Over 700 years before the first Christmas, the prophet Isaiah told us about Jesus’ birth. There are literally hundreds of prophecies about the Messiah given to us in the old testament, and Jesus fulfills every one of them:
Isa 9:6 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.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
On the first Christmas, God came to live with us:
The Birth of Jesus
Lk 2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
Lk 2:2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
Lk 2:3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
Lk 2:4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
Lk 2:5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
Lk 2:6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
Lk 2:7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels
Lk 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
Lk 2:9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
Lk 2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Lk 2:11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
Lk 2:12 This will be a sign a to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Lk 2:13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
Lk 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace b to men on whom his favor rests.”
Lk 2:15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Lk 2:16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
Lk 2:17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
Lk 2:18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
Lk 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Lk 2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God e for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Jesus came to die, to bear the punishment for our sins, His shed blood the atonement for all of the worlds sins:
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
Isa 52:13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Isa 52:14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him —his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness —
Isa 52:15 so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.
Isa 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Isa 53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Isa 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Isa 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Isa 53:8 By oppression and judgment a he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
Isa 53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Isa 53:10 Yet it was the LORD’S will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
Isa 53:11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Isa 53:12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
All of us need Jesus, we all are sinners:
Ro 3:22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
Ro 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Ro 3:24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Ro 3:25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished —
Ro 3:26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Ro 3:27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.
Ro 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
Ro 6:23a For the wages of sin is death,
Since we are all sinners, and the just punishment for sin is death, we have a huge sin problem that needs to be solved. We cannot work our way out of this problem through being good people, or through good works somehow balancing out our sinfulness. We are deserving of death because of our sin.
Ro 6:23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God solves our problem for us. This is entirely a free gift from God. This is grace. God created us in His image, as free moral agents. We can’t work our way out of our sin problem, but we can choose to believe in this amazing present from God, and have faith that He has solved this sin problem for us and has given us the gift of eternal life through Jesus.
Ro 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This is just absolutely the most amazing news. The best Christmas gift and why I am always so thankful and happy at Christmas. God came and died for me – but that is not the end of the story and good news.
1Co 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
1Co 15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
1Co 15:5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
1Co 15:6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
1Co 15:8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
1Co 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
1Co 15:24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Christ died on the cross for us, to solve our sin problem and to pay the penalty for our sin. But, on the third day, as He told us, He conquered death and was resurrected. Christ the Lord is risen today, alleluiah. God demonstrates that He has conquered death, and we can hope to share in this eternal life with Him. Will everyone share in eternal life? What must we do to accept this gift?
Ro 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Ro 10:10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Ro 10:11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
Ro 10:13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
We must just ask Jesus to save us, have faith that what He accomplished in His life, death, and resurrection solves our sin problem. We must accept this Christmas present of grace that God has offered to everyone.
As I reflect on Christmas, I cannot help but praise God for this greatest gift in my life, the gift of Jesus Christ. Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I hope if you don’t know Jesus, reading about God’s love for us in this blog will help you to consider God’s amazing love for all of us, and you will ask Jesus into your life and accept this gift God has offered to you too.
God has been so amazingly good to me this year. 2008 wasn’t easy, but God has brought me through everything I have faced with just more of His amazing grace. Dialysis was a shock, along with the hospital stays for infection and my vancomycin allergic reaction, but He has also healed me from all of this. The gift of my brother Randy sacrificing his kidney is just amazing and beyond what I can express in words. Randy’s modeling and reflection of Christ’s selflessness, and faith and dependence on God in giving up his kidney for me just brings me tears of joy. God has also brought both of us through the surgery and has brought healing to us in remarkable ways. It is only one week ago that I received this new kidney, and already people cannot tell that I had surgery a week ago. God has brought so much healing, and straightened out the paths through this trial in such amazing ways. The new kidney is working well, and already my creatinine is lower than it has probably been in the past 25 years. God is so good, and I just trust Him for all of the details with the new kidney.
Lisa and I are incredibly excited to be expectant parents. God has given us a daughter, little Faith, inspite of the incredible odds of conceiving a child while on dialysis. I just look forward so expectantly to her birth in late April, and I just pray that I can reflect God’s love in my relationship with her, and teach her about God. We just pray and rest in God’s will and look forward to the adventure He has for us in pregnancy and the birth of a little girl.
Lisa and I were really blessed to be able to climb 3 14′ers this summer. I thoroughly enjoy the challenge of climbing to the highest places in the beautiful state we are blessed to live in, and am so thankful God gave me the strength to be able to do this this year. We probably won’t be able to be quite so ambitious in 2009 with Faith, but we hope Grandpa and Grandma will be willing to babysit for at least one or two 14′er hikes.
There are so many more blessings and trials from 2008 I am thankful for. Both blessings and trials work together to bring me closer to God, so I am incredibly blessed and thankful for that. I wish everyone who reads this Merry Christmas, and I just can’t wait for what God has in store for us in 2009. May God bless you.
Kevin