Month: December 2024 (Page 3 of 3)

December 3^rd

Isaiah 7:14

There are a few Old Testament passages that are important to us as believers as they point us to Jesus. As we look at these verses we are in good company, even Jesus on the Emmaus Road started with Moses and the prophets to explain himself to his disciples!

In this passage Isaiah is speaking into his current context but in doing so, as a prophet, he also speaks into the future. So, let’s look for a moment at Isaiah’s situation. Syria and Israel have joined forces against Assyria’s empire building (735BC). They invite Ahaz, king of Judah, to join them but he refuses so they turn against him. Ahaz thinks he’s going to try and buy an alliance with Assyria, but Isaiah offers an alternative solution that Ahaz should trust the Lord and be firm in the faith. He is invited to ask for a sign from the Lord, but he doesn’t want to put his faith in God so he refuses in a rather sanctimonious fashion (Is. 7:11-12).

[We should note here that whether or not testing the Lord is OK depends on the heart. Israel in the wilderness tested the Lord out of unbelief and were judged for it. Gideon tested to be sure he heard right and was given his answer. Here Ahaz is being invited to trust but will not.]

So, Isaiah prophesies that God will give a sign. For Ahaz it means that by the time a young woman (we don’t know who) gives birth and the child reaches the age of discretion (13yrs) the two kingdoms against him will have gone (Is. 7:16). He just needs to trust. Syria was destroyed by 732BC (3 years later), Israel lost part of her territory a year later and in 13 years (722BC) had lost her national existence. Ahaz and Judah were to be overwhelmed by Assyria.

When Matthew was writing his gospel he saw in this passage a clear reference to the coming Messiah – the one who is ‘God with us’ Matt.1:23. The salvation needed here is not earthly but spiritual, our eternal salvation, and it was going to come through the child born of a virgin, the Son of God. There is a lot of dispute among theologians as to whether the word for ‘virgin’ should have been translated as such or as ‘young woman’. As far as I can see there is no reason not to accept the translation that Mathhew knew which referred to the ‘virgin who will conceive and give birth to a son’. This child was God’s son, one who would become the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Matthew knew Mary and Jesus, witnessed the crucifixion and resurrection, and had no doubt who Jesus was and whose Son he was.

The call to us is the same as to Ahaz, to stand in faith, to receive God’s salvation and see his deliverance from sin; to be accepted into God’s Kingdom.

Reflection

There is the thread of a plan running through history so strong that it emerges out of the prophets’ mouth even when he is speaking into another circumstance. That plan for salvation runs through all our lives and we have a choice to respond to it in faith or not. Is there something that you need to respond to in faith today?

December 2^nd

Genesis 12:1-3

Once upon a time one man had a revelation of the God of the universe and chose to follow his leading. He wasn’t living in a monotheistic culture, and we have no idea how he came to this knowledge and experience of God; the Bible doesn’t tell us. Four thousand years ago, during the Bronze Age, Abraham decided to obey the call of God to leave his homeland and go to a new place God was giving him. His obedience brought with it a promise of land, descendants numerous enough to be a nation and a global reach. All the families of earth are to be blessed through this one man. This scripture is the first mention of a promise to be repeated many times at significant moments in Abraham’s life (Gen. 15:1,22:18, 26:4).

As we will read later both Joseph and Mary are direct descendants of Abraham and King David. This promise is about much more than just the formation of the peoples of Israel (through Isaac) and Palestine (through Ishmael), this is a promise to all of humanity. Abraham is a man of faith and obedience towards God. He understands that God is both sovereign and faithful, and Abrahms’s faith becomes the bedrock of this future blessing. It is cited by both Peter (Acts 3:25) and Paul (Gal. 3:8-9, 17-18) as the beginning of the promise.

We could go even further back to the beginning of creation and humanity’s fall into sin. In Gen. 3:15 God promises that the seed of woman will bruise the head of the serpent. Already there is a plan to deal with the devil, evil and sin’s consequences. That the serpent will bruise his heel hints at the cost of our salvation.

The Bible is clear that God’s word is dependable and will not fail; he will be faithful to his covenant for a thousand generations (Deut.7:9). Isaiah tells us that while everything around us may fade and die the word of the Lord stands forever (Is. 40:8). This plan to rescue humanity from its sin and make a way into the Kingdom of God has been there from the very beginning, slowly unfolding over thousands of years until we come to the revelation of God that we see in Jesus.

Reflection

Someone once said that God takes a long time to move suddenly! Are there moments in your own life where you have seen that work out? Perhaps there are events that you are waiting patiently to see happen. Why not bring them before God today, remembering that he is faithful to his word.

Introduction

Advent is a word that is used to describe the arrival of an event, an invention or a person. In the Christian calendar advent is the 24 days or 4 Sundays leading up to Christmas, a time of waiting and anticipation for the arrival of the Son of God. No doubt this time of expectation has already been filled with online and TV advertisements for all sorts of Christmas goodies that you couldn’t possibly do without, and supermarkets have been filled with foods to make your Christmas that bit more special. For the Christian, Christmas has a much deeper meaning that goes beyond the fripperies of a secular Christmas as we celebrate the arrival of one who is to become our Saviour and our Redeemer.

From the very beginning God had a plan for the salvation of humanity and that is where we will begin before going on to read how the story unfolds.

(The first 6 reflections are a bit longer than the rest, don’t panic they are not all that long!)

December 1^st

Galatians 4:4-7

Today’s reading tells us that in the fullness of time, or at the right time or the appointed time God sent his Son born of a woman, subject to the law to redeem us who are under the law. What made it the right time? The sociological view of this would highlight a number of reasons why it was the right time.

1. The Roman Empire has spread around the Mediterranean and we know that when the Romans moved in they built roads, very straight roads, and those roads facilitated travel. For the spread of the gospel this was incredibly useful.
2. Language. As people travelled further, and international commerce grew, Greek became the common language of business. From the point of view of spreading the gospel this makes life a lot easier, it also helps breaks the gospel free from Judaism and makes it more available to everyone.
3. There was a hunger for spiritual things. The belief in Greek and Roman gods and their mythology was losing its grip and people were searching for a God who could save them.
4. The Jewish law which was meant to be a positive aspect of Judaism had become a burden to many as it became more complicated and onerous as the years went by.

It was the right time, but there are also other reasons. Prophetically the Jews are looking for the promised Messiah, Daniel 9: 24-27 talks about the coming Messiah and suggests a date when this prophecy would be fulfilled, calculated to be sometime in the 1st century AD. Paul would have been aware of this prophecy and he, along with many others, would have been looking for the Messiah to arrive.

Jesus, the Son of God, comes to earth as a human being. He is subject to all the challenges that we face as human beings. He doesn’t stay at a distance. God is not distant; he makes himself imminent and he comes as flesh and blood amongst us. He is born of a woman and subject to the same laws (natural and religious) that we are. He lived under the Jewish Law, he understood it, but he also surpassed it. He was human and yet the perfect Son of God, the perfect lamb, the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

He came to redeem us from the slavery of sin and the Law in order that we could be ransomed from our slavery and be adopted as true children of God. There was hope at the time that the Messiah was coming but of course we know that it wasn’t going to happen as expected.

From the very beginning God had a plan to redeem and restore humanity back to that Eden relationship that was so dreadfully broken. That plan included you and me. Moreover, there isn’t just ‘a Plan’ there is also a unique plan for each of us.

‘There is a plan’….. this makes my heart sing. Whenever the current woes of our time get you down remember there is a plan for salvation now and into the future, when God will reconcile everything in Christ (Col.1 :20).

Reflection.

Take a moment to thank God for his plan, think about how he has worked in your own life and the fact that he has not finished yet. Pray for those you know who need to experience the God who has a plan for them.