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Bible Study- Lutz, Florida
Established
November 2008
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Christmas
2013
It’s
been my custom to take a brief respite from our current Bible study at this
time of year and put pen to paper producing a Bible lesson concerning the birth
of our Savior. We’re going to continue this Home Bible Study tradition again this
year.
Please
open your Bible to Luke chapter 2.
Most
people are familiar with some of the details from this account of Jesus’ birth.
Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem
Luke 2
1: Now in those
days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of the
inhabited earth.
2: This was the
first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3: And everyone was
on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
4: Joseph also went
up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David
which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
5: in order to
register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
6: While they were
there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
7: And she gave
birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a
manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8: In the same
region there were some shepherds
staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
9: And an angel of
the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around
them; and they were terribly frightened.
10: But the angel
said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy
which will be for all the people;
11: for today in
the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12: This will be a (what - a) sign for you: you will find a baby
wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13: And suddenly
there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and
saying,
14: “Glory to God
in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
*************************************************************************************************
Scripture
tells us that long before time began the Holy Trinity met in
counsel and planned that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ would be the only method and payment for sin
in the world (see Acts 2:22-23).
I
want you to read these Scripture references for yourself. I know some people don’t own a Bible and this
is why I include these Bible verses in my lessons. I prefer to use more than one Scripture
reference when I can. Please turn to 1
Peter, chapter 1.
I’ve
decided to use the Amplified Bible’s translation for teaching purposes.
1 Peter 1
19: But (you were
purchased – redeemed
is a better word) with the precious
blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a (sacrificial) lamb without
blemish or spot.
20: It is true that He was chosen and foreordained (destined and foreknown for it) before the foundation of the world, but He was brought out to public view (made manifest) in these last days (at the end of the times) for the sake of you.
(Amplified
Bible)
Now
God the Father did not “spring” this surprise upon His creation.
Jehovah
Jireh provided His people with a “road map,” if you will, of His arrival.
It
was laid out for all of mankind in the Old Testament. Prophets of God spoke of things that the
people should watch for so that when the Messiah (Jesus
Christ) arrived He would be acknowledged by His people. And the people would then believe that He was
the Christ.
It’s
a well known fact that the Old Testament contains more than 300 Messianic
prophecies. Many of these are
repetitious in nature, like the one that the Messiah will be descended from the
house of David. However, when you omit
these repetitious prophecies from the count, there remain 108 prophecies that
are separate and unique.
All
108 of these separate prophecies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus.
This
is beyond the realm of probability from a scientific perspective.
Mathematically
speaking, the odds of anyone fulfilling this amount of prophecy are overwhelming
to say the least.
Mathematicians
put it this way:
1
person fulfilling, 8 of these prophecies = 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000
1
person fulfilling 48 prophecies = 1 chance in 10 to the 157th power
Believers
prefer to put it this way:
1
person fulfilling 300+ prophecies = Jesus Christ!
I
want to look at 3 prophecies that foretold of the Messiah’s first advent (or
arrival).
Born of a Woman
In
Genesis chapter 3, at verse 15, we have evidence of the LORD God’s first
manifestation of Grace in the Bible.
This is immediately after Adam sinned.
The
LORD God also puts His plan to save the entire human race in motion.
Genesis 3
15: “…And I will put enmity Between you and
the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He (the Christ) shall bruise you on the head (speaks of
a mortal wound), And you (Satan) shall bruise him (refers to the promised
Redeemer/Savior) on the heel (this
is a non-fatal wound or some theologians suggest a direct connection to one of
the wounds Jesus suffered on the cross).”
Above
we read that the Messiah would be “Born
of a Woman.”
We
know from Scripture that the “woman” was the first to disobey God when she ate the
forbidden fruit and then she tempted her husband (it may be that Adam bit into
the forbidden fruit out of love for her and because he did not want to be
separated from her), but God ordained that His Son should be sent forth “Born of a Woman,” and the first promise
was that the Seed of the woman, NOT the seed of the man, should bruise
the serpents head.
The
next prophecy I want to review with reference to Jesus’ birth gets a bit more
specific and comes accompanied with a “sign”
from the LORD God.
God
used signs in the Old Testament for
many purposes. Ultimately, in the Old
Testament signs or wonders served to prove to the Israelites His messengers (such
as Moses) were authentic and so were His prophecies. Please
turn to Isaiah, chapter 7.
Born of a Virgin
In
Isaiah chapter, God demonstrates His faithfulness to a promise He made with
King David concerning the Davidic
Covenant by giving the ultimate sign to the “house of
David.” This prophecy was given to the
people 700 years before the birth of
Jesus.
This
sign would be a virgin born Son named Immanuel.
Isaiah 7
14 “Therefore the
LORD Himself will give you (what’s the next word) a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and
bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel…”
(The
name Immanuel means – God with us).
The
Hebrew word for virgin is “almah.” The
word is never used in the Hebrew Scriptures of a married woman, but is used of
a young woman of marriageable age (Genesis 24:43; Exodus 2:8; Psalm 68:26; Song
of Solomon 1:3; 6:8; Proverbs 30:18). *Within the Israelite
culture, one who is a virgin at the time of marriage is understood.
There
is another Hebrew word, “betula” that specifically means a virgin.
The
next Bible prophecy on my short list concerns Jesus’ birthplace.
I
think the majority of people know Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
But
at the time of Jesus’ birth there were two Bethlehem’s.
However,
in Micah chapter 5 we are told in which Bethlehem the Messiah will be
born.
Micah 5
2: (This is the LORD God speaking) “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of
Judah, From you (note the capitalization this denotes deity) One will go forth for Me to be ruler
in Israel, His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.
Two Bethlehem's existed in Israel when Micah wrote/spoke of this prophecy.
One
of these two Bethlehem’s was in the north near the Sea of Galilee, and the
other in the south near Jerusalem, in the area known as Ephrathah also
known as the City of David (see Genesis 35:16).
Luke 2
4: Joseph also went
up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which
is called Bethlehem (Ephrathah), because he was of the house and family of David,
I
don’t want to get side-tracked with ancient Jewish history for this lesson.
But
Jesus’ birthplace, Bethlehem Ephrathah, means “fruitful.”
King
David’s father (Jesse) was from Ephrathah.
He was from Bethlehem in Judah
(I
Samuel 17:12). At that time in history, King
David’s descendants did not obey God’s Laws ( see 1 Kings 14). Scripture says they are like a tree that
someone has cut down, but from that tree’s roots (from King David’s family), a Branch (a new King) will grow (Isaiah
9:21) “His goings forth are from long
ago, from the days of eternity.”
Micah
prophesied, “One will go forth for
Me to be ruler in Israel.”
And
He will be born of a virgin in Bethlehem Ephrathah
700
years before Jesus’ birth the prophet Isaiah prophesied,
Isaiah 9
6: For a child will
be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His
shoulders; And His name will called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal
Father, Prince of Peace.
7: There will be no
end to the increase of His government
or of peace.
Jesus Christ
was God’s Christmas gift, to His creation and God only
gives the best!
Can
you picture someone not opening all their gifts at Christmas?
I
mean they opened all the other gifts with enthusiasm but there was one gift,
which had been carefully chosen just for them, they ignored. After the holiday, when all the decorations
were taken down, boxed up, and stored away; this gift was packed away too and
forgotten.
Couldn’t
happen, you say? Sadly, there is such a
gift and the majority of people choose to ignore it on a daily basis and not
just at Christmas.
Scripture
says,
“For God so loved the world,
that He (what’s the next word) gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal
life.” (John 3:16)
And:
James 1
17: Every good
thing given and every perfect gift
is from above, coming down from the Father
of lights,
And:
Ephesians 2
8: For by grace you
have been saved through faith (alone – see 1 Corinthians 15:1-4); and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God;
Why
did God give us the gift of Jesus?
Jesus
Christ was born to die for the sins of every man, woman, and child.
This
is an indisputable fact. Jesus was sent and Christ
died for the ungodly!
Romans 5
6: For while we (sinners) were still helpless, at the right time
Christ died for the ungodly.
In
other words, when Jesus laid down His life for all of mankind we were enemies
of God because of our sinful/unholy condition.
We didn’t know God; our thoughts were not of God, or His
commandments. We were selfish,
inconsiderate, sinners! And we were “robustly”
sinning and enjoying it when, God stepped in the gap to save us.
Romans 5
8: But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us.
In
the book of Hebrews, we find this information:
Hebrews 2
9: But we do see
Him (Jesus
Christ) who was made for a little while
lower than the angels, namely, Jesus,
because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the
grace of God He might taste (what) death (for how many) for
everyone.
What we learn from these Scripture verses is this first
and foremost. Jesus died for all.
All means all and not some. This means Jesus paid your sin penalty, and mine, along with everyone else's. Should you choose not to accept God’s gift of free grace – you won’t go to hell and ultimately the Lake of Fire for yours sins – those have been taken care of by Jesus and God is satisfied. You’ll spend an eternity separated from the love of God, suffering indescribable agony, because of your UNBELIEF and not because of your wrongdoings!
All means all and not some. This means Jesus paid your sin penalty, and mine, along with everyone else's. Should you choose not to accept God’s gift of free grace – you won’t go to hell and ultimately the Lake of Fire for yours sins – those have been taken care of by Jesus and God is satisfied. You’ll spend an eternity separated from the love of God, suffering indescribable agony, because of your UNBELIEF and not because of your wrongdoings!
The
Apostle Paul, a Believer, with deep gratitude for this gift of grace wrote:
2 Corinthians 9
15: Thanks be to
God for His indescribable gift!
Now,
what’s a gift?
A
gift is something of value that is given to another person without any strings
attached!
In other words, you don’t have
to do anything in exchange for the gift…
It’s
a gift. If you have to do something to
“earn” it, it’s no longer a GIFT.
At
Christmas time especially, we give gifts to one another to whom we care about,
who have been kind to us over the past year, or who have given a gift to us
first. We certainly don’t give a gift to
someone who’s been unkind to us such as an angry neighbor, or a rude boss and
we rarely if ever give gifts to complete strangers (charities aside).
Yet
God gave us His perfect “gift” when we were His enemies.
He
didn’t give us this “indescribable gift”
because we deserved it.
In
fact, truth be told, it were just the opposite.
What we deserved was punishment and death from our Righteous Judge; the
same penalty Jesus paid.
Scripture
says Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).
Jesus
died so that you and I may have eternal life but it’s not automatic.
You
must accept the gift – you do that by “owning” (believing) the gospel.
Believe
me when I say the most valuable gift this Christmas Season isn’t under the
tree.
All
those gifts will be used up one day. But
the human soul lives forever.
Life
is about what happens beyond the grave and not about the here and now.
These
70 or 80 years are nothing compared to eternity!
My
friend you have a choice to make.
Where
will you spend eternity?
I
pray you choose wisely.
Merry Christmas from everyone at Home Bible Study
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
ALL
Rights Reserved
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