Dear friends, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2018!
Today,
we rejoice in the Lord, “for unto us a child is born, a son is given, and the
government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his
government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and
over his kingdom. Establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.”(Isa.9:6-7).
When
Ahaz feared and doubted God to ask for a sign, the Prophet Isaiah strengthened
him and answered Ahaz, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try
the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? 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. (Isa.7:13). This sign was fulfilled
and narrated in the book of Luke 2: 28-35 and the book of Matthew 1:18-23. And the
birth of Jesus Christ was as follows,
When His mother Mary had been betrothed to
Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy
Spirit. And Joseph her husband being a righteous man, and not wanting to
disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly. But when he had considered
this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying. “Joseph,
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has
been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His
people from their sins.” Now all this took place that what was spoken by the
Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall
be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,”
which translated mean, “God with us.”
In the book of Luke narrated as follows,
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings,
you who are highly favored! The Lord is with
you…Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are
to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God
will give him the throne of his father
David…the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the
holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke1:28-35).
The
time of Isaiah prophesied and narrated around 740-680 B.C. in the Old
Testament. And the gospel of Matthew has been dated sometimes in the 80s to
90s, but some scholars think it was written in 60s[1] in
the New Testament. And Luke’s gospel was probably written about A.D.60.[2] Apostle Paul had seen Jesus and had heard the
voice of Jesus in person after Jesus rose from death. He affirmed Jesus is
Christ Messiah and emphasis on the Lord is the Spirit. In Jesus’ time, Apostle
Paul faced many critical Jews who didn’t believe Jesus is Son of God. When
Apostle Paul faced environmental disagreement, conflicts and challenged his apostolic
authority. His followers needed encouragement, so do the disciples in this
generation. Apostle Paul defended his ministry and apostolic authority in the
book of 2 Corinthians, he reminded the believers of their commitment to the
offering for the Christians in Judea. He urged them few factors to restore
their hope, and faith in Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul defended of his ministry as
follows,
1).The ministry wasn’t written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not
on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. (2Cor.3:3).
2). He did not peddle the word of God for profit, he speak sincerity as
man sent from God. (2Cor.2:17).
3).The competence of his ministry comes from God alone as minister of a
new covenant not of the letter, but the spirit. (2Cor.3:6).
4).The ministry triumphal precession in Christ through spreads everywhere
the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. (2Cor.14-15)
To encourage his followers in Macedonia, Apostle Paul
urged them as follows,
1). Be aware of Satan’s schemes and do their best to forgive anyone so
that Satan might not outwit them. (2Cor.2:11).
2). To God, they are the aroma of Christ among those who are saved.
(3:15).
3). Do not lose heart, for they have treasure in jars of clay to show
that this all surpassing power is from God.
4). They need to gaze the light of God, let light shine out of darkness,
and made his light shine in their hearts to give them the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (4:6).
5). They need to fix their eyes on what is unseen, what is seen is
temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.(4:18).
6). They need to set their mind in Spirit, for the Lord is the Spirit and
where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (3:17)
My
friends, in this season, to defend Son of God, Jesus, is our new born King, you
are not alone to be challenged. But, we take comfort by the historical truth,
which was affirmed by prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, twelve
disciples of Jesus and Apostle Paul (the Hebrew of Hebrews) even defended Jesus
is Son of God that the virgin Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, the
Lord is Spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
(3:17).
Video Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ5zZVXU-AI&feature=youtu.be
listen to the message at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ5zZVXU-AI
Bibliography,
Bauer, Walter. A
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian
Literature. 3rd Chicago: The University of Chicago press, 2000.
Brown, Robert, Philip
W. Comfort and J.D. Douglas, ed. The New Greek English Interlinear New
Testament. Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.1990.
Friberg,
Timothy, Barbara Friberg, and Neva F. Miller et al., eds. Analytical Lexicon
of the Greek New Testament.1st ed. Victoria BC: Trafford
Publishing, 2005.
Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim,
CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.
Lucado, Max. God is with you every day.
Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2015
Myers,
Roth.
31 days of praise. Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books, 1994.
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible
(NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
Strong, James. Strong’s:
the expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas
Nelson Publishers, 2010.
