Merry CHRISTmas, From Genesis to Revelation

 

Christmas in a sentence: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:14.

In a Word: Immanuel; meaning God with us. Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14.

To be clear; Christmas is the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

One by one dad called the kids. Slowly, sadly, he told them that he and mom were through.

The kids couldn’t believe their ears. How could this be; after all these years? You haven’t been apart for more than a day in decades; how could you even think of separating? It’s not possible.

All the kids basically said the same thing. “Dad, don’t do anything until we get there. We’ll talk this through.”

Dad agreed with a sigh and hung up the phone.

Then, he lifted a great big grin. “Honey!”

Yes, dear?

I just talked to the kids. They’re all coming home for Christmas!

And, paying their own way!

Speaking of a separation that never happened…

Matthew 1:18-25

Did you know that it was the separation of a relationship that caused God to come to our home (planet earth) for Christmas?

Of all the separations that have ever happened, this one was the worst separation of all time.

It happened a long time ago, way back near the beginning; in the place where God planted a garden, the Garden of Eden.

It was there, He planted the very first Christmas seed.

God created, the heavens, the earth, all creation, including mankind, good, very good.

God is love.

Love includes freedom. Freedom of choice; it cannot be forced, coerced, dictated, or purchased.

Thus, God gives choice.

He did then, and does now.

So, a conversation between God and Adam and Eve, may have sounded something like this:

“Look Adam, look Eve, I’ve given you all this, the whole world, all the trees all the plants all yours – what do think?

Do you like the colors? Smell the flowers, taste the cool spring water.

How about the animals? Big ones, small ones, all kinds, from soft and cuddly to sharp and scaly; some with beauty, others… not so much.

Check out the heavens, look at all those stars, aren’t they something? They’re not just for looking at, they tell of times and seasons. As long as the earth remains, they’ll direct weary travelers on their journeys.

Day after day, they declare My glory, My Divinity.

One day, one star, will guide wisemen to My humanity.

And one more thing.

See that tree right there? That's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

It might look nice, but it’s deadly.

Stay away from it.

Now they had a choice.

Other than that, they had it all to enjoy, be fruitful, multiply, have dominion over all the earth.

The future looks bright.

But, how does the saying go? All good things must…

The cute cuddly puppy doesn’t stay that way long. Soon the pup poops on the carpet, cries all night, chews on the furniture, and a hole in your favorite shoes.

The toys break and the kids get bored.

It doesn’t take long for God’s, garden of bliss, to turn into a tempting ground from the abyss.

The subtle lies of the serpent caused them to question the Word of God.

They chose to taste the forbidden fruit.

From the tree He told them not to eat—they ate.

They chose worldly presents, (lust of flesh, lust of eyes, pride of life) over His Godly Presence. 1 John 2:16.

God’s children, decided to step off His Divine well-lit path; and into the darkness.

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Ps. 119:105.

So, one moment they were clothed, with the illuminating glory of God’s Presence, from the inside out.

God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5.

And the next moment, (after choosing their own path rather than God’s) they found themselves, naked and ashamed.

And then they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God (Genesis 3:8).

Suddenly their eyes were opened and their hearts were closed.

Their eyes were opened to their nakedness, weakness, frailty.

Their hearts were closed to the innocence, fearlessness they once knew.

So, they hid from the One who loves them most.

With that one step; death, sorrow, crying, pain, entered the world. (Spoiler alert: on the other end of the Bible, Revelation 21:4, the curse is reversed).

With that one taste; the malignant cancer of sin was absorbed into all our spiritual DNA.

The future goes black.

How could this happen? They hung out with God. They knew His voice, His footsteps, His walk. They would have had Him on speed dial with His own ring tone. Maybe God would hum a song yet to be written. “Just a closer walk…”  “I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still…”

They were close.

But now… they hid.

God’s heart never changed.

He didn’t give up. He made a plan. He would walk with His family again.

It was here, He planted the very first Christmas seed, in Genesis 3:15.

Woven within the curse He spoke on the serpent; the Lord planted a Promise.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise (crush) your head, and you shall bruise His heel.

The Male Seed from the woman, will crush the serpent’s head.

Her Seed, infers a virgin birth, because “seed” comes from the man.

This is the first of over 300 prophecies about the coming of Christ.

Here’s a couple more:

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6-7 

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, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 

All 300 plus prophecies were fulfilled in one Man.

The odds of that happening are like covering Texas in silver dollars a foot and a half deep, with one of them painted red. Then, with one try, reach somewhere deep in the heart of Texas and pick the red silver dollar.

That’s the odds.

Jesus fulfilled every.single.one.

Jesus put the CHRIST in CHRISTmas

Okay, so you might be wondering, what’s the connection between Christmas and Adam and Eve steeling some fruit?

I get that they broke the rules, God got ticked, and doled out some punishment. But how does Jesus coming as a Baby have anything to do with any of that?

Great question.

God sews it all together in what He does next. He goes from Gardener, to Tailor.

God made them a gift, of animal skins. Genesis 3:21.

NOTE: He did not cloth them permanently like animals are clothed permanently from the inside out. The clothing He prepared was a temporary covering for their nakedness; evidence of their sinfulness.

Now, don’t miss this: To cover their nakedness, their sin; something had to die, blood was shed.

Thereby the Divine judicial precedent was set; without the shedding of blood, there is no remission, forgiveness, covering, of sin. Hebrews 9:22.

This eventually led to the sacrificial laws regarding atonement for sin.

Remember, the precedent God set; Adam and Eve’s new wardrobe, was a temporary covering for nakedness caused by sin.

Sacrifice after sacrifice, millions upon millions of lambs were slain, oceans of bloodshed, temporarily covered sin after sin, after sin.

All of this, just to stay the day of execution, temporarily.

It’s not possible for the blood of animals to take away the sins of man. Hebrews 10:4.

The sin remained, and the wages of sin is death as stated in Romans 6:23; and as shown by God with the animal skins. The animal died to cover the sin of man.

But don’t get discouraged. Remember God has a plan.

The new wardrobe wasn’t the only gift God gave.

Romans 6:23 has more to say. The wages of sin is death, but the Gift of God is eternal Life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So…drumroll please.

In the fullness of time, God made Himself a new wardrobe, He put on human skin.

Galatians 4:4-5

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Welcome to CHRISTmas!

Luke 2:8-14

“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

THE FUTURE GOES WHITE.

God wanted His family back and was willing to pay for it.

So, according to His Divine justice, the only way to redeem us from our dark, sin soiled state was by the shedding of blood.

But not just any blood, because He didn’t want to delay the execution, He wanted to fulfill it.

So, He came—in Person; as the head crushing, Seed.

Mary’s water breaking and the Babe emerging was the budding of the Seed, planted way back in Genesis 3:15.

To pay the penalty for man, He had to become man.

He did that. Merry Christmas.

To pay the penalty of the law, He had to fulfill the law.

Which meant He had to live among us, as one of us. Be tempted in every way, just like us—yet, He had to remain, without sin. So, He’d never have a need to offer a sacrifice for sin. Hebrews 4:15.

He did that.

To pay the penalty of sin, He had to give His life.

He had to willingly, painfully, lay down His sinless life, as the permanent, perfect, Sacrifice, for the sins of all who choose to receive Him by giving their lives to Him.

He did that too.

In the garden of Gethsemane He prayed, Father, not My will but Thine… Luke 22:42.

Then, just hours later, from the cross He cried, tetelestai. It is finished; an accounting term meaning, Paid in full! John 19:30.

God accepted, His Son’s death, as payment in full for the sin-debt of mankind, and the huge veil in the temple representing our sin-separation from God, was torn asunder from top to bottom. Matthew 27:51.

Thus, making the Way, forever more, for you and me, and whosoever will give their lives to Him, to be forgiven and cleansed and enter straight in, to the Holy of Holies, the very presence of the Father.

 

Right here feels like such a good place to say, amen, and they all lived happily after.

But Christmas, real Christmas, isn’t a fairy tale. Nor, God’s Word.

God’s not done, and the Bible has more to say about the birth of our Savior.

Revelation 12 paints a picture of His birth, ascension, and the very battle we’re in, and those right around the bend. (Anti-Israel, Tribulation).

Revelation 12:5

She (Israel) bore a male Child (Jesus) who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

Her Child (Jesus) was caught up, speaks of His ascension into Heaven.

One day soon, all Christians will be caught up, too. The same word is used for caught up, in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. (Caught up; Greek: harpazó; Latin: rapio; English: rapture).

God is on a rescue operation, perhaps akin to Israel in Gaza today.

Gaza is only about 25 x 5 miles.  Israel could’ve ended the war in a day. They could’ve turned Gaza to powder in one afternoon—if they only wanted to destroy the wicked, with no concern for the innocent.

But instead, at great cost to themselves, they are in a methodical rescue operation to seek and to save the lost; and simultaneously on a combat mission to punish the wicked.

God could wipe out the world in a blink.

However, He came to seek and to save that which is lost. Luke 19:10.

He’s not slow, He’s on a methodical rescue operation, to seek and to save the lost, not willing that any should perish.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack (slow) concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering (patient) toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

 

Perhaps, you are one of those He’s searching for. Standing at the door and knocking for. Revelation 3:20.

Perhaps this is the moment He finds you. Perhaps now is the time, you open the door to the best CHRISTmas present of all time; His Presence.

 

Let’s pray,

Lord Jesus, Merry Christmas.

Thank You for coming to our rescue.

We don’t want to hide from You one moment more. We stretch out our heart, our hands, our lives, to You.

We want this Christmas, to be the Christmas, we made the choice to follow You, fully, for Eternity.  

Thank You for taking us, and making us, new.

We want to live with You, and for You.

We love You, forever.

Amen.

 

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