Have you unwrapped the gift yet? It’s been sitting under the tree for you for some time. But it’s not really yours until you open it. Have you unwrapped the gift of the Son of God, Jesus Christ and received Him as your Lord and Savior? It’s not enough to guess at the contents, to shake the box and even hold it in your lap. It’s not really yours until you open it.
December 23, 2018 | Luke 2:1-20 |
Have you unwrapped the story? Have you joined the shepherds by seeing and hearing it for yourselves, believing the good news about Jesus? A gift isn’t really yours until you unwrap it. In the gospel of Luke, he recorded the story of the good news of Jesus’ birth which an angel of the Lord announced, revealing the true identity of Jesus to the shepherds. We can unwrap the story of Jesus’ birth that reveals the good news of His true identity.
December 16, 2018 | Matthew 2:1-12 |
When we unwrap Christmas, we see that Jesus is the Sovereign King. Having anyone else on the throne of your heart means that you have not yet understood the gift of Christmas. In the gospel according to Matthew, the child Jesus was revealed to the wise men to be the one truly born king of the Jews. We can recognize that Jesus is truly the one born king, not only of the Jews, but the Sovereign over all.
December 9, 2018 | Philippians 2:1-11 |
The first Christmas was a humble one. Jesus was not born in a royal palace, but in an animal pen. He was not born as a prince, but as a pauper. His birth was not announced before high society, but before lowly shepherds. He slept not on a bed with sheets, but a manger filled with straw. Jesus came not as a Sovereign, but as a Servant. Jesus came to save us. He came to be our Savior.
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he described the humble mind of Christ which moved Him to come to us as Savior. We can understand the humble mind of Christ which moved Him to come to us as Savior.
December 2, 2018 | Isaiah 9:1-7 |
Some of us like to give hints to see if the recipient of our gift can guess what’s inside. It builds the anticipation. That’s what God did. Centuries before offering us the gift of His Son, Jesus, He gave “hints” to the prophets of Israel concerning the coming of the Messiah. One of those prophets was Isaiah. God gave Isaiah many of the over 300 Messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament.
In Isaiah 9, God gave him a Messianic prophecy of a promised Son that would be given. We can recognize that Jesus is the promised Son that would be given. He is the Son of God given unto us.