Rightly Dividing
the Word of Truth
(II Timothy 2:15)
Christmas 2011
Peace
on Earth
Galatians 4
4: But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…,
There’s a lot of
information in that short Bible verse.
I know
you’ll remember from all our recent studies that when the LORD God interacts
with His covenant nation of Israel He does so in a spoken, promised, period of
time. The Bible calls this “prophecy.”
Also
note that the LORD God is never early and He is never late.
But
when the fullness of the time came…God predetermined the exact time to send forth His Son, into a world dominated by
sinful man.
The time had come
to begin the process of reversing that situation.
The Savior of the
world (for those who elect to know Him as such) would be born of a woman…, as
promised so long ago in that garden setting.
Genesis 3
15: And I will put enmity Between you and the (who) woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel,
And that spoken
promise was reiterated thru God’s prophet Isaiah in the 8th century
BC 700 years before the blessed event.
Isaiah
7
14: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
14: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
We’ll pick up this
prophecy as recounted by the apostle Matthew.
Conception
and Birth of Jesus
Matthew
1
18: Now 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.
19: And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
20: 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 the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21: “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
22: Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23: “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
24: And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,
25: but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son (Joseph was not intimate with Mary. Most people don’t know this information is in their Bible; but it is. Joseph kept Mary pure); and he called His name Jesus.
18: Now 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.
19: And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
20: 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 the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21: “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
22: Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23: “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
24: And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,
25: but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son (Joseph was not intimate with Mary. Most people don’t know this information is in their Bible; but it is. Joseph kept Mary pure); and he called His name Jesus.
And so Jesus Christ
came to His own people, under the law, and they knew Him not.
He was ridiculed and
rejected.
They said, “How can
anything good come from Nazareth?”
But my friends,
when the time is right, He’s coming back!
Merry
Christmas
Copyright © 2011
GJ Heitzman’s
Ministry
All Rights Reserved
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