, but the marriage had not yet been consummated, when Mary was found to be pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph knew that the child was not his, but he didn’t want to cause Mary public shame, so he decided to divorce her quietly. While Joseph was contemplating this, he had a dream in which an angel of the Lord told him not to be afraid to marry Mary, because the child had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. She would give birth to a son, who was to be named Jesus (his name means “savior”) because he would save his people from their sins (disobedience of God’s Word). This was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 that an “[unmarried] young woman” (a virgin), would conceive and bear a son who would be called “Emmanuel” (Immanuel) which means “God with us.” God’s people were under attack from their enemies, and Isaiah, a prophet of God, was sent to declare God’s Word, telling Ahaz, their leader, not to worry, because God promised them that their enemies would not prevail. God offered to give Ahaz a sign so that Ahaz would trust and obey God’s Word, but Ahaz said he didn’t want to put God to the test. His reply seemed “pious,” but Ahaz did not actually trust and obey God’s Word. Instead he sought worldly alliance with Assyria, paid for out of the temple and palace treasury, and Judah became a vassal of Assyria (2 Kings 16:1-20) initiating the decline that led to Babylonian exile, and fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 7:17. Ahaz literally sold God’s people into slavery and exile with the treasure of the temple and king (2 Kings 16:7-8). God’s promise that Judah’s attackers would not prevail and would be wiped out didn’t do Judah any good because their “king” didn’t trust and obey God’s Word. Instead his disobedience caused them to receive the punishment that God’s Word of assurance and warning was intended to prevent. Ahaz put his trust in human “kings” instead of the King of Glory, and it led to disaster. The people of Judah put their trust in their earthly leader, Ahaz instead of the Lord and they suffered tribulation and exile. In contrast, Jesus is the true Savior and King of kings. Those who put their trust in Jesus will not be sold into, but rather redeemed from exile and slavery. In one sense all are God’s people because God is our Creator. In another sense God’s people are those who choose to trust and obey God. If we will be God's People, he will be our God (Jeremiah 7:23; Ezekiel 11:20; Leviticus 26:3, 12; Jeremiah 11:4c). This lifetime is an “ascent” of the people of God to the gates of the eternal heavenly temple of God, the Creator and Lord of Creation. This lifetime is our opportunity to “assent” to the Lord as our King. Only those who are cleansed of sin and pure in heart, who do not pursue what is evil or practice deceit, will be able to enter his gates and stand within God’s temple. On our own merits not any one of us qualifies! All have sinned and fall short of God’s righteousness (doing what is right according to God’s standard, his Word; Romans 3:23). Only by the power of the Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17) can our sins be cleansed and our hearts purified; only by the power of the Holy Spirit can we be freed from slavery to sin and be able to resist temptation. This Creation has been designed to allow us the opportunity to seek and come to know and have fellowship with God our Creator (Acts 17:26-27), and this is only possible through obedient trust in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God’s one and only provision for our forgiveness (of sin) and salvation (from eternal condemnation and destruction; Acts 4:12; John 14:6). Those who seek God will find him, and those who find him and learn to trust and obey him will be blessed and vindicated by God who has provided their salvation through Jesus Christ. God’s Word calls us to prepare for and await the coming of the eternal Savior and victorious almighty King of glory! Let us unbar the gates of our hearts and open the doors of our souls to receive him (John 1:12; Revelation 3:20)! God’s Plan of Salvation through Jesus Christ has been designed into Creation from the very beginning (John 1:1-5, 14), and God has been progressively revealing it by his prophets as recorded in the Bible. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of scripture and prophecy, the eternal Savior and heir to the throne of David. Jesus is the revelation of God’s person and character in human flesh. Jesus is the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word lived in this world by human flesh (John 1:1-3, 14). Jesus’ resurrection is the demonstration of the truth and power of God’s Word, and the fact of existence beyond physical death. Those who trust and obey Jesus receive the promised indwelling Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus Romans 8:9), through whom we have personal fellowship, and the assurance that we are in Christ and have eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Paul (Saul of Tarsus) is the prototype and example of a “modern,” “post-resurrection,” “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ. He was convicted by the Holy Spirit of the risen, ascended Jesus on the Road to Damascus (Acts (9:1-9), repented and accepted Jesus as his Lord (Acts 9:5-9), was “discipled” by a “born-again” disciple, Ananias (Acts 9:10-17), until Paul was “re-born” (Acts 9:18-19) and then Paul, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, began fulfilling (Acts 9:20) the Great Commission, which Jesus gave to his “born-again” disciples (Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5, 8), making “born-again” disciples and teaching them to repeated the process (2 Timothy 2:2). Paul taught that Christians have received grace (the free gift of forgiveness and salvation through faith, i.e., obedient trust) in Jesus, and apostleship to bring all “believers” to obedience of faith in Jesus. All of us are called to be “saints” (set apart for God’s use). Grace (God’s unmerited forgiveness and salvation) and peace (with God and other people) are only from God, only through Jesus Christ our Lord. Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)? *The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Isaiah 7:21-8:15n, p. 830, New York, Oxford University Press, 1962. |
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4 Advent - Monday |
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Psalm 96 The Lord Reigns! Let all the earth sing to the Lord a new song; let us bless his name and tell of his salvation every day. Let us declare his glory and his marvelous works to all people and all nations. The Lord is great and worthy of great praise. He alone is the one true God, to be feared (having proper reverence and respect for his power and authority) above all (“so-called”) gods (idols), for the Lord is the maker of the universe. Honor and majesty are his character and there is strength and beauty in his sanctuary. Acknowledge the Lord, all people. Acknowledge his glory and strength. Give him the glory due his name (his character and person). Bring offerings to him and worship him, trembling before him, all people of earth. Proclaim the Lord’s reign among all nations. The world has been established and cannot be changed; the Lord will judge the people of earth with equity. Let all Creation rejoice, earth, heavens, sea and field and everything in them rejoice, for the Lord comes to bring justice to the earth; he will judge the world with righteousness and all people with his truth (divine truth; God’s Word; the Bible), fulfilled embodied and exemplified in Jesus Christ, the living Word (John 1:1-5; 14). God is the Creator of the Universe. God has always intended from the very beginning of Creation to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey him. He has designed this Creation to allow the possibility of sin (disobedience of God’s Word) but he will not tolerate disobedience forever. He has set a time limit on this temporal world and our own lifetimes. He won’t allow the disobedient and rebellious to enter his eternal kingdom, or it wouldn’t be heaven. Jesus has been designed into the very structure of Creation (John 1:1-5, 14). God’s Word declares that we have all sinned and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10) and that the penalty for sin is (eternal) death (Romans 6:23). Jesus is God’s one and only provision for forgiveness of our sins, salvation from eternal condemnation and destruction in Hell, restoration to fellowship with God, and eternal life (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Forgiveness and salvation are by grace (unmerited favor; a free gift) to be received by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9) by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (Acts 14:15-17). The meaning and purpose of life in this world is the opportunity for us to seek and find God (Acts 17:26-27), and to learn by trial and error to trust and obey God’s Word. God wants us to seek and find him. He has been incrementally revealing himself to us throughout history, first in Creation itself; then in the record of his dealing with Israel recorded in the Bible. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of his revelation to us in human flesh, and the indwelling Holy Spirit is the ultimate revelation of himself to us personally and individually. God is Lord of the Universe, whether we know and acknowledge him or not. Jesus is God’s promised eternal Savior and King. Jesus came in the flesh to become the one sacrifice acceptable to God, for all people and all time, for the forgiveness of our sins, to those who accept him in faith (obedient trust). Jesus began his reign over his eternal kingdom on the day of his resurrection from physical death to eternal life. Jesus has promised that he will return to this earth to judge “the living and the dead” (1 Peter 4:5), in both physical and spiritual senses. Everyone who has ever lived will be accountable to him for what we have done in this life (John 5:28-29). In that day “…at the name of Jesus every knee should (shall) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11; Isaiah 45:23). Jesus Christ is the Judge, and the standard of judgment, by which we will all be judged. Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will have been spiritually “re-born” and will live eternally in God’s heavenly kingdom. Those who have refused to accept Jesus’ Lordship and trust and obey Jesus will be condemned to eternal destruction in Hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). Jesus’ disciples come to a personal fellowship with Jesus Christ and God the Father through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:21, 23). We testify to the truth of God’s Word, the reality of spiritual rebirth, and personal fellowship with the Lord. We testify to what we have personally experienced and know to be true. Jesus reigns as Lord in his “born-again” disciples who trust and obey Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). As his “born-again” disciples we are commissioned to proclaim God’s Word, the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ, to a lost and dying world. Are you ready for Christ’s return? Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)? |
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4 Advent - Tuesday |
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Isaiah 9:2-7
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4 Advent - Wednesday |
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Titus 2:11-14 |
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4 Advent - Thursday |
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Luke 2:1-20 |
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4 Advent - Friday |
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Isaiah 7:10-14 |
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4 Advent - Saturday |
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Hebrews 11:1-12 |