“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
-Jeremiah 23:5
Beginning with the book of Genesis, the whole Bible not only foreshadows Messiah, but it reveals why Messiah, God’s Anointed One, would come.
-Jeremiah 23:5
Beginning with the book of Genesis, the whole Bible not only foreshadows Messiah, but it reveals why Messiah, God’s Anointed One, would come.
Our rejection of God in Eden resulted in our literal death - just as the Lord warned. Sure, our ancestors still walked around with blood coursing through their veins, but based on God's definitions of life (abiding in His Presence) and death (separated from Him), we truly died when we were expelled from Eden.
Being helplessly hopeless, all humanity requires divine intervention. Then... that first Christmas, Messiah, born in a manger and wrapped in swaddling cloths, fulfilled God's promises. Immanuel, God with us, Jesus came not merely to save us from sin, but to create an unstoppable force of light and life in the world.
His Bride, the Church, is His gift to us. It’s not a place, but rather a people wholly committed to Him. Before Jesus ascended to heaven (with a promise to return) He commissioned us. He said the way we’d know we truly love Him would be through our participation and promotion of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. He said His disciples would die to self, pick up our cross, and follow Him.
Christmas isn’t about trees, stockings, decorations, and presents. Christmas is about the Advent of Immanuel. He came once to save us from an eternal prison of separation. He’s coming a second time to bring home those who are intimately identified with Him and His mission of blessing all families on earth with the Gospel.
Transformation doesn’t come from within. Transformation comes exclusively by grace through faith in Christ. It caused the Apostle Paul to look back on his former life and say, “More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them filth, that I may gain Christ” (Phil 3:8).
If you’ve never experienced that real, radical, permanent and divine transformation, walk with King Jesus as a devoted and dedicated member of His Body & Bride.
Grace & Peace
-Pastor Kevin
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