A SPECIAL MEDITATION FOR CHRISTMAS.

Message Title - "THE SAVIOUR PROMISED"

In sharing this message with you, it is my heart's desire that you will discover the reason for the season that millions refer to as "Christmas". It may be you already know and love the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, if so then please pass this message on to a friend. My prayer for each person who reads through this message is this - May God richly bless you during this special season.

Luke 1:31-33 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

As a point of interest - I would like to show you the four great truths concerning Jesus - which correspond with the purpose of the four Gospels.
1 - You will bring forth a Son - "Behold the man", as portrayed in Luke
2 - You shall call His name Jesus - "Behold My Servant", as portrayed in Mark
3 - He shall be great - the Son of the Highest - "Behold your God", as portrayed in John
4 - He shall reign - "Behold your king", as portrayed in Matthew
Here is something to consider
"A promise is of no consequence until it is delivered".

In Galatians 4:4-5 The Bible says, "When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Please consider with me four things that I see in Luke 1:31-33

1 - A miraculous conception - (V31) "You will conceive in your womb"
In Gen 3:15 The Bible speaks of "The Seed of the woman". How was this seed to be fertilised?
The answer is found in Luke 1:35 - "And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. He will be called "The Son of the Highest.

Here is something to consider
When God created the body for the first Adam He did it without a woman
When He created the body for His Son, the second Adam - He did it without a Man.

2 - A matchless name - (v31) "You shall call His name - JESUS". In Hebrew the word is Jeshua or Joshua and it means "The Lord is Salvation".

Matthew 1:21 "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He
will save His people from their sins." Jesus = Saviour

When speaking to Zacchaeus in Luke 19:9-10 Jesus said this to him - "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." In Philippians 2:5-11 (TBS) "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.   Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.   But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  The name of Jesus is a MATCHLESS name - indeed it is an indispensable name In Acts 4:12 The Bible says - "There is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
1 Timothy 6:15 "He who is the blessed and only Potentate (The only Sovereign Ruler), the King of kings and Lord of lords, Revelation 19:16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

3 - A unequalled greatness - "He will be great"
1:32 He will be great. This same promise was made of John the Baptist in v15.   However, the subsequent title is what set Jesus apart: He will be great and be called "The Son of the Highest". Verse 76 - says that John the Baptist would be -"The prophet of the Highest." The Greek term Luke uses for "Highest" is the one employed in the LXX to translate the Hebrew term , "The Most High God."

Since a son bears his father’s qualities, calling a person someone else’s "son" was a way of signifying equality. Here the angel was telling Mary that her Son would be equal to the Most High God.

A - The secret of His Greatness - "The Son of the Highest".
Jesus was great before He was born - He left the throne of Heaven to come to the earth via the womb of Mary - He existed before Bethlehem
John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word Was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Verse 14 - "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth".
Colossians 1:15-19 " He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, Matthew 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
1 Timothy 2:5 (TBS) For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.

 

B - Signs of Jesus' greatness - were seen even when he was still a young boy.  As a boy of 12 - His priority was - "Father's business".  His one desire throughout His time on earth was - To do the will of His Father.  In Hebrews 10:7,9 The Bible says - "Then I said, 'Behold, I have come-In the volume of the book it is written of Me-To do Your will, O God.' " Then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God."

John 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work". John 5:30 " I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me". John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me". John 8:29 " I always do those things that please Him."   In Matthew 26:39 The Bible says - Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsamene He prayed
"O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." Verse 42 "Father - Thy will be done".

C - The sustaining of His greatness
Luke 4:1-2- " Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And
in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

Filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit - Jesus came out of the wilderness retaining His greatness - still strong.  Verse 14 says - "Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee."   Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

D - The scenes of His greatness
The FIRST Miracle of Jesus in Cana of Galilee was a miracle of PROVISION -John chapter 2 records the event.  Later in His ministry Jesus performed the miracle of The feeding of the five thousand - plus women and children. Later still He performed the miracle of the feeding of the four thousand plus women and children

Jesus performed many miracles of healing - Blindness - Deafness - Dumbness - Lameness - Leprosy - Paralysis - Fever - Haemorrhaging

Miracles of the raising of the dead - Jesus said - "I am the Resurrection and the Life".

Jesus brought deliverance from demon possession
Jesus had power and authority over the wind and the waves - He had the ability to walk on water
Have you seen the un-noticed miracle in Mark 8:1-2, The Bible says - "In those
days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them. "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. Three days without food?
Three days without food!!!! Some people switch off their ears after a 30 minute message and start listening to their stomach on a Sunday morning.  Jesus was a great preacher and teacher Matthew 7:28-29 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching. For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
John 7:45-46 - Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?" The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man.
What was it that made Jesus such a magnetic Preacher/Teacher?
In John 6:63 Jesus said - "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

 

4 - An endless Kingdom
Luke 1:32 - "The Lord God will give Him the throne of His Father David".
Jesus was David’s physical descendant through Mary’s line.

David’s "throne" was emblematic of the messianic kingdom

Luke 1:33 - He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
This emphasizes both the Jewish character of the millennial kingdom and the eternal permanence of Christ’s rule over all.

Luke 1:33 - "Of His kingdom there will be no end".
Daniel 2:44 "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Isaiah 9:6-7 "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgement and justice - From that time forward, even forever.

Let me apply this message with some points of contact - Lest all that I have said gives only information and does not bring about a transformation as a result of application and translation in your life.

1 - Jesus is the Saviour promised - Do you know Him as your personal Saviour?
There is no other name - No other way - No other mediator - No other time
In 2 Corinthians 6:2 The Bible says - "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
John 3:16-18 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Verse 36 says - "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

2 - Jesus is Greater than anyone else in the whole world - Past, Present or Future
He is the One with whom nothing is impossible - and for whom nothing is too hard
In Ephesians 3:20 - The Bible says, "He is the One who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
Have you proved His greatness in your life?
Will you trust Him now to help you solve all your problems?
The Bible says in 1 John 1:4 "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world".
In Hebrews 13:8 The Bible says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

3 - Jesus will reign in the Millennium Kingdom and beyond as King of Kings and
Lord of Lords.
The big question is - Is He the King of your life now - Have you allowed Him to sit on the throne of your heart and reign in and over your life?
Remember if He is not Lord of all - He is not Lord at all in your experience.
Maybe you need to pray this prayer:
Reign in me - Sovereign Lord reign in me
Captivate my heart - let Your Kingdom come
Establish there Your throne - Let Your will be done
Reign in me Sovereign Lord - Reign in me
In Luke 1:38 Mary said - "Let it be to me, according to Your word".

Jesus said:

I am The Way, The Truth and The Life - I am The Door - I am The Light of the World - I am The Bread of life - I am The Good Shepherd - I am The True vine - I am The resurrection and the life.......

May He be all of these to you this Christmas. God bless you.

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