Tag: Christmas story

Posted in Advent, Advent, Bible study, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, LGG Study, Quiet Time, The Promised Messiah

The Promised Messiah

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Today’s Scripture is Luke chapter 2. (SOAP verses 10-12)

but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12

Oh, how I love this chapter of the Bible, the cast and characters of Christmas on grand but humble display. Shepherds and angels, Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus, Simeon and Anna the prophetess who had both faithfully waited for the promised Messiah … Each of them a beautiful part of the Christmas story – the Advent of our Christ.

I know it’s easy to zero in on the soap passage, but I invite and encourage you to read each verse with fresh eyes and an undistracted mind that takes it all in as though it were unfolding before you on a stage with all the pageantry of Christmas. Walk with Mary and Joseph on the streets of Bethlehem, see the baby lying in the manger, Mary and Joseph in awe and wonder of it all. Listen with the shepherds to the angelic announcement and to the army of angels proclaiming – “glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will to men!” Hear the words of Simeon and Anna the hope fulfilled and the worship that poured forth. I pray that it will lead you, on this last day of our journey, to stop and worship Christ, the new born King – saying with the angels – “Glory to God in the Highest!”

“Rejoice rejoice of Christian, lift up your voice and sing – Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King – The hope of all who find Him …” the long awaited and promised Messiah! May we, like Simeon, find ourselves saying, “-my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all people: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And, and like Anna – may we give thanks to God and speak about the Messiah to all who need the salvation He came to bring.

Going Further

Be sure and visit LoveGodGreatly.com for today’s blog post

Posted in Advent, Advent, Bible study, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, LGG Study, Quiet Time, The Promised Messiah

God’s Grand Plan of Redemption

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based on the LGG Study of Advent, The Promised Messiah / w4d2

Scripture: Luke 1:1-25 / SOAP verse 25

“How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”

Luke 1:25

I love when the goodness of God is so visible on the pages of Scripture. I see it here in the words of Luke and I here it in the words of Elizabeth’s response to the great surprise of her pregnancy. Luke’s account of the ‘grand redemptive plan’ through Christ starts with the announcement of another prophecy to be fulfilled. It was a prophecy of Isaiah who told of a messenger, who would declare, “Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight”. In Luke’s account of the Christmas story, there would be a child who would be born to a priest and his wife, who, as Luke describes, were childless because the woman was barren and they were “both very old.” The child would be named John and grow to me the messenger that Isaiah spoke of – a messenger that would prepare the hearts of the people to receive Jesus and the message He came to bring. The center of the Christmas story will always be the redemptive work of God through the gift of His Son, born of a virgin, to take away the sins of the world; but as we see in today’s story the redemptive plan isn’t just a collective salvation of all who believe but a personal plan that works through individuals like Zechariah and Elizabeth to deliver the messenger who would prepare the way for Christ. Likewise, the plan involves those God would call to prepare the way throughout the centuries – catalyst of the Gospel like John and the disciples who would join Jesus in spreading the Gospel during and after His time on earth.

I find great encouragement in seeing and knowing that redemption wasn’t just collective but personal and deeply meaningful, as Elizabeth and her words of praise testified. God not only used her to bear the forerunner of Christ but, in using her, He freed her from the shame and disgrace and burden of childlessness in that day.

Like those who came before us, God’s “grand redemptive plan” continues to reach down through the ages as He sets all who believe in Jesus – free from slavery to sin and the shame it places on us. He also assigns us to carry the love of Christ, (John 13:34) and His Gospel Message to the world, (Matt 5:13-16). May we, like Elizabeth, realize what the Lord has done for us and give Him praise – not just with our lips but with our obedience to His call upon our lives.

Going Further

How did John the Baptist fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy?