The Christ of Christmas and info on Newsgroup & RSS feed

#1 · December 7, 2005, 10:07 am

Quote from Forum Archives on December 7, 2005, 10:07 am
Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>
First two notes about Bible Notes list advancements.

Note: You can read Bible Notes as a news group in your email program (available for quite some time now). Just go to the website (link given at end of this message) and left click on the link that says "Start Reading". You can then have all previous message titles listed in the newsgroup within your email program.

I only know by experience using MS Outlook Express. When I right click on the newsgroup and choose "Catchup", it dowloads all the former and current Bible Notes titles. When viewing a title within OE, it downloads the actual message contents. Of course, one must be connected to the Internet while the program downloads the titles and/or message contents. This newsgroup capability makes getting back issues a whole lot easier.

Note 2: Bible Notes is supposed to work now as a "Live Bookmark" (RSS feed) -- as of a few months ago. Though I am not yet sure how to set this up. If anyone has some advice please let me know. I tried to set up a "live bookmark" for Bible Notes in Firefoxb (Internet browser) and haven't been able to get it to work yet.

Here is a Christmas time Bible Note from five years ago. This story never grows old!

Originally sent: Sun, 17 Dec 2000

The Christ of Christmas

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6).

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:

"When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

"Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

"But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.'

"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, '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.

"Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS." (Matthew 1:18-25)

I. THE PROMISE OF THE MESSIAH -- Though there are a great number of Old Testament prophecies, all of which point to Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, I here present three. The latter two are reiterated and emphasized in the New Testament.

    A. The Seed of the Woman - "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15)

    Here we see promised that the seed of the woman would be used of God to bring the defeat of the serpent, who had tempted the first woman to become a part of the very first transgression of the human race. Notice especially that God said, "Thou shalt bruise HIS heel". This is the earliest reference to the fact that the Messiah would be made of a woman without a man (born of a virgin).

    B. The Seed of Abraham - "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Genesis 22:18)

"And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. ... Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." (Galatians 3:8, 16)

    C. The Seed of David - "As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant..." (Jeremiah 33:22) "Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" (John 7:32)

    It was promised that of David's seed there would not fail one to sit upon his throne - "The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." (Psalm 132.11)

II. THE PIETY OF MARY AND JOSEPH -- two godly individuals into whose care the God of Heaven committed His only begotten Son (the only one of His kind).

    A. Mary, a virgin -- "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34). "Joseph .. knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS." (Matthew 1:25)

    B. Joseph, a proper gentleman -- Though, before the angel came to him in a dream, he reasonably assumed unfaithfulness on Mary's part, he was willing to spare her as much of the embarrassment and consequences as he could.

    C. Neither of the two had to compromise their principles in order to see the will of God accomplished. This brings us to a most necessary final point.

III. THE POWER OF GOD -- God worked a great miracle. Let us consider this miracle in light of the three types of Messianic promises listed above (under first main point).

    A. The Seed of the Woman
    The Holy Spirit caused the very Son of God to be formed as a fully human baby within Mary's womb. It is by the result of this miracle that "He also himself likewise took part of the same;" (of flesh and blood) "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;" (Hebrews 2:14). Hence we see that Christ is our Champion over the devil. He bruised the head of Satan, the old serpent.

    B. The Seed of Abraham
    The promise had to do with the blessing of all nations through Abraham's seed. This speaks of our great Savior and His wonderful salvation. It is a salvation that reaches to "whosoever believeth in him". Any and all people of all nations may be set free from their sins through the seed of Abraham -- the Second Adam.

    C. The Seed of David
    Finally, we notice that the promise to David fulfilled in Christ, is that THERE WILL BE A KING TO SIT UPON HIS THRONE FOREVER! This speaks of the everlasting kingdom of Christ. Not only may we enjoy such a great salvation in this life, but we may also "dwell in the house of the Lord forever". (Psalm 23:6)

    The Babe of Bethlehem is the "Bright and Morning Star" (Revelation 22:16). The Child in the manger is the "Captain of" our "salvation" (Hebrews 2:10). The Son of Mary is the very Son of God. The man called Jesus is "God with us" (Matthew 1:23).

Let us sing the old and true carol:

"Veiled in flesh the God-head see;
Hail th'incarnate Deity.
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel!
Hark, the herald angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn King!'"

Yours in Christ,
Martin Overfield

Please pass this Bible Note along to any who might be interested or helped by it. To SUBSCRIBE to FREE Bible Notes, send an empty email to this address: [email protected] and respond to the confirmation email that will automatically be sent to you.

To read Bible Notes on the Internet and/or search the archives click on the following link:
http://welovegod.org/groups/bible_notes/
  "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:" (Hebrews 12:14)  --To unsubscribe, send ANY message to [email protected]  

Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>

First two notes about Bible Notes list advancements.

Note: You can read Bible Notes as a news group in your email program (available for quite some time now). Just go to the website (link given at end of this message) and left click on the link that says "Start Reading". You can then have all previous message titles listed in the newsgroup within your email program.

I only know by experience using MS Outlook Express. When I right click on the newsgroup and choose "Catchup", it dowloads all the former and current Bible Notes titles. When viewing a title within OE, it downloads the actual message contents. Of course, one must be connected to the Internet while the program downloads the titles and/or message contents. This newsgroup capability makes getting back issues a whole lot easier.

Note 2: Bible Notes is supposed to work now as a "Live Bookmark" (RSS feed) -- as of a few months ago. Though I am not yet sure how to set this up. If anyone has some advice please let me know. I tried to set up a "live bookmark" for Bible Notes in Firefoxb (Internet browser) and haven't been able to get it to work yet.

Here is a Christmas time Bible Note from five years ago. This story never grows old!

Originally sent: Sun, 17 Dec 2000

The Christ of Christmas

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6).

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:

"When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

"Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

"But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.'

"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, '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.

"Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS." (Matthew 1:18-25)

I. THE PROMISE OF THE MESSIAH -- Though there are a great number of Old Testament prophecies, all of which point to Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, I here present three. The latter two are reiterated and emphasized in the New Testament.

A. The Seed of the Woman - "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15)

Here we see promised that the seed of the woman would be used of God to bring the defeat of the serpent, who had tempted the first woman to become a part of the very first transgression of the human race. Notice especially that God said, "Thou shalt bruise HIS heel". This is the earliest reference to the fact that the Messiah would be made of a woman without a man (born of a virgin).

B. The Seed of Abraham - "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Genesis 22:18)

"And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. ... Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." (Galatians 3:8, 16)

C. The Seed of David - "As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant..." (Jeremiah 33:22) "Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" (John 7:32)

It was promised that of David's seed there would not fail one to sit upon his throne - "The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." (Psalm 132.11)

II. THE PIETY OF MARY AND JOSEPH -- two godly individuals into whose care the God of Heaven committed His only begotten Son (the only one of His kind).

    A. Mary, a virgin -- "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34). "Joseph .. knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS." (Matthew 1:25)

    B. Joseph, a proper gentleman -- Though, before the angel came to him in a dream, he reasonably assumed unfaithfulness on Mary's part, he was willing to spare her as much of the embarrassment and consequences as he could.

C. Neither of the two had to compromise their principles in order to see the will of God accomplished. This brings us to a most necessary final point.

III. THE POWER OF GOD -- God worked a great miracle. Let us consider this miracle in light of the three types of Messianic promises listed above (under first main point).

A. The Seed of the Woman
The Holy Spirit caused the very Son of God to be formed as a fully human baby within Mary's womb. It is by the result of this miracle that "He also himself likewise took part of the same;" (of flesh and blood) "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;" (Hebrews 2:14). Hence we see that Christ is our Champion over the devil. He bruised the head of Satan, the old serpent.

B. The Seed of Abraham
The promise had to do with the blessing of all nations through Abraham's seed. This speaks of our great Savior and His wonderful salvation. It is a salvation that reaches to "whosoever believeth in him". Any and all people of all nations may be set free from their sins through the seed of Abraham -- the Second Adam.

C. The Seed of David
Finally, we notice that the promise to David fulfilled in Christ, is that THERE WILL BE A KING TO SIT UPON HIS THRONE FOREVER! This speaks of the everlasting kingdom of Christ. Not only may we enjoy such a great salvation in this life, but we may also "dwell in the house of the Lord forever". (Psalm 23:6)

The Babe of Bethlehem is the "Bright and Morning Star" (Revelation 22:16). The Child in the manger is the "Captain of" our "salvation" (Hebrews 2:10). The Son of Mary is the very Son of God. The man called Jesus is "God with us" (Matthew 1:23).

Let us sing the old and true carol:

"Veiled in flesh the God-head see;
Hail th'incarnate Deity.
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel!
Hark, the herald angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn King!'"

Yours in Christ,
Martin Overfield

Please pass this Bible Note along to any who might be interested or helped by it. To SUBSCRIBE to FREE Bible Notes, send an empty email to this address: [email protected] and respond to the confirmation email that will automatically be sent to you.

To read Bible Notes on the Internet and/or search the archives click on the following link:
http://welovegod.org/groups/bible_notes/

  "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:" (Hebrews 12:14)  --To unsubscribe, send ANY message to [email protected]