Category: Christ’s humanity

Emmanuel, God With Us

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23 KJV).

John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias, was a priest, “of the course [order] of Abia [Abijah]” (Luke 1:5). Under King David, Israel’s priests were organized into 24 courses (1 Chronicles 24:7-19). A priest from each course served a week in the Temple ministration (and thus served one week twice a year). Israel’s calendar began with Abib/Nisan, equivalent to March 16-April 15 (Exodus 12:1,2; Exodus 13:4). Passover was observed on April 14, starting Israel’s religious calendar.

Passover week (The Feast of Unleavened Bread) lasted from April 15-21. The first course of priests served in the Temple around this time. Zacharias’ course, Abijah, was the eighth course after Passover (1 Chronicles 24:10), thus placing Zacharias’ service roughly eight weeks after Passover (or June 17-23). This was the time when the angel appeared to Zacharias to announce John’s conception (Luke 1:8-22). Once Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth leave the Temple and go home, Elisabeth conceives John (late June; Luke 1:23-25).

Six months after Elisabeth conceived John in late June (Luke 1:26), Mary conceived Jesus—in late December. Contrary to religious tradition, the birthday of Christ is not December 25. Late December is the time of Christ’s conception. The conception of Christ in Mary’s womb, not Mary’s conception in her mother’s womb, is the biblical immaculate conception: it was Christ’s conception, not Mary’s, that was sinless (Luke 1:35).

If a perfect human gestation lasts 280 days (9 months), late September/early October is the time of Christ’s birth. During this time of year, recall that God had Israel observing the Feast of Tabernacles, when Jews would dwell in “booths” (tents, tabernacles) for seven days (Leviticus 23:39-44).

While Israel was observing Tabernacles in September/October, God was born as a man (Jesus Christ) of the virgin Mary, and dwelt (“tabernacled”) with them! Sadly, very few Jews paid any attention to Jesus, “Emmanuel,” “God with us” (today’s Scripture). The rest of Israel ignored “God dwelling among them” (John 1:14).

Was It a “White” Christmas?

Monday, December 19, 2011

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:7,8 KJV).

Religious tradition demands Christmas is Christ’s birthday. Was our Lord Jesus really born in wintertime? Today’s Scripture replies with an emphatic NO. According to the Bible, on the night of Jesus’ birth, there were shepherds out in the fields watching their flock. Would shepherds be abiding outside on a cold winter’s (perhaps snowy) night? This is only one line of biblical evidence that Jesus was not born on Christmas. However, there is a biblical significance to late December.

God had commanded Israel through Moses that Jews were to celebrate many feasts year-round. One of them was the Feast of Tabernacles, observed during late September/early October. During this seven-day feast, Jews were to dwell in “booths” (tents, tabernacles) (Leviticus 23:39-44; Nehemiah 8:13-18).

The Bible likens our physical bodies to “tabernacles” for our souls and spirits (2 Corinthians 5:1-4; 2 Peter 1:13-15). Furthermore, Isaiah 40:22 says God “spreadeth [the heavens] out as a tent to dwell in:” God created the universe so He could dwell in it, specifically on a little planet… earth. When Jesus Christ was born, “the Word was made flesh [God became a man], and dwelt among us [He “tabernacled” in a human body]” (John 1:14). Jesus Christ came to tabernacle/abide with mankind on earth, to establish that earthly kingdom prophesied throughout the Old Testament!

To make the Word flesh (for Jesus Christ to be a man), God’s Holy Spirit conceived a physical body inside of the virgin Mary, a body in which Jesus’ Spirit could dwell (Matthew 1:18-20; Luke 1:35; Hebrews 10:5-9). Jesus was named “Immanuel,” or “God [dwelling] with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). As we will see in tomorrow’s devotional, the Bible indicates that Jesus was conceived—not born—in late December. Jesus Christ was actually born in late September (coinciding with the Feast of Tabernacles).

When the Fulness of the Time Was Come – 333’s 200th

Saturday, December 17, 2011

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4,5 KJV).

In the beginning God set the first man, Adam, on earth to “subdue [control] it,” to “have dominion” over it and everything on it (Genesis 1:28). Alas, Adam sided with Satan, joining the rebellion against God. The human race, now marred by sin, was unable to fellowship with its holy Creator God.

Fortunately, God promised mankind’s Redeemer in Genesis 3:15: a Man who would do what Adam failed to do—rule earth for God’s glory. Adam was “the figure [preview/type] of him that was to come” (Romans 5:14c). About 4000 years after Adam, the “him that was to come” finally came—Jesus Christ. How human history was forever impacted when that Redeemer came!

Jesus Christ’s birth was not some haphazard event of nature. God the Father had preplanned the exact moment of the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ (today’s Scripture). Recall that, unlike us, before His physical birth, Jesus Christ lived as a Spirit in heaven’s glory with His Father (John 1:1,2; cf. Micah 5:2).

When the appointed time came, at His Father’s behest, Jesus’ Spirit came to earth to indwell the body in the virgin Mary’s womb. For nine months, God Himself actually lived inside Mary’s womb! Being delivered, He lived a sinless life of 33 years, despised by His family (Israel) and the world. As one dear Christian brother explained, “That was the greatest life ever lived in a human body!”

No event in human history compares to the coming of Jesus Christ. As today’s Scripture teaches, the Lord Jesus became a small Baby… to become a grown man… to become Israel’s rejected Messiah… to ultimately die for us, the wretched Gentiles! God became a man, to “give Himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6).

We are ever grateful that “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son….”

Saints, we have reached a milestone – #200. WOW!

The LORD Who Stilleth the Raging Sea

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

“O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them” (Psalm 89:8,9 KJV).

“[O God of our salvation] which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people” (Psalm 65:6,7). Psalm 107:28,29 says: “[The LORD] maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.”

Ponder God’s words quoted above. The LORD (JEHOVAH) stills the raging sea and commands the storm to calm. Of what New Testament event are you reminded?

In Mark 4:35-41, the Lord Jesus and His disciples are traveling in a small ship on the Sea of Galilee. As Jesus sleeps, a windstorm causes the water to pile into the ship. The disciples fear shipwreck, so they frantically awaken Jesus, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Verse 39 says, “And he [Jesus] arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

Matthew 8:27 says (cf. Luke 8:24), “But the men marvelled [were amazed], saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” The men accompanying the Lord Jesus Christ knew that He was unique. They were awed. No man could command the sea and winds, yet Jesus did.

Here, beloved, we see the deity of Jesus Christ clearly manifested. The Creator who created Earth’s winds and water back in Genesis, though confined to a physical body in the context of today’s Scripture, still possessed His omnipotence. Jesus Christ set His eyes on that storm, and exclaimed “Peace!” Instantly, the tempestuous waves were stilled. The wind died down. WOW! What a sight.

The JEHOVAH of today’s Scripture, the Being who created the laws of nature, was the Jesus Christ who manipulated those laws so as to prevent the sinking of a ship. What manner of Man was that, who stilled the raging sea? The God-man… Jesus Christ… the LORD who stilleth the raging sea….

Is Mary Really the Mother of God?

Friday, August 19, 2011

“And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43 KJV).

Roman Catholicism uses today’s Scripture to argue that Mary is “the mother of God.” Does the Bible teach this?

In verse 35, Gabriel the angel told Mary, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” While the King James’ rendition “holy thing” is often frowned upon for being an “irreverent mistranslation,” “thing” refers to Jesus Christ’s physical body.

Technically speaking, Jesus Christ always existed. He did not come into existence in Mary’s womb. The King James Bible predicted that Israel’s Messiah would be “from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2)—modern Bibles corrupt this verse! Jesus Christ has no origin because God has no origin.

We must always remember that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He has always been God, but He has not always been man. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Verse 14 says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us….”

Considering these verses, Mary is not “God’s mother.” She is the mother of Jesus Christ’s humanity: she was the vessel God used to generate Jesus’ physical body. Jesus Christ had always existed as an invisible Spirit until He entered the physical body that was in Mary’s womb. In today’s Scripture, Elisabeth simply acknowledged that Mary would produce Christ’s human body. She knew that Old Testament reference in Micah that spoke of Israel’s Messiah as being “from everlasting” (that He existed prior to His physical body being conceived in Mary’s womb).

To call Mary “God’s mother” is very blasphemous and heretical, for that would be exalting Mary as someone higher than God. If Mary is “God’s mother,” then who would be God’s father? See what difficulties and confusion arise when we insert church tradition into Scripture? Toss out tradition, it has no authority whatsoever!