Tag: Christmas

December 23 – Close In Fellowship


“…what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3 (NASB)

These words from the Apostle John’s first letter are good for us to read this season as we are thinking these days the coming of Jesus as a newborn baby in Bethlehem. This is of the Christmas event we celebrate each December. Tomorrow is the eve of Christmas which we often consider the night of Jesus’ birth in a stable. It was a night of marvelous fulfillment of the promised redeemer. In the verse before (1 John 1:2), The Apostle John wrote that the life was manifested and they had seen it – they were eyewitnesses. God had revealed His life through His Son Jesus and you and I have received new life by believing in Jesus as our Savior. We also read in our verse that this life is a fellowship with God the Father and with Jesus the Son. We are in a close relationship, a fellowship, in which God shares His blessings with us. And that is all because of Jesus. God’s gift of faith enables our acceptance of Him. We trust that you, friend, will experience this Christmas the blessings of this fellowship that has been promised to all who believe.

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December 13 – Grace and Truth

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NASB)

The signs of Christmas are all around us. Drive through Christmas themed parks, popular movies, even the commercials and advertisements which push the common Christmas message which began two months ago. We’ve seen the lights for some time and are now hearing the music of Christmas carols and seasonal holiday songs. The true meaning of this celebration is found in today’s verse from the first chapter of the Gospel of John. It tells us what those who saw Jesus when He was here on earth understood of the event that we celebrate at Christmas. As a disciple who knew and walked with Jesus, John says that they got to see His glory. John was not with the shepherds near Bethlehem who saw God’s glory the night Jesus was born. The glory Peter, James and John saw when Jesus was transfigured and his glory was manifest, and the glory other disciples saw was in His person because He was God in human form. This Christmas season, remember the promise of grace and truth and that Jesus is with us today we we can see His glory in the things He does for us because He lives in us.

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Christmas in the book of Isaiah

Doug Clevenger
New Life Church Clarkfield, Minnesota
December 20, 2017
https://dougclevenger.wordpress.com/2017/12/20/christmas-in-the-book-of-isaiah/

People have always had an vested interest in the future. A prudent farmer cares about the weather forecast more than he cares about current conditions. He has already prepared for today. His work today is about tomorrow.

A good stock broker scrutinizes market forecasts even more than a farmer anticipates weather. He earns the trust of investors by telling them what may happen in the future. Their lives and his livelihood depend on the accuracy of his projections.

The life insurance industry is built on the risk of possible future events. Agents depend on actuarial tables—a prediction of the future— to sell policies.

Futurists work with uncertain knowledge. They examine statistics of the past and patterns of the present to predict the future. High confidence does not come with a guarantee. They may be right about the future or they may be wrong.

Prophets don’t have that luxury. They deal with certainty, not projections. A true prophet is 100% right 100% of the time. And he places his life on the line by making a prophecy. That’s what lifts Isaiah to such high status as a prophet of God.

In The Bible Knowledge Commentary, John Martin listed 22 messianic prophecies in the book of Isaiah. Some of them are about Jesus’ first advent in Bethlehem. Others refer to Christ’s second coming to reign over the earth with power.

We can find the Christmas story in the book of Isaiah with startling clarity. Here’s one prophecy:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

Isaiah was speaking about both the near future and the distant future. A young woman would bear a son as a sign of God’s temporal deliverance in the time of Ahaz, King of Judah. Much later a virgin would give birth to a Son as a sign of God’s ultimate deliverance. It’s Christmas in the book of Isaiah.

The sign to Ahaz was fulfilled less than three years later when his two enemies were deposed in 732 B.C. When that happened, Ahaz knew Isaiah had foretold it. Yet God intended more in Isaiah’s words than merely the deliverance of Ahaz. The prophecy also foretold the virgin birth of Jesus.

Matthew 1:22-23 verifies the fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Jesus:

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Here’s more of the Christmas story in another prophecy by Isaiah:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

This passage foretold the birth of Jesus 700 years before it happened. It’s Christmas in Isaiah. It tells us all we need to know about the future. God wins!