Merry Christmas

Sometimes other's words are better than our own

The Christmas Story with an introduction from MALACHI

The long-threatened and well-deserved exile from the Promised Land had come and gone. A remnant had returned to Judah and had been eagerly expecting final restoration of all that God had promised them— supremacy among the nations, the coming of a final Messiah-king, judgment on the Gentile nations who had oppressed Israel so long, and lasting peace and prosperity. Above all, they were looking forward to the day when God himself would dwell among his people once more in glory

(Zechariah 1: 16– 17)

16. 'Therefore thus says the LORD, "I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it," declares the LORD of hosts, "and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem."'

17. "Again, proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.""'

Yet this was not the picture of life in Israel in Malachi’s day. Instead, the people were experiencing economic adversity, poor harvests, and pestilence.

(Malachi 3: 10– 12)

10. "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

11. "Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast {its grapes,}" says the LORD of hosts.

12. "All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land," says the LORD of hosts.

Where was the abundance promised and longed for?

Malachi’s answer is that God will not fail to fulfill what he has promised to his people, but the time is not yet ripe for such fulfillment.

Instead, God calls the people to love him more than the abundance they have so long anticipated. Israel must learn once more what it is to trust the Lord, committing themselves again to the covenant into which God has entered with them. For it is by such covenant faithfulness that the nations will be gathered in. Then God’s “name will be great among the nations.” When Israel turns to love the Lord their God with all their heart, then the Gentiles will be attracted to such a life, such a people, and such a God.

Ultimately, however, God would not wait for such Israelite faithfulness to blossom, for it never did blossom and never could. If his people were to love him with all their heart, something more drastic was needed. Rather than waiting for his people to love him and in that way attract the nations, God would send his own Son, pouring out his Spirit onto his people and moving them from the inside out to walk in his ways as a witness to the nations of the world

(Jeremiah 31: 31– 34)

31. "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

32. not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.

33. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

34. "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

(Ezekiel 36: 22– 27)

22. "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

23. "I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.

24. "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.

25. "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

26. "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

27. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

By sending his Son, moreover, God showed his people how the nations would be won— not by attracting them but by going to them.

(Galatians 4: 4– 6)

4. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,

5. so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

6. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"

With the coming of Christ the way by which his people are a light to the nations has been reversed. Disciples of Christ do not wait for the nations to come to them. Rather they determine, in sacrificial mission according to the pattern set by Christ’s own incarnation, to go to the nations

(John 20: 21)

21. So Jesus said to them again, "Peace {be} with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you."

But first the Father sent Him...

LUKE 2-1:21

1. In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

2. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3. And all went to be registered, each to his own town.

4. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

5. to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

6. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

7. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

9. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

10. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

13. And suddenly there was 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 those with whom he is pleased!”

15. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

17. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

18. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

19. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

20. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

I pray you enjoyed this Christmas story as much as I did putting it together. Obviously I did not “write” it, however every word rings as true to me as if I had written it.

I also pray for all those who are downtrodden, lonely, sick, victims of crime and just worn down by life. I pray you have a glorious, sacred Christmas Day, and many more to come.

The spirit of the Lord does not discriminate between people. However some things just don’t change. As Christmas approaches, there are people around the country and in your community who need help.

We can’t ask often enough that you volunteer or contribute to a charity or organization that is taking care of them. A dollar, a kind word, a smile, your caring can make all the difference.

Merry Christmas

Thank you and God bless each and every one of you.

Jack

Turn it up!