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Welcome to Examining Scripture. We seek to encourage
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believers in Jesus Christ to drink from the Word
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of Life. As God's revelation to mankind, we want
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to demystify the Bible and help you find what
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God has to say about the circumstances you're
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facing. We're not pastors or theologians. We're
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sinners just like you who, by the grace of God,
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have come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. If
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we can thirst for Scripture, so can you. Hi,
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I'm your host, Bob Redd. along with co -host
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Anne Birt. Thank you for joining us in another
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episode of Examining Scripture. Hello Anne. Hello Bob. Hopefully this
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will be of interest to our listeners in the sense
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that while we certainly are going to be talking
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about the nativity scene and the virgin birth,
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we're really wanting to talk about why it is
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there is a virgin birth. The way I would like
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to start, the most important thing about the
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celebration of Christmas is the fact God sent
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His only Son to this earth, fully man, fully
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God, to walk this earth a perfect sacrifice for
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our sins so that we might have those who believe
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a direct relationship with the true and living
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God. With that in mind, talk about that virgin
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birth. OK, well, my understanding about the virgin
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birth is that it needed to happen because that
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was the only way to get a person on the planet.
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that was sinless, right? Because if we go all
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the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve in the
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garden, everything was perfect, but then Adam
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and Eve sinned. And then the Bible tells us that
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because of that sin, the original sin, everybody
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that was born after that was born into sin. And
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so Jesus needed to be born a different way from
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everybody else. And it was through this virgin
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birth that God accomplished that. Also, I think
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it's important to note that Jesus was sinless
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because He was coming to be the perfect sacrifice
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for our sin. If you go way back into the Old
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Testament again, the Jewish people for hundreds
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of years had been taking lambs and doves and
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other animals to the temple to sacrifice as a
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payment for their sin. But when Jesus came, He
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became the perfect sacrifice for everybody. Jews
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and Gentiles once and for all. And so I think
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that's a key part about the virgin birth that
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we need to keep in mind. And I think there's
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maybe a future podcast in there where the thing
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that we as Christians don't always fully comprehend
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is this idea of a Messiah. This is something
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that was throughout the Old Testament where Israel,
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the people of God, we're consistently and constantly
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told to be looking and watching for this Messiah.
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So the whole idea of, in this case, Christ coming
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to this earth, fully God, fully man, as the Messiah
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was exactly what was prophesied in the Old Testament
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and was exactly what the nation Israel was and
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to this day continues to look for. So perhaps
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that's a podcast in and of itself. So let's look
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at some scripture that Supports what you're saying
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here. I'm gonna read the first one. It's in Romans
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chapter 5 17 through 21 for if by the Transgression
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of the one the one here we're talking about or
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Paul is writing about is Adam as you described
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death reigned through the one Much more those who
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receive the abundance of grace and of the gift
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of righteousness will reign in life through the
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One, Jesus Christ. So then, as through one transgression
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there resulted condemnation to all men, even
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so through one act of righteousness there resulted
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justification of life to all men. For as through
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the one man's disobedience, that being Adam,
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the many were made sinners, Even so, through
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the obedience of the One, the many will be made
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righteous. The law came in so that the transgression
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would be increased, but where sin increased,
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grace abounded all the more. So that as sin reigned
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in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness
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to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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That really sums up what you were saying, Anne,
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about the need for this righteous individual
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to come in. And I think we have an amplification
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of that in Hebrews if we turn to Hebrews chapter
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4, 14 through 16. Therefore since we have a great high priest, lwho has gone through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith
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we profess, for we do not have a high priest
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who is unable to sympathize with our weakness,
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but we have one who has been tempted in every
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way just as we are, yet was without sin." Yeah,
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isn't that so, I don't know, refreshing and comforting?
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Well, it is because when Jesus came to earth,
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he experienced all the emotions and feelings
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and things, you know, family conflict, people
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not liking him, hunger. He was able to stay true
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to God and stay obedient and do all of his life
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without sinning. I don't even think I can get
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through a whole hour without sinning. We know
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Jesus came to earth. He was sinless when he got
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here and he was sinless when he left. So and
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he promises to walk with us every day of our
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lives so we can strive and try to become more
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like he is. So, yeah, I think it is a comfort.
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Yeah. And what's important here is this notion.
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Some people wrongly think of Christ appearing
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as though he came in and took over Jesus's body.
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And that's not at all what scripture tells us.
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What scripture tells us is Christ came fully
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man, fully God, and remained in essence who he
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was, but for a time while he was here on this
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earth, set aside some of his attributes of godliness.
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And I think Paul speaks of that In Philippians
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chapter 2, we find that in verse 5 through 11.
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Would you read that for us? Your attitude should
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be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Who, being
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in very nature God, did not consider equality
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with God something to be grasped, but made himself
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nothing, taking the very nature of a servant
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being made in human likeness and being found
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in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and
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became obedient to death, even death on a cross.
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Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place
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and gave him the name that is above every name,
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that at the name of Jesus, every knee should
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bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
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and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
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Lord to the glory of God the Father. There's
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so much important theological understanding in
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that writing from Paul. Number one, I like how
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he says it, Christ did not consider equality
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with God a thing to be grasped. Why is that?
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Well, if you already are what it is, meaning
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if he's already God, he didn't feel the need
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to grasp it. The quintessential example of someone
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who is wanting to grasp godliness, meaning to
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be God was Satan himself, right? He's the quintessential
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usurper of saying, I'm not God, therefore I want
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to be God and it's something I must grasp or
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I must achieve. Christ being fully God had no
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need to do so. And the second part about that
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that Paul tells us is he came as a man and says,
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having been found, As a man, he humbled himself.
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So the first thing he does, he comes as a servant,
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emptying himself, and that emptying himself is
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really setting aside some of his godly attributes
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for the purpose of living a human life. Yes,
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he, as we know in the temptation, Satan tempting
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him, could have turned stones into bread and
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utilized his godly powers, right? But he didn't.
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He chose not to, right? Because he was here to
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serve the Father. Right. Well, and it also says
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in the next line, he became obedient to death,
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which echoes back to Romans, where it says, because
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of Adam's disobedience, we're all made sinners.
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Because of Jesus's obedience, we can all be made
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righteous. Because Jesus was obedient to his
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Father's will to go to the cross and be that
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sacrifice for us. we can have eternal life. Yes.
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And to that point, some people point to the idea
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or suggest, well, God was projecting this position
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of Christ onto him and that it was something
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that was given from God to Christ. Well, Christ
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already is God. And one of the most important
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parts of that whole passage is the very last.
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So one of the things we see in Scripture, again,
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that can be another podcast, is where people
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are in awe of the presence of holy angels, and
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they want to fall down and bow down and worship
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them. And in Scripture, what we see is the holy
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angels saying, hey, I'm just one of you. Right
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you you don't worship me you worship God and
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and so the spirit inspiring Paul to write at
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the very end that all in heaven and on earth
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and under the earth will bow down and Confess
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Christ is Lord that part at the very end to the
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glory of God the Father God does not want any
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one to worship anybody other than Himself. And
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when he's saying here, he Paul through the power
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of the Holy Spirit saying that everybody will
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bow down, everybody will confess Jesus Christ
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is Lord, that is blasphemy if Christ were not
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God. And here we see the affirmation of this
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worship of Jesus to the glory of God the Father.
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All right. And this passage also reminds me of
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some things that John tells us in Revelation,
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right? If God's exalting him to the highest place
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and every knee is going to bow, this obviously
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hasn't happened yet, but one day Jesus is coming
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back as a king and he's going to be the king
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forever. And that harkens us back a little bit
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to the Old Testament about Jesus coming through
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the line of kings, which I know is something
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you wanted to talk about today. Well, and in
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fact, let's kind of go in reverse order. So you
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brought up this future kingdom of Christ. Let's
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turn to Revelation, chapter 20, verses one through
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six. One through six, and I'll read it for us.
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Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
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holding the key of the abyss and a great chain
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in his hand. he laid hold of the dragon the serpent
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of old who is the devil and Satan and bound him
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for a thousand years and he threw him into the
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abyss and Shut it and sealed it over him so that
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he would not deceive the nations any longer Until
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the thousand years were completed After these
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things he must be released for a short time then
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I saw thrones and they sat on them and judgment
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was given to them. And I saw the souls of those
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who had been beheaded because of their testimony
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of Jesus and because of the Word of God, and
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those who had not worshiped the beast or his
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image, and had not received the mark on their
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forehead and on their hand, and they came to
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life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
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The rest of the dead did not come to life until
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the thousand years were completed." This is the
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first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one
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who has a part in the first resurrection. Over
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these the second death has no power, but they
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will be priests of God and of Christ and will
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reign with him for a thousand years. That's the
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end game, isn't it Anne? Well, yeah, that's the
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end. That's almost the end because after this
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there is still a New Heaven and a New Earth and
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a new Jerusalem. And Jesus reigns forever. And
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that's after Satan gets all the way done with.
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But yeah, I mean, even in chapter 19, it refers
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to Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.
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And no matter what earthly kingdom is in charge
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now, we know at some point there will be a time
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where Jesus is the King. Everybody's going to
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acknowledge him. He's going to reign forever.
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It's going to be great. There's going to be no
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more sorrow, pain, death or anything. And it
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will be a great eternity. It is, and this whole
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idea of first the millennial kingdom of Christ's
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reign here on earth and then the eventual we
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call eternal state where Christ with God the
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Father reigns in the New Heaven and the New Earth
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and the New Jerusalem is a perfect example in
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all of scripture where sometimes we see things
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where it is truly the triumphant eternal state,
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but we find it in two phases. An example of that
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is when Christ came to this earth, he's sitting
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in the synagogue in Nazareth amongst his own
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people. These people knew Jesus, that he grew
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up with these townspeople. And he goes into the
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synagogue and he reads from Isaiah 61, 1 and
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2, but he only reads Isaiah 61 and the first
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part of Isaiah 62. Can you read that for us,
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Anne? Yes, Isaiah 61, one and two. The spirit
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of the sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord
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has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
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He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted
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to proclaim freedom for the captives and release
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from darkness for the prisoners to proclaim the
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year of the Lord's favor. the day of vengeance
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of our God to comfort all who mourn. Yeah, so
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what Jesus does there and the people of Israel
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before Christ's coming recognized that that particular
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verse and other verses within both the Psalms
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and in Isaiah and other books were what they
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call messianic promises or messianic passages.
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So these were promises to the people of Israel
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through the prophets and through the Old Testament
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scriptures that pointed to this anointing, this
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coming Messiah that was going to restore Israel
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to its place of prominence, right? Right. And
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when you read this from Isaiah 61, he's going
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to proclaim freedom from the captives and release
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from darkness for the prisoners. I think at the
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time that Jesus was born, the Jewish people were
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under the control of the Romans and they expected
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the Messiah to free them from the Romans. But
00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:56.639
Jesus really came to free them from their sin.
00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:00.059
So he didn't look like the king that was promised,
00:17:00.139 --> 00:17:03.440
but he was doing a greater freedom than they
00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:06.539
realized at the time. And that's exactly right.
00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:11.039
In a part of the, oh, if you will, the confrontation.
00:17:12.029 --> 00:17:15.990
between Jesus and the leaders of Israel, we're
00:17:15.990 --> 00:17:18.029
talking about the leaders, the religious leaders,
00:17:18.190 --> 00:17:21.069
the Pharisees and the Sadducees, was that they
00:17:21.069 --> 00:17:25.250
felt that they didn't have sin. Wasn't that the
00:17:25.250 --> 00:17:27.890
problem that Jesus constantly pointed out during
00:17:27.890 --> 00:17:31.950
his earthly ministry? Sure. I mean, it's hard
00:17:31.950 --> 00:17:33.930
to admit that you need a savior, right? When
00:17:33.930 --> 00:17:36.569
you think you're doing a pretty good job. But
00:17:36.569 --> 00:17:39.869
I think also. didn't after Jesus quote this he
00:17:39.869 --> 00:17:42.130
said something like this scripture is fulfilled
00:17:42.130 --> 00:17:44.990
in your presence or I'm the guy and They got
00:17:44.990 --> 00:17:48.309
all mad and said you're blaspheming and it can't
00:17:48.309 --> 00:17:51.589
be true and they Tried to get rid of them then
00:17:51.589 --> 00:17:54.150
I think yeah, they tried to throw him off a cliff
00:17:54.150 --> 00:17:57.470
and what's interesting about that passage was
00:17:57.470 --> 00:18:03.269
that the eventual eternal state of the the kingdom
00:18:03.269 --> 00:18:07.069
of God is really going to be twofold. There will
00:18:07.069 --> 00:18:10.109
be this mMllennial Kingdom and then this final
00:18:10.109 --> 00:18:12.410
eternal state and a New Heaven and New Rarth.
00:18:12.410 --> 00:18:16.109
Here in Isaiah is a perfect example of where
00:18:16.109 --> 00:18:21.170
Christ is really talking in His first coming
00:18:21.170 --> 00:18:29.329
and stops midway on verse 2, which was and is
00:18:29.329 --> 00:18:32.549
going to be fulfilled in his second coming. So
00:18:32.549 --> 00:18:35.509
while the Jews thought he was going to fulfill
00:18:35.509 --> 00:18:41.490
all of Isaiah 61, 1, and 2 in his coming, it
00:18:41.490 --> 00:18:45.710
ended up being that he only was here to fulfill
00:18:45.710 --> 00:18:50.029
the first part of Isaiah 61, 1, and 2, and that
00:18:50.029 --> 00:18:55.029
the final part of Isaiah 61, 2 will be fulfilled
00:18:55.029 --> 00:18:58.869
at his second coming. Yes, that makes it a little
00:18:58.869 --> 00:19:01.509
tricky to understand some prophecy because some
00:19:01.509 --> 00:19:03.509
of it's already been fulfilled and some of it
00:19:03.509 --> 00:19:07.589
is still to be fulfilled. So we need to be diligent
00:19:07.589 --> 00:19:10.410
studyers in order to understand all that. That's
00:19:10.410 --> 00:19:14.910
right. And by the way, some, and I don't particularly,
00:19:15.190 --> 00:19:17.750
I can't say definitively one way or the other,
00:19:17.869 --> 00:19:22.660
but some have put forth the idea that if Israel
00:19:22.660 --> 00:19:26.539
had been at the time receptive to Christ. And
00:19:26.539 --> 00:19:28.819
here we're talking about the religious leaders,
00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:32.660
the nation of Israel entirely. If they had been
00:19:32.660 --> 00:19:37.119
receptive to Christ, that his first coming would
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.279
have been his only coming. Now, I don't know
00:19:40.279 --> 00:19:44.460
that that makes sense, but certainly what scripture
00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:49.359
tells us is he came. to fulfill part of Isaiah
00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:52.599
sixty one one and two and will come to fulfill
00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:56.519
it finally in the second coming. All right. Now
00:19:56.519 --> 00:20:01.160
we talked about this idea of of the virgin birth.
00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:03.920
And the most important thing is that it had to
00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:08.660
come about because we needed a savior, a perfect
00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:11.700
savior. You mentioned earlier that throughout
00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:17.269
scripture in the Old Testament. we're told that
00:20:17.269 --> 00:20:20.529
there are these sacrifices. And the key of the
00:20:20.529 --> 00:20:23.349
sacrifices is whatever it was, whether it was
00:20:23.349 --> 00:20:26.630
a lamb, whether it was a ram or a bull, whether
00:20:26.630 --> 00:20:29.569
it was a, not a ram, but a bull, or whether it
00:20:29.569 --> 00:20:32.589
was turtle doves. They had to be without blemish,
00:20:33.089 --> 00:20:37.210
right? Yes. Which is to say that they were the
00:20:37.210 --> 00:20:40.920
first fruits. Right. You couldn't give for a
00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:44.900
sacrifice a blemish lamb, for example, a crippled
00:20:44.900 --> 00:20:48.920
lamb or whatever. No, you were making this sacrifice
00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:52.500
to God and it had to be your best. That's right.
00:20:53.059 --> 00:20:57.519
So with that in mind, Christ had to be perfect.
00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:01.559
One of the things that we see in the New Testament,
00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:04.279
the very first opening in the New Testament,
00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:08.920
of course, after 400 years of silence, from Malachi
00:21:08.920 --> 00:21:12.920
to Matthew. Matthew opens chapter one with this
00:21:12.920 --> 00:21:18.759
long lineage of Christ or of Jesus, I should
00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:25.259
say. And that lineage shows the way from Abraham
00:21:25.259 --> 00:21:29.839
all the way through David and finally through
00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:36.009
Jesus. And of course, Joseph is Jesus' supposed
00:21:36.009 --> 00:21:42.130
father, as Luke tells us in Luke chapter 3 verse
00:21:42.130 --> 00:21:48.230
23, and it is affirmed by the angel who meets
00:21:48.230 --> 00:21:55.609
Joseph in Matthew chapter 1 verse 20. And here
00:21:55.609 --> 00:22:00.849
we see that God blesses Joseph by bestowing upon
00:22:00.849 --> 00:22:06.569
him the honor of being Jesus' dad and being a
00:22:06.569 --> 00:22:10.809
part of his early life. The modern -day equivalent
00:22:10.809 --> 00:22:14.210
is similar to a man who marries a woman who just
00:22:14.210 --> 00:22:17.930
gave birth to a child. He is not the biological
00:22:17.930 --> 00:22:23.490
father, but as he helps to raise the child, he
00:22:23.490 --> 00:22:26.349
is in fact his dad. And for those of you out
00:22:26.349 --> 00:22:31.630
there who are in such roles, it is an honor that
00:22:31.630 --> 00:22:36.160
God bestows upon all of us who take on such a
00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:40.680
role while not being the biological father. Now
00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:44.700
the important thing there is that Joseph is a
00:22:44.700 --> 00:22:48.420
part of the Davidic line, and therefore Jesus
00:22:48.420 --> 00:22:51.599
is a part of the Davidic line. And we're told
00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:55.160
that there is this covenant in the Old Testament
00:22:55.160 --> 00:23:02.250
where Nathan is a priest and he is a prophet
00:23:02.250 --> 00:23:06.250
as well and God speaks through him to give David
00:23:06.250 --> 00:23:11.670
a, what we call, the Davidic covenant and if you'll
00:23:11.670 --> 00:23:17.589
read that that is in 2nd Samuel chapter 7 verses
00:23:17.589 --> 00:23:24.390
8 through 17. 2nd Samuel 7 verse 8 now then tell
00:23:24.390 --> 00:23:27.369
my servant David this is what the Lord Almighty
00:23:27.369 --> 00:23:31.109
says I took you from the pasture and from following
00:23:31.109 --> 00:23:34.609
the flock to be ruler over my people Israel I
00:23:34.609 --> 00:23:37.089
have been with you wherever you have gone and
00:23:37.089 --> 00:23:39.630
I have cut off all your enemies from before you
00:23:39.630 --> 00:23:42.650
now I will make your name great like the names
00:23:42.650 --> 00:23:45.849
of the greatest men of the earth and I will provide
00:23:45.849 --> 00:23:48.950
a place for my people Israel and will plant them
00:23:48.950 --> 00:23:51.609
so that they can have a home of their own and
00:23:51.609 --> 00:23:54.390
no longer be disturbed wicked people will not
00:23:54.390 --> 00:23:57.089
oppress them anymore as they did at the beginning
00:23:57.089 --> 00:23:59.609
and have done ever since the time I appointed
00:23:59.609 --> 00:24:02.450
leaders over my people Israel. I will also give
00:24:02.450 --> 00:24:05.349
you rest from all your enemies. The Lord declares
00:24:05.349 --> 00:24:08.029
to you that the Lord himself will establish a
00:24:08.029 --> 00:24:11.109
house for you. When your days are over and you
00:24:11.109 --> 00:24:13.450
rest with your fathers, I will raise up your
00:24:13.450 --> 00:24:16.190
offspring to succeed you who will come from your
00:24:16.190 --> 00:24:19.369
own body and I will establish his kingdom. He
00:24:19.369 --> 00:24:21.509
is the one who will build a house for my name
00:24:21.509 --> 00:24:23.890
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
00:24:23.890 --> 00:24:26.900
forever. I will be his father, and he will be
00:24:26.900 --> 00:24:30.400
my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him
00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:32.799
with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted
00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:35.579
by men. But my love will never be taken away
00:24:35.579 --> 00:24:38.339
from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I
00:24:38.339 --> 00:24:41.779
removed from before you. Your house and your
00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:45.279
kingdom will endure forever before me. Your throne
00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:49.539
will be established forever." And the messianic
00:24:49.539 --> 00:24:52.920
part of that Davidic covenant is in verses 12,
00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:57.559
13, and 16. the nation of Israel recognized as
00:24:57.559 --> 00:25:01.119
a promise to David and to the nation Israel that
00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:05.220
there would be once again this great kingdom
00:25:05.220 --> 00:25:10.079
and it unlike the kingdom of David and Solomon
00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:14.440
would never perish and it would last for forever
00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:19.299
and there's a little difficulty in this in that
00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:23.769
the kings within the Davidic covenant, were they
00:25:23.769 --> 00:25:26.930
good kings or bad kings? How were they, Anne? There
00:25:26.930 --> 00:25:29.029
were a lot of kings and some of them were good,
00:25:29.069 --> 00:25:31.990
but most of them were bad. And it isn't too long
00:25:31.990 --> 00:25:33.829
after this covenant is made that they started
00:25:33.829 --> 00:25:36.650
having problems because I believe Solomon is
00:25:36.650 --> 00:25:39.470
the one who's referred to here about building
00:25:39.470 --> 00:25:41.549
the house for my name. He's the one that built
00:25:41.549 --> 00:25:44.890
the temple, right? But then after him, his son
00:25:44.890 --> 00:25:47.529
was king for a while. And then that's when the
00:25:47.529 --> 00:25:50.099
kingdom split. Right, Bob? Then we had the northern
00:25:50.099 --> 00:25:53.480
kingdom and the southern kingdom, and I think
00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:56.339
one of the kingdoms, every king was bad, and
00:25:56.339 --> 00:25:58.519
the other kingdom, there was a couple good ones,
00:25:58.740 --> 00:26:02.200
but it was pretty much a mess. That's right.
00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:05.059
The kingdom of Israel, which were the ten northern
00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:07.440
tribes of the northern kingdom, all those kings
00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:11.220
were a mess and of ill repute, if I can put it
00:26:11.220 --> 00:26:13.519
that way. In the southern kingdom, the kingdom
00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:15.819
of Judah and Benjamin, which were the other two
00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:19.619
tribes, were not much better. And yes, you're
00:26:19.619 --> 00:26:22.859
exactly right. There were a couple of good kings
00:26:22.859 --> 00:26:26.940
who turned back to God. And yet this cycle goes
00:26:26.940 --> 00:26:29.380
on and on and on, which is really the cycle of
00:26:29.380 --> 00:26:33.940
Israel throughout history. And finally, God's
00:26:33.940 --> 00:26:39.259
had enough. So the prophet Jeremiah is told by
00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:46.690
God to prophesy about the fact that David's offspring
00:26:46.690 --> 00:26:50.970
is no longer going to reign. And we find that
00:26:50.970 --> 00:26:55.670
in Jeremiah 22, 24 through 29. Could you read
00:26:55.670 --> 00:27:13.990
that for us, Anne? “As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and I will hand you over to those
00:27:13.990 --> 00:27:17.450
who seek your life, those you fear, to Nebuchadnezzar,
00:27:17.490 --> 00:27:20.869
king of Babylon, and to the Babylonians. I will
00:27:20.869 --> 00:27:23.269
hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into
00:27:23.269 --> 00:27:26.210
another country, where neither of you was born,
00:27:26.609 --> 00:27:30.190
and there you both will die. You will never come
00:27:30.190 --> 00:27:33.549
back to the land you long to return to. Is this
00:27:33.549 --> 00:27:37.390
man Jehoiakim, a despised, broken pot, an object
00:27:37.390 --> 00:27:41.420
no one wants? Why will he and his children be
00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:44.240
hurled out, cast into a land they do not know.
00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:47.720
O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord.
00:27:48.140 --> 00:27:51.279
This is what the Lord says, record this man as
00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:54.119
if childless, a man who will not prosper in his
00:27:54.119 --> 00:27:56.720
lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper,
00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:59.559
none will sit on the throne of David or rule
00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:03.380
any more in Judah. So here you have the nation
00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:08.329
of Israel with a quandary because seemingly God
00:28:08.329 --> 00:28:11.329
first makes a covenant with David, which we read
00:28:11.329 --> 00:28:16.710
in Second Samuel that says, you will have a offspring
00:28:16.710 --> 00:28:20.809
that will reign forever, the nation of Israel.
00:28:21.269 --> 00:28:27.710
And then here we read in Jeremiah that no longer
00:28:27.710 --> 00:28:32.130
will the offspring of David reign. For human
00:28:32.130 --> 00:28:35.289
beings, this would be an impossible solution
00:28:35.289 --> 00:28:38.960
to a problem. it is solved through the virgin
00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:45.619
birth, because the virgin birth means that the
00:28:45.619 --> 00:28:49.900
bloodline of Jesus Christ came through Mary.
00:28:50.259 --> 00:28:52.859
And if we were to turn, and we're not going to
00:28:52.859 --> 00:28:55.259
do that today, the listener can certainly do
00:28:55.259 --> 00:28:59.940
that, in Luke chapter 3, there's this lineage
00:28:59.940 --> 00:29:04.579
also given, but it's given from Mary's side.
00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:09.079
and Mary's lineage goes back through David. So
00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:13.059
what you have with the virgin birth, God is the
00:29:13.059 --> 00:29:16.980
father, the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, and
00:29:16.980 --> 00:29:21.420
so the fulfillment of David's covenant through
00:29:21.420 --> 00:29:25.680
Christ is done through the lineage of Mary, but
00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:30.279
the kingly lineage is through Joseph. And so
00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:35.349
this seeming incongruence or impossibility of
00:29:35.349 --> 00:29:39.309
the Davidic covenant with also the chastisement
00:29:39.309 --> 00:29:43.710
of the Davidic kingship is solved through the
00:29:43.710 --> 00:29:47.109
virgin birth. It's just another wonderful example
00:29:47.109 --> 00:29:51.049
of when people try to say, well, I think they
00:29:51.049 --> 00:29:53.269
say it in two ways. The first thing they try
00:29:53.269 --> 00:29:57.299
to say is, well, The Bible was really written
00:29:57.299 --> 00:30:01.599
by men and it's all man -made. Well, first off,
00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:06.920
these things written by Jeremiah and written
00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:12.619
in Chronicles and in Samuel were thousands, hundreds
00:30:12.619 --> 00:30:17.180
of years before Christ was born. The fulfillment
00:30:17.180 --> 00:30:21.819
happened over many, many, many, many years, and
00:30:21.819 --> 00:30:25.359
man could not keep their story this tight if
00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:29.019
it were written by a single person or if it were
00:30:29.019 --> 00:30:31.799
only human related. And the other point to make
00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:35.579
here is that some people who want us as believers
00:30:35.579 --> 00:30:38.640
to question the validity and the truth of the
00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:41.279
Bible will point to this and say, well, see,
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:45.950
this says this. and it says that, and it's impossible
00:30:45.950 --> 00:30:49.089
to reconcile those two. The answer is no, they're
00:30:49.089 --> 00:30:51.670
very comfortably reconciled in the virgin birth.
00:30:52.269 --> 00:30:57.769
But what we see then is this wonderful matching
00:30:57.769 --> 00:31:04.289
of this Davidic covenant that adheres to God
00:31:04.289 --> 00:31:09.390
essentially passing judgment over David's offspring.
00:31:09.670 --> 00:31:13.750
And yet there's this promise of this future king,
00:31:14.289 --> 00:31:17.329
God calls the righteous branch. And so, while
00:31:17.329 --> 00:31:20.529
we're in Jeremiah, let's turn to chapter 23,
00:31:20.789 --> 00:31:45.299
verse 5 through 6. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ And now turn to chapter 33
00:31:45.299 --> 00:31:49.339
of Jeremiah 14 through 16. The days are coming,
00:31:49.619 --> 00:31:52.059
declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the gracious
00:31:52.059 --> 00:31:54.500
promise I made to the house of Israel and to
00:31:54.500 --> 00:31:57.640
the house of Judah. In those days and at that
00:31:57.640 --> 00:32:00.559
time I will make a righteous branch sprout from
00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:03.440
David's line. He will do what is just and right
00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:06.579
in the land. In those days Judah will be saved
00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:09.589
and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the
00:32:09.589 --> 00:32:12.430
name by which it will be called. The Lord our
00:32:12.430 --> 00:32:15.890
righteous." And then, of course, in Isaiah 1
00:32:15.890 --> 00:32:19.950
through 5, sorry, chapter 11, 1 through 5, it
00:32:19.950 --> 00:32:23.190
says, then a shoot will spring from the stem
00:32:23.190 --> 00:32:26.529
of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear
00:32:26.529 --> 00:32:29.589
fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest on him,
00:32:29.950 --> 00:32:32.369
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit
00:32:32.369 --> 00:32:35.180
of counsel and strength. the spirit of knowledge
00:32:35.180 --> 00:32:38.359
and the fear of the Lord. And he will delight
00:32:38.359 --> 00:32:41.279
in the fear of the Lord, and he will not judge
00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:45.720
by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by
00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:48.900
what his ears hear. But with righteousness he
00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:51.839
will judge the poor and decide with fairness
00:32:51.839 --> 00:32:55.079
for the afflicted of the earth. And he will strike
00:32:55.079 --> 00:32:58.440
the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:01.299
the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:05.119
and righteousness will be the belt about his
00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:10.539
loins, and faithfulness the belt about his waist."
00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:14.940
The nation Israel was looking for this Messiah.
00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:19.299
They just came to the wrong spot, I think. That's
00:33:19.299 --> 00:33:23.339
right. And this root, this root of righteousness,
00:33:23.960 --> 00:33:29.240
this righteous branch, was to come through the
00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:32.710
line of David. because of the covenant that God
00:33:32.710 --> 00:33:36.710
had made with David. And so it was. And so it
00:33:36.710 --> 00:33:40.210
is. Oh, and because Mary was from the line of
00:33:40.210 --> 00:33:44.430
David. And was Joseph also from the line of David?
00:33:44.849 --> 00:33:48.650
That's right. So Joseph was through Solomon's
00:33:48.650 --> 00:33:53.289
line. And so Mary's line was through Nathan.
00:33:54.150 --> 00:33:59.910
So while David The offspring of Joseph was through
00:33:59.910 --> 00:34:05.769
Solomon, David's son. Mary's was the offspring
00:34:05.769 --> 00:34:11.050
of Nathan, David's son. And so the kingly line
00:34:11.050 --> 00:34:15.170
was through Solomon, Rehoboam, and all of those
00:34:15.170 --> 00:34:18.289
kings leading all the way through the lineage
00:34:18.289 --> 00:34:24.409
of Joseph. And Mary through Nathan, David's son.
00:34:24.599 --> 00:34:29.559
who was not a king, nor any of Mary's lineage
00:34:29.559 --> 00:34:34.099
were kings, but they were still from the loins
00:34:34.099 --> 00:34:37.260
of David. Okay, so that's how it fits together.
00:34:37.940 --> 00:34:41.059
Yeah, exactly. So we have a little time left
00:34:41.059 --> 00:34:44.559
here, and I think everybody really knows the,
00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:47.519
if you will, the nativity narrative, but there's
00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:52.480
one more... important part of this providential
00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:55.920
work and miraculous work of God. That starts
00:34:55.920 --> 00:35:00.840
with this betrothal of this Joseph and this Mary
00:35:00.840 --> 00:35:05.920
from Nazareth. And yet there's a prophecy in
00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:10.440
Micah 5 chapter 2. Let's turn to that and read
00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:18.469
that if you will, Anne. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for meout of you will come
00:35:18.469 --> 00:35:21.469
for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose
00:35:21.469 --> 00:35:24.829
origins are from of old, from ancient times."
00:35:24.829 --> 00:35:29.309
How in the world does our great God solve this
00:35:29.309 --> 00:35:34.789
dilemma of this betrothed couple of which a soon
00:35:34.789 --> 00:35:38.150
-to -be wife is pregnant with child from the
00:35:38.150 --> 00:35:40.650
Holy Spirit, but they're in Nazareth. So how
00:35:40.650 --> 00:35:44.880
is this resolved? I think I think some king is
00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.940
gonna call some ruler is gonna call for a census
00:35:47.940 --> 00:35:50.360
and Everybody's gonna have to go back to their
00:35:50.360 --> 00:35:53.739
hometown and that's how we get Mary and Joseph
00:35:53.739 --> 00:35:58.039
to travel to Bethlehem That's exactly right.
00:35:58.179 --> 00:36:04.119
And so we see that Luke chapter 2 verse 1 and
00:36:04.119 --> 00:36:07.659
I'll read that for us now in those days a decree
00:36:07.659 --> 00:36:11.360
went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be
00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:14.800
taken and of all the inhabited earth now make
00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:17.960
this point obviously there are more people that
00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:21.019
were on the earth it wasn't all the inhabited
00:36:21.019 --> 00:36:24.159
earth in the census the part that rome inhabited
00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:27.619
you're right you're right right some people misunderstand
00:36:27.619 --> 00:36:30.320
that and say well you know someone from china
00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:33.800
didn't go well the Bible here is talking about
00:36:33.800 --> 00:36:37.199
the inhabited roman empire this was the first
00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:40.039
census taken while Quinaerius the governor of
00:36:40.039 --> 00:36:43.980
Syria and everyone was on his way to register
00:36:43.980 --> 00:36:47.300
for the census, each to his own city. Joseph
00:36:47.300 --> 00:36:51.139
also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth
00:36:51.139 --> 00:36:54.500
to Judah, to the city of David, which is called
00:36:54.500 --> 00:36:57.659
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family
00:36:57.659 --> 00:37:01.780
of David in order to register along with Mary,
00:37:02.139 --> 00:37:06.079
who was engaged to him and was with child. While
00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:08.559
they were there, the days were completed for
00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:11.920
her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn
00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:15.139
son and she wrapped him in cloth and laid him
00:37:15.139 --> 00:37:18.780
in a manger because there was no room for them
00:37:18.780 --> 00:37:21.579
in the inn. That's a good start. We've all heard
00:37:21.579 --> 00:37:24.440
that and it's great every time you hear it. Yeah,
00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:29.880
so once again what we see is the miraculous nature
00:37:29.880 --> 00:37:33.280
of God and like I always I guess I always like
00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:36.579
to say there are these miracles which are throughout
00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:41.519
scripture, and they are supernatural, and they
00:37:41.519 --> 00:37:44.980
are amazing. And some of that is here in this
00:37:44.980 --> 00:37:48.380
story of the nativity and the virgin birth. And
00:37:48.380 --> 00:37:52.219
at the same time, in our lives today, throughout
00:37:52.219 --> 00:37:54.980
human history, there's what I'd like to call
00:37:54.980 --> 00:37:58.940
God's providence, these millions and millions
00:37:58.940 --> 00:38:04.099
of contingencies that God lines up and causes
00:38:04.099 --> 00:38:08.480
to happen. that brings about His will, what I
00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:11.460
would say is His providential will. And we see
00:38:11.460 --> 00:38:15.219
many of these things also in the Nativity story
00:38:15.219 --> 00:38:17.920
and in the virgin birth. And it's all to say
00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:21.039
nothing is impossible with God. That's true.
00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:25.219
Nothing is impossible. So we hope you've maybe
00:38:25.219 --> 00:38:29.579
seen a little different side of the... Virgin
00:38:29.579 --> 00:38:32.980
birth and the birth of Christ which we celebrate
00:38:32.980 --> 00:38:36.139
each and every year here in December with Christmas
00:38:36.139 --> 00:38:38.699
and hopefully it's giving you a new perspective
00:38:38.699 --> 00:38:42.559
if you weren't aware of it on how God is always
00:38:42.559 --> 00:38:45.800
at work as I like to say God the Father's on
00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:48.840
the Throne Christ is in control and the Holy Spirit
00:38:48.840 --> 00:38:52.159
is on the move and with that in mind and will
00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:55.949
you take us before the Lord? Of course Father,
00:38:56.050 --> 00:38:58.449
we thank you so much for this time that we could
00:38:58.449 --> 00:39:02.110
talk about the Nativity story. And we're just
00:39:02.110 --> 00:39:04.550
so thankful for Mary and Joseph and that they
00:39:04.550 --> 00:39:08.210
were obedient and willing to go along with your
00:39:08.210 --> 00:39:10.570
plan, Lord, even though it presented many challenges
00:39:10.570 --> 00:39:14.349
to them. We're thankful for your scriptures that
00:39:14.349 --> 00:39:18.150
show us how promises in the Old Testament were
00:39:18.150 --> 00:39:20.650
fulfilled in the New Testament by Christ's coming.
00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:24.519
And we're so thankful that Jesus was willing
00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:27.900
to come to be that perfect lamb to be the sacrifice
00:39:27.900 --> 00:39:30.519
for our sin so that we could be saved and spend
00:39:30.519 --> 00:39:33.880
eternity with you in your eternal kingdom where
00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:36.579
you sit on the throne and everyone acknowledges
00:39:36.579 --> 00:39:38.840
your glory and your power and your authority.
00:39:39.900 --> 00:39:42.119
We're looking forward to that day, Lord. where
00:39:42.119 --> 00:39:44.420
we can live in a place where there is always
00:39:44.420 --> 00:39:46.780
peace. But we thank you that even in this world
00:39:46.780 --> 00:39:49.059
today, we can have peace inside of us because
00:39:49.059 --> 00:39:51.880
of your Holy Spirit, because of the fact that
00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:58.039
you indwell us and you give us joy and hope and
00:39:58.039 --> 00:40:00.679
comfort and that we can have peace when the world
00:40:00.679 --> 00:40:04.119
seems to be going crazy. Lord, we pray that as
00:40:04.119 --> 00:40:10.170
we walk closer to Christmas Day and the activity,
00:40:10.449 --> 00:40:13.550
and the bustle, and the hustle, and hairiness
00:40:13.550 --> 00:40:16.309
that sometimes comes along with Christmas that
00:40:16.309 --> 00:40:19.809
we won't forget to pause and remember the manger.
00:40:20.070 --> 00:40:24.329
Remember Jesus whom you sent to be the best gift
00:40:24.329 --> 00:40:27.449
ever for us. Lord, we just thank you. We give
00:40:27.449 --> 00:40:30.570
you praise, we give you glory, and we thank you
00:40:30.570 --> 00:40:36.590
in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, there you have it.
00:40:36.869 --> 00:40:39.070
We've enjoyed our conversation today and hope
00:40:39.070 --> 00:40:42.170
that you feel more equipped to examine scripture
00:40:42.170 --> 00:40:45.050
to find what God has to say about the important
00:40:45.050 --> 00:40:49.250
circumstances you're facing in your life. Until
00:40:49.250 --> 00:40:52.869
next time, examine the scripture, drink from
00:40:52.869 --> 00:40:55.449
the word of life, and let the Bible feed your
00:40:55.449 --> 00:40:55.710
spirit.
00:00:01.660 --> 00:00:04.900
Welcome to Examining Scripture. We seek to encourage
00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:07.919
believers in Jesus Christ to drink from the Word
00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:11.039
of Life. As God's revelation to mankind, we want
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to demystify the Bible and help you find what
00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:16.579
God has to say about the circumstances you're
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facing. We're not pastors or theologians. We're
00:00:19.500 --> 00:00:22.859
sinners just like you who, by the grace of God,
00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.879
have come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. If
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we can thirst for Scripture, so can you. Hi,
00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:31.899
I'm your host, Bob Redd. along with co -host
00:00:31.899 --> 00:00:34.859
Anne Birt. Thank you for joining us in another
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episode of Examining Scripture. Hello Anne. Hello Bob. Hopefully this
00:00:45.770 --> 00:00:48.990
will be of interest to our listeners in the sense
00:00:48.990 --> 00:00:51.869
that while we certainly are going to be talking
00:00:51.869 --> 00:00:54.770
about the nativity scene and the virgin birth,
00:00:54.950 --> 00:00:57.909
we're really wanting to talk about why it is
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there is a virgin birth. The way I would like
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to start, the most important thing about the
00:01:05.670 --> 00:01:09.269
celebration of Christmas is the fact God sent
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His only Son to this earth, fully man, fully
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God, to walk this earth a perfect sacrifice for
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our sins so that we might have those who believe
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a direct relationship with the true and living
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God. With that in mind, talk about that virgin
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birth. OK, well, my understanding about the virgin
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birth is that it needed to happen because that
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was the only way to get a person on the planet.
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that was sinless, right? Because if we go all
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the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve in the
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garden, everything was perfect, but then Adam
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and Eve sinned. And then the Bible tells us that
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because of that sin, the original sin, everybody
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that was born after that was born into sin. And
00:02:00.859 --> 00:02:05.840
so Jesus needed to be born a different way from
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everybody else. And it was through this virgin
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birth that God accomplished that. Also, I think
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it's important to note that Jesus was sinless
00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:20.719
because He was coming to be the perfect sacrifice
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for our sin. If you go way back into the Old
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Testament again, the Jewish people for hundreds
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of years had been taking lambs and doves and
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other animals to the temple to sacrifice as a
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payment for their sin. But when Jesus came, He
00:02:36.419 --> 00:02:39.479
became the perfect sacrifice for everybody. Jews
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and Gentiles once and for all. And so I think
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that's a key part about the virgin birth that
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we need to keep in mind. And I think there's
00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:54.000
maybe a future podcast in there where the thing
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that we as Christians don't always fully comprehend
00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:02.639
is this idea of a Messiah. This is something
00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:06.539
that was throughout the Old Testament where Israel,
00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:11.469
the people of God, we're consistently and constantly
00:03:11.469 --> 00:03:15.330
told to be looking and watching for this Messiah.
00:03:15.490 --> 00:03:19.409
So the whole idea of, in this case, Christ coming
00:03:19.409 --> 00:03:23.409
to this earth, fully God, fully man, as the Messiah
00:03:23.409 --> 00:03:27.969
was exactly what was prophesied in the Old Testament
00:03:27.969 --> 00:03:33.289
and was exactly what the nation Israel was and
00:03:33.289 --> 00:03:37.270
to this day continues to look for. So perhaps
00:03:37.270 --> 00:03:41.009
that's a podcast in and of itself. So let's look
00:03:41.009 --> 00:03:44.669
at some scripture that Supports what you're saying
00:03:44.669 --> 00:03:48.449
here. I'm gonna read the first one. It's in Romans
00:03:48.449 --> 00:03:54.750
chapter 5 17 through 21 for if by the Transgression
00:03:54.750 --> 00:03:58.490
of the one the one here we're talking about or
00:03:58.490 --> 00:04:01.669
Paul is writing about is Adam as you described
00:04:01.669 --> 00:04:05.300
death reigned through the one Much more those who
00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:08.139
receive the abundance of grace and of the gift
00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:10.780
of righteousness will reign in life through the
00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:16.100
One, Jesus Christ. So then, as through one transgression
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there resulted condemnation to all men, even
00:04:20.420 --> 00:04:24.459
so through one act of righteousness there resulted
00:04:24.459 --> 00:04:28.639
justification of life to all men. For as through
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the one man's disobedience, that being Adam,
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the many were made sinners, Even so, through
00:04:34.589 --> 00:04:37.310
the obedience of the One, the many will be made
00:04:37.310 --> 00:04:41.250
righteous. The law came in so that the transgression
00:04:41.250 --> 00:04:44.610
would be increased, but where sin increased,
00:04:44.970 --> 00:04:48.829
grace abounded all the more. So that as sin reigned
00:04:48.829 --> 00:04:52.050
in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness
00:04:52.050 --> 00:04:56.709
to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
00:04:57.069 --> 00:05:00.209
That really sums up what you were saying, Anne,
00:05:00.290 --> 00:05:04.329
about the need for this righteous individual
00:05:04.329 --> 00:05:07.569
to come in. And I think we have an amplification
00:05:07.569 --> 00:05:11.910
of that in Hebrews if we turn to Hebrews chapter
00:05:11.910 --> 00:05:25.240
4, 14 through 16. Therefore since we have a great high priest, lwho has gone through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith
00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.120
we profess, for we do not have a high priest
00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:30.579
who is unable to sympathize with our weakness,
00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:33.860
but we have one who has been tempted in every
00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:37.680
way just as we are, yet was without sin." Yeah,
00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:41.379
isn't that so, I don't know, refreshing and comforting?
00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:44.920
Well, it is because when Jesus came to earth,
00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:48.000
he experienced all the emotions and feelings
00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.769
and things, you know, family conflict, people
00:05:52.769 --> 00:05:57.490
not liking him, hunger. He was able to stay true
00:05:57.490 --> 00:06:00.990
to God and stay obedient and do all of his life
00:06:00.990 --> 00:06:04.009
without sinning. I don't even think I can get
00:06:04.009 --> 00:06:06.629
through a whole hour without sinning. We know
00:06:06.629 --> 00:06:09.129
Jesus came to earth. He was sinless when he got
00:06:09.129 --> 00:06:11.550
here and he was sinless when he left. So and
00:06:11.550 --> 00:06:14.449
he promises to walk with us every day of our
00:06:14.449 --> 00:06:17.829
lives so we can strive and try to become more
00:06:17.829 --> 00:06:20.449
like he is. So, yeah, I think it is a comfort.
00:06:21.410 --> 00:06:26.189
Yeah. And what's important here is this notion.
00:06:26.569 --> 00:06:31.050
Some people wrongly think of Christ appearing
00:06:31.050 --> 00:06:36.620
as though he came in and took over Jesus's body.
00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:40.379
And that's not at all what scripture tells us.
00:06:40.420 --> 00:06:43.540
What scripture tells us is Christ came fully
00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:48.779
man, fully God, and remained in essence who he
00:06:48.779 --> 00:06:52.060
was, but for a time while he was here on this
00:06:52.060 --> 00:06:56.399
earth, set aside some of his attributes of godliness.
00:06:56.620 --> 00:07:01.550
And I think Paul speaks of that In Philippians
00:07:01.550 --> 00:07:05.470
chapter 2, we find that in verse 5 through 11.
00:07:06.750 --> 00:07:09.689
Would you read that for us? Your attitude should
00:07:09.689 --> 00:07:12.790
be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Who, being
00:07:12.790 --> 00:07:16.230
in very nature God, did not consider equality
00:07:16.230 --> 00:07:19.250
with God something to be grasped, but made himself
00:07:19.250 --> 00:07:21.769
nothing, taking the very nature of a servant
00:07:22.029 --> 00:07:24.910
being made in human likeness and being found
00:07:24.910 --> 00:07:28.410
in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and
00:07:28.410 --> 00:07:31.230
became obedient to death, even death on a cross.
00:07:31.689 --> 00:07:34.430
Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place
00:07:34.430 --> 00:07:37.029
and gave him the name that is above every name,
00:07:37.170 --> 00:07:39.689
that at the name of Jesus, every knee should
00:07:39.689 --> 00:07:42.250
bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
00:07:42.310 --> 00:07:45.189
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
00:07:45.189 --> 00:07:48.269
Lord to the glory of God the Father. There's
00:07:48.269 --> 00:07:51.930
so much important theological understanding in
00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.980
that writing from Paul. Number one, I like how
00:07:55.980 --> 00:08:00.100
he says it, Christ did not consider equality
00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:03.720
with God a thing to be grasped. Why is that?
00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:08.199
Well, if you already are what it is, meaning
00:08:08.199 --> 00:08:11.560
if he's already God, he didn't feel the need
00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:16.579
to grasp it. The quintessential example of someone
00:08:16.579 --> 00:08:19.959
who is wanting to grasp godliness, meaning to
00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:26.269
be God was Satan himself, right? He's the quintessential
00:08:26.269 --> 00:08:29.870
usurper of saying, I'm not God, therefore I want
00:08:29.870 --> 00:08:32.509
to be God and it's something I must grasp or
00:08:32.509 --> 00:08:37.429
I must achieve. Christ being fully God had no
00:08:37.429 --> 00:08:42.009
need to do so. And the second part about that
00:08:42.009 --> 00:08:47.889
that Paul tells us is he came as a man and says,
00:08:48.029 --> 00:08:52.450
having been found, As a man, he humbled himself.
00:08:52.610 --> 00:08:54.970
So the first thing he does, he comes as a servant,
00:08:55.230 --> 00:08:57.690
emptying himself, and that emptying himself is
00:08:57.690 --> 00:09:02.330
really setting aside some of his godly attributes
00:09:02.330 --> 00:09:06.850
for the purpose of living a human life. Yes,
00:09:06.850 --> 00:09:09.870
he, as we know in the temptation, Satan tempting
00:09:09.870 --> 00:09:14.309
him, could have turned stones into bread and
00:09:14.309 --> 00:09:18.429
utilized his godly powers, right? But he didn't.
00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:22.659
He chose not to, right? Because he was here to
00:09:22.659 --> 00:09:25.620
serve the Father. Right. Well, and it also says
00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:28.440
in the next line, he became obedient to death,
00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:32.179
which echoes back to Romans, where it says, because
00:09:32.179 --> 00:09:34.580
of Adam's disobedience, we're all made sinners.
00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:38.820
Because of Jesus's obedience, we can all be made
00:09:38.820 --> 00:09:41.500
righteous. Because Jesus was obedient to his
00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:45.059
Father's will to go to the cross and be that
00:09:45.059 --> 00:09:50.320
sacrifice for us. we can have eternal life. Yes.
00:09:50.679 --> 00:09:55.419
And to that point, some people point to the idea
00:09:55.419 --> 00:10:01.759
or suggest, well, God was projecting this position
00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:07.179
of Christ onto him and that it was something
00:10:07.179 --> 00:10:11.620
that was given from God to Christ. Well, Christ
00:10:11.620 --> 00:10:16.700
already is God. And one of the most important
00:10:16.700 --> 00:10:19.940
parts of that whole passage is the very last.
00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:22.820
So one of the things we see in Scripture, again,
00:10:22.820 --> 00:10:25.720
that can be another podcast, is where people
00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:31.200
are in awe of the presence of holy angels, and
00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:34.320
they want to fall down and bow down and worship
00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:37.580
them. And in Scripture, what we see is the holy
00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:43.320
angels saying, hey, I'm just one of you. Right
00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:47.299
you you don't worship me you worship God and
00:10:47.299 --> 00:10:51.440
and so the spirit inspiring Paul to write at
00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:56.740
the very end that all in heaven and on earth
00:10:56.740 --> 00:11:01.259
and under the earth will bow down and Confess
00:11:01.259 --> 00:11:05.159
Christ is Lord that part at the very end to the
00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:09.860
glory of God the Father God does not want any
00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:15.980
one to worship anybody other than Himself. And
00:11:15.980 --> 00:11:19.460
when he's saying here, he Paul through the power
00:11:19.460 --> 00:11:22.120
of the Holy Spirit saying that everybody will
00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:25.259
bow down, everybody will confess Jesus Christ
00:11:25.259 --> 00:11:30.899
is Lord, that is blasphemy if Christ were not
00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:37.519
God. And here we see the affirmation of this
00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:41.240
worship of Jesus to the glory of God the Father.
00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:47.059
All right. And this passage also reminds me of
00:11:47.059 --> 00:11:49.799
some things that John tells us in Revelation,
00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:52.100
right? If God's exalting him to the highest place
00:11:52.100 --> 00:11:53.919
and every knee is going to bow, this obviously
00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:56.580
hasn't happened yet, but one day Jesus is coming
00:11:56.580 --> 00:11:59.100
back as a king and he's going to be the king
00:11:59.100 --> 00:12:03.639
forever. And that harkens us back a little bit
00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:05.960
to the Old Testament about Jesus coming through
00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:07.639
the line of kings, which I know is something
00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:10.340
you wanted to talk about today. Well, and in
00:12:10.340 --> 00:12:13.899
fact, let's kind of go in reverse order. So you
00:12:13.899 --> 00:12:17.580
brought up this future kingdom of Christ. Let's
00:12:17.580 --> 00:12:24.159
turn to Revelation, chapter 20, verses one through
00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:27.740
six. One through six, and I'll read it for us.
00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:30.740
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
00:12:31.059 --> 00:12:33.899
holding the key of the abyss and a great chain
00:12:33.899 --> 00:12:37.950
in his hand. he laid hold of the dragon the serpent
00:12:37.950 --> 00:12:42.129
of old who is the devil and Satan and bound him
00:12:42.129 --> 00:12:45.269
for a thousand years and he threw him into the
00:12:45.269 --> 00:12:49.350
abyss and Shut it and sealed it over him so that
00:12:49.350 --> 00:12:52.950
he would not deceive the nations any longer Until
00:12:52.950 --> 00:12:56.809
the thousand years were completed After these
00:12:56.809 --> 00:13:00.070
things he must be released for a short time then
00:13:00.070 --> 00:13:04.580
I saw thrones and they sat on them and judgment
00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:07.740
was given to them. And I saw the souls of those
00:13:07.740 --> 00:13:10.460
who had been beheaded because of their testimony
00:13:10.460 --> 00:13:13.659
of Jesus and because of the Word of God, and
00:13:13.659 --> 00:13:16.100
those who had not worshiped the beast or his
00:13:16.100 --> 00:13:18.980
image, and had not received the mark on their
00:13:18.980 --> 00:13:22.259
forehead and on their hand, and they came to
00:13:22.259 --> 00:13:25.659
life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.480
The rest of the dead did not come to life until
00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:31.899
the thousand years were completed." This is the
00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:35.090
first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one
00:13:35.090 --> 00:13:38.570
who has a part in the first resurrection. Over
00:13:38.570 --> 00:13:41.450
these the second death has no power, but they
00:13:41.450 --> 00:13:44.429
will be priests of God and of Christ and will
00:13:44.429 --> 00:13:48.690
reign with him for a thousand years. That's the
00:13:48.690 --> 00:13:51.490
end game, isn't it Anne? Well, yeah, that's the
00:13:51.490 --> 00:13:54.450
end. That's almost the end because after this
00:13:54.450 --> 00:13:57.169
there is still a New Heaven and a New Earth and
00:13:57.169 --> 00:13:59.980
a new Jerusalem. And Jesus reigns forever. And
00:13:59.980 --> 00:14:01.980
that's after Satan gets all the way done with.
00:14:02.659 --> 00:14:05.600
But yeah, I mean, even in chapter 19, it refers
00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.019
to Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.
00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:11.539
And no matter what earthly kingdom is in charge
00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:14.480
now, we know at some point there will be a time
00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:17.700
where Jesus is the King. Everybody's going to
00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:19.980
acknowledge him. He's going to reign forever.
00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:21.799
It's going to be great. There's going to be no
00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:24.220
more sorrow, pain, death or anything. And it
00:14:24.220 --> 00:14:27.669
will be a great eternity. It is, and this whole
00:14:27.669 --> 00:14:31.529
idea of first the millennial kingdom of Christ's
00:14:31.529 --> 00:14:34.389
reign here on earth and then the eventual we
00:14:34.389 --> 00:14:37.750
call eternal state where Christ with God the
00:14:37.750 --> 00:14:40.809
Father reigns in the New Heaven and the New Earth
00:14:40.809 --> 00:14:45.110
and the New Jerusalem is a perfect example in
00:14:45.110 --> 00:14:48.350
all of scripture where sometimes we see things
00:14:48.350 --> 00:14:53.980
where it is truly the triumphant eternal state,
00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:59.120
but we find it in two phases. An example of that
00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:03.639
is when Christ came to this earth, he's sitting
00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:07.799
in the synagogue in Nazareth amongst his own
00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:10.320
people. These people knew Jesus, that he grew
00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:13.559
up with these townspeople. And he goes into the
00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:18.100
synagogue and he reads from Isaiah 61, 1 and
00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:23.159
2, but he only reads Isaiah 61 and the first
00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:28.299
part of Isaiah 62. Can you read that for us,
00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:34.080
Anne? Yes, Isaiah 61, one and two. The spirit
00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:37.000
of the sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord
00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.980
has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:42.480
He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted
00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:45.200
to proclaim freedom for the captives and release
00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:48.379
from darkness for the prisoners to proclaim the
00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:51.330
year of the Lord's favor. the day of vengeance
00:15:51.330 --> 00:15:55.590
of our God to comfort all who mourn. Yeah, so
00:15:55.590 --> 00:16:00.169
what Jesus does there and the people of Israel
00:16:00.169 --> 00:16:04.470
before Christ's coming recognized that that particular
00:16:04.470 --> 00:16:08.289
verse and other verses within both the Psalms
00:16:08.289 --> 00:16:11.809
and in Isaiah and other books were what they
00:16:11.809 --> 00:16:16.029
call messianic promises or messianic passages.
00:16:16.210 --> 00:16:19.490
So these were promises to the people of Israel
00:16:19.490 --> 00:16:22.649
through the prophets and through the Old Testament
00:16:22.649 --> 00:16:26.970
scriptures that pointed to this anointing, this
00:16:26.970 --> 00:16:31.389
coming Messiah that was going to restore Israel
00:16:31.389 --> 00:16:35.610
to its place of prominence, right? Right. And
00:16:35.610 --> 00:16:39.490
when you read this from Isaiah 61, he's going
00:16:39.490 --> 00:16:42.129
to proclaim freedom from the captives and release
00:16:42.129 --> 00:16:44.539
from darkness for the prisoners. I think at the
00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:47.700
time that Jesus was born, the Jewish people were
00:16:47.700 --> 00:16:51.019
under the control of the Romans and they expected
00:16:51.019 --> 00:16:54.039
the Messiah to free them from the Romans. But
00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:56.639
Jesus really came to free them from their sin.
00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:00.059
So he didn't look like the king that was promised,
00:17:00.139 --> 00:17:03.440
but he was doing a greater freedom than they
00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:06.539
realized at the time. And that's exactly right.
00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:11.039
In a part of the, oh, if you will, the confrontation.
00:17:12.029 --> 00:17:15.990
between Jesus and the leaders of Israel, we're
00:17:15.990 --> 00:17:18.029
talking about the leaders, the religious leaders,
00:17:18.190 --> 00:17:21.069
the Pharisees and the Sadducees, was that they
00:17:21.069 --> 00:17:25.250
felt that they didn't have sin. Wasn't that the
00:17:25.250 --> 00:17:27.890
problem that Jesus constantly pointed out during
00:17:27.890 --> 00:17:31.950
his earthly ministry? Sure. I mean, it's hard
00:17:31.950 --> 00:17:33.930
to admit that you need a savior, right? When
00:17:33.930 --> 00:17:36.569
you think you're doing a pretty good job. But
00:17:36.569 --> 00:17:39.869
I think also. didn't after Jesus quote this he
00:17:39.869 --> 00:17:42.130
said something like this scripture is fulfilled
00:17:42.130 --> 00:17:44.990
in your presence or I'm the guy and They got
00:17:44.990 --> 00:17:48.309
all mad and said you're blaspheming and it can't
00:17:48.309 --> 00:17:51.589
be true and they Tried to get rid of them then
00:17:51.589 --> 00:17:54.150
I think yeah, they tried to throw him off a cliff
00:17:54.150 --> 00:17:57.470
and what's interesting about that passage was
00:17:57.470 --> 00:18:03.269
that the eventual eternal state of the the kingdom
00:18:03.269 --> 00:18:07.069
of God is really going to be twofold. There will
00:18:07.069 --> 00:18:10.109
be this mMllennial Kingdom and then this final
00:18:10.109 --> 00:18:12.410
eternal state and a New Heaven and New Rarth.
00:18:12.410 --> 00:18:16.109
Here in Isaiah is a perfect example of where
00:18:16.109 --> 00:18:21.170
Christ is really talking in His first coming
00:18:21.170 --> 00:18:29.329
and stops midway on verse 2, which was and is
00:18:29.329 --> 00:18:32.549
going to be fulfilled in his second coming. So
00:18:32.549 --> 00:18:35.509
while the Jews thought he was going to fulfill
00:18:35.509 --> 00:18:41.490
all of Isaiah 61, 1, and 2 in his coming, it
00:18:41.490 --> 00:18:45.710
ended up being that he only was here to fulfill
00:18:45.710 --> 00:18:50.029
the first part of Isaiah 61, 1, and 2, and that
00:18:50.029 --> 00:18:55.029
the final part of Isaiah 61, 2 will be fulfilled
00:18:55.029 --> 00:18:58.869
at his second coming. Yes, that makes it a little
00:18:58.869 --> 00:19:01.509
tricky to understand some prophecy because some
00:19:01.509 --> 00:19:03.509
of it's already been fulfilled and some of it
00:19:03.509 --> 00:19:07.589
is still to be fulfilled. So we need to be diligent
00:19:07.589 --> 00:19:10.410
studyers in order to understand all that. That's
00:19:10.410 --> 00:19:14.910
right. And by the way, some, and I don't particularly,
00:19:15.190 --> 00:19:17.750
I can't say definitively one way or the other,
00:19:17.869 --> 00:19:22.660
but some have put forth the idea that if Israel
00:19:22.660 --> 00:19:26.539
had been at the time receptive to Christ. And
00:19:26.539 --> 00:19:28.819
here we're talking about the religious leaders,
00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:32.660
the nation of Israel entirely. If they had been
00:19:32.660 --> 00:19:37.119
receptive to Christ, that his first coming would
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.279
have been his only coming. Now, I don't know
00:19:40.279 --> 00:19:44.460
that that makes sense, but certainly what scripture
00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:49.359
tells us is he came. to fulfill part of Isaiah
00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:52.599
sixty one one and two and will come to fulfill
00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:56.519
it finally in the second coming. All right. Now
00:19:56.519 --> 00:20:01.160
we talked about this idea of of the virgin birth.
00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:03.920
And the most important thing is that it had to
00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:08.660
come about because we needed a savior, a perfect
00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:11.700
savior. You mentioned earlier that throughout
00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:17.269
scripture in the Old Testament. we're told that
00:20:17.269 --> 00:20:20.529
there are these sacrifices. And the key of the
00:20:20.529 --> 00:20:23.349
sacrifices is whatever it was, whether it was
00:20:23.349 --> 00:20:26.630
a lamb, whether it was a ram or a bull, whether
00:20:26.630 --> 00:20:29.569
it was a, not a ram, but a bull, or whether it
00:20:29.569 --> 00:20:32.589
was turtle doves. They had to be without blemish,
00:20:33.089 --> 00:20:37.210
right? Yes. Which is to say that they were the
00:20:37.210 --> 00:20:40.920
first fruits. Right. You couldn't give for a
00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:44.900
sacrifice a blemish lamb, for example, a crippled
00:20:44.900 --> 00:20:48.920
lamb or whatever. No, you were making this sacrifice
00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:52.500
to God and it had to be your best. That's right.
00:20:53.059 --> 00:20:57.519
So with that in mind, Christ had to be perfect.
00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:01.559
One of the things that we see in the New Testament,
00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:04.279
the very first opening in the New Testament,
00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:08.920
of course, after 400 years of silence, from Malachi
00:21:08.920 --> 00:21:12.920
to Matthew. Matthew opens chapter one with this
00:21:12.920 --> 00:21:18.759
long lineage of Christ or of Jesus, I should
00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:25.259
say. And that lineage shows the way from Abraham
00:21:25.259 --> 00:21:29.839
all the way through David and finally through
00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:36.009
Jesus. And of course, Joseph is Jesus' supposed
00:21:36.009 --> 00:21:42.130
father, as Luke tells us in Luke chapter 3 verse
00:21:42.130 --> 00:21:48.230
23, and it is affirmed by the angel who meets
00:21:48.230 --> 00:21:55.609
Joseph in Matthew chapter 1 verse 20. And here
00:21:55.609 --> 00:22:00.849
we see that God blesses Joseph by bestowing upon
00:22:00.849 --> 00:22:06.569
him the honor of being Jesus' dad and being a
00:22:06.569 --> 00:22:10.809
part of his early life. The modern -day equivalent
00:22:10.809 --> 00:22:14.210
is similar to a man who marries a woman who just
00:22:14.210 --> 00:22:17.930
gave birth to a child. He is not the biological
00:22:17.930 --> 00:22:23.490
father, but as he helps to raise the child, he
00:22:23.490 --> 00:22:26.349
is in fact his dad. And for those of you out
00:22:26.349 --> 00:22:31.630
there who are in such roles, it is an honor that
00:22:31.630 --> 00:22:36.160
God bestows upon all of us who take on such a
00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:40.680
role while not being the biological father. Now
00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:44.700
the important thing there is that Joseph is a
00:22:44.700 --> 00:22:48.420
part of the Davidic line, and therefore Jesus
00:22:48.420 --> 00:22:51.599
is a part of the Davidic line. And we're told
00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:55.160
that there is this covenant in the Old Testament
00:22:55.160 --> 00:23:02.250
where Nathan is a priest and he is a prophet
00:23:02.250 --> 00:23:06.250
as well and God speaks through him to give David
00:23:06.250 --> 00:23:11.670
a, what we call, the Davidic covenant and if you'll
00:23:11.670 --> 00:23:17.589
read that that is in 2nd Samuel chapter 7 verses
00:23:17.589 --> 00:23:24.390
8 through 17. 2nd Samuel 7 verse 8 now then tell
00:23:24.390 --> 00:23:27.369
my servant David this is what the Lord Almighty
00:23:27.369 --> 00:23:31.109
says I took you from the pasture and from following
00:23:31.109 --> 00:23:34.609
the flock to be ruler over my people Israel I
00:23:34.609 --> 00:23:37.089
have been with you wherever you have gone and
00:23:37.089 --> 00:23:39.630
I have cut off all your enemies from before you
00:23:39.630 --> 00:23:42.650
now I will make your name great like the names
00:23:42.650 --> 00:23:45.849
of the greatest men of the earth and I will provide
00:23:45.849 --> 00:23:48.950
a place for my people Israel and will plant them
00:23:48.950 --> 00:23:51.609
so that they can have a home of their own and
00:23:51.609 --> 00:23:54.390
no longer be disturbed wicked people will not
00:23:54.390 --> 00:23:57.089
oppress them anymore as they did at the beginning
00:23:57.089 --> 00:23:59.609
and have done ever since the time I appointed
00:23:59.609 --> 00:24:02.450
leaders over my people Israel. I will also give
00:24:02.450 --> 00:24:05.349
you rest from all your enemies. The Lord declares
00:24:05.349 --> 00:24:08.029
to you that the Lord himself will establish a
00:24:08.029 --> 00:24:11.109
house for you. When your days are over and you
00:24:11.109 --> 00:24:13.450
rest with your fathers, I will raise up your
00:24:13.450 --> 00:24:16.190
offspring to succeed you who will come from your
00:24:16.190 --> 00:24:19.369
own body and I will establish his kingdom. He
00:24:19.369 --> 00:24:21.509
is the one who will build a house for my name
00:24:21.509 --> 00:24:23.890
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
00:24:23.890 --> 00:24:26.900
forever. I will be his father, and he will be
00:24:26.900 --> 00:24:30.400
my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him
00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:32.799
with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted
00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:35.579
by men. But my love will never be taken away
00:24:35.579 --> 00:24:38.339
from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I
00:24:38.339 --> 00:24:41.779
removed from before you. Your house and your
00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:45.279
kingdom will endure forever before me. Your throne
00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:49.539
will be established forever." And the messianic
00:24:49.539 --> 00:24:52.920
part of that Davidic covenant is in verses 12,
00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:57.559
13, and 16. the nation of Israel recognized as
00:24:57.559 --> 00:25:01.119
a promise to David and to the nation Israel that
00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:05.220
there would be once again this great kingdom
00:25:05.220 --> 00:25:10.079
and it unlike the kingdom of David and Solomon
00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:14.440
would never perish and it would last for forever
00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:19.299
and there's a little difficulty in this in that
00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:23.769
the kings within the Davidic covenant, were they
00:25:23.769 --> 00:25:26.930
good kings or bad kings? How were they, Anne? There
00:25:26.930 --> 00:25:29.029
were a lot of kings and some of them were good,
00:25:29.069 --> 00:25:31.990
but most of them were bad. And it isn't too long
00:25:31.990 --> 00:25:33.829
after this covenant is made that they started
00:25:33.829 --> 00:25:36.650
having problems because I believe Solomon is
00:25:36.650 --> 00:25:39.470
the one who's referred to here about building
00:25:39.470 --> 00:25:41.549
the house for my name. He's the one that built
00:25:41.549 --> 00:25:44.890
the temple, right? But then after him, his son
00:25:44.890 --> 00:25:47.529
was king for a while. And then that's when the
00:25:47.529 --> 00:25:50.099
kingdom split. Right, Bob? Then we had the northern
00:25:50.099 --> 00:25:53.480
kingdom and the southern kingdom, and I think
00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:56.339
one of the kingdoms, every king was bad, and
00:25:56.339 --> 00:25:58.519
the other kingdom, there was a couple good ones,
00:25:58.740 --> 00:26:02.200
but it was pretty much a mess. That's right.
00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:05.059
The kingdom of Israel, which were the ten northern
00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:07.440
tribes of the northern kingdom, all those kings
00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:11.220
were a mess and of ill repute, if I can put it
00:26:11.220 --> 00:26:13.519
that way. In the southern kingdom, the kingdom
00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:15.819
of Judah and Benjamin, which were the other two
00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:19.619
tribes, were not much better. And yes, you're
00:26:19.619 --> 00:26:22.859
exactly right. There were a couple of good kings
00:26:22.859 --> 00:26:26.940
who turned back to God. And yet this cycle goes
00:26:26.940 --> 00:26:29.380
on and on and on, which is really the cycle of
00:26:29.380 --> 00:26:33.940
Israel throughout history. And finally, God's
00:26:33.940 --> 00:26:39.259
had enough. So the prophet Jeremiah is told by
00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:46.690
God to prophesy about the fact that David's offspring
00:26:46.690 --> 00:26:50.970
is no longer going to reign. And we find that
00:26:50.970 --> 00:26:55.670
in Jeremiah 22, 24 through 29. Could you read
00:26:55.670 --> 00:27:13.990
that for us, Anne? “As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and I will hand you over to those
00:27:13.990 --> 00:27:17.450
who seek your life, those you fear, to Nebuchadnezzar,
00:27:17.490 --> 00:27:20.869
king of Babylon, and to the Babylonians. I will
00:27:20.869 --> 00:27:23.269
hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into
00:27:23.269 --> 00:27:26.210
another country, where neither of you was born,
00:27:26.609 --> 00:27:30.190
and there you both will die. You will never come
00:27:30.190 --> 00:27:33.549
back to the land you long to return to. Is this
00:27:33.549 --> 00:27:37.390
man Jehoiakim, a despised, broken pot, an object
00:27:37.390 --> 00:27:41.420
no one wants? Why will he and his children be
00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:44.240
hurled out, cast into a land they do not know.
00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:47.720
O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord.
00:27:48.140 --> 00:27:51.279
This is what the Lord says, record this man as
00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:54.119
if childless, a man who will not prosper in his
00:27:54.119 --> 00:27:56.720
lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper,
00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:59.559
none will sit on the throne of David or rule
00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:03.380
any more in Judah. So here you have the nation
00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:08.329
of Israel with a quandary because seemingly God
00:28:08.329 --> 00:28:11.329
first makes a covenant with David, which we read
00:28:11.329 --> 00:28:16.710
in Second Samuel that says, you will have a offspring
00:28:16.710 --> 00:28:20.809
that will reign forever, the nation of Israel.
00:28:21.269 --> 00:28:27.710
And then here we read in Jeremiah that no longer
00:28:27.710 --> 00:28:32.130
will the offspring of David reign. For human
00:28:32.130 --> 00:28:35.289
beings, this would be an impossible solution
00:28:35.289 --> 00:28:38.960
to a problem. it is solved through the virgin
00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:45.619
birth, because the virgin birth means that the
00:28:45.619 --> 00:28:49.900
bloodline of Jesus Christ came through Mary.
00:28:50.259 --> 00:28:52.859
And if we were to turn, and we're not going to
00:28:52.859 --> 00:28:55.259
do that today, the listener can certainly do
00:28:55.259 --> 00:28:59.940
that, in Luke chapter 3, there's this lineage
00:28:59.940 --> 00:29:04.579
also given, but it's given from Mary's side.
00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:09.079
and Mary's lineage goes back through David. So
00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:13.059
what you have with the virgin birth, God is the
00:29:13.059 --> 00:29:16.980
father, the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, and
00:29:16.980 --> 00:29:21.420
so the fulfillment of David's covenant through
00:29:21.420 --> 00:29:25.680
Christ is done through the lineage of Mary, but
00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:30.279
the kingly lineage is through Joseph. And so
00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:35.349
this seeming incongruence or impossibility of
00:29:35.349 --> 00:29:39.309
the Davidic covenant with also the chastisement
00:29:39.309 --> 00:29:43.710
of the Davidic kingship is solved through the
00:29:43.710 --> 00:29:47.109
virgin birth. It's just another wonderful example
00:29:47.109 --> 00:29:51.049
of when people try to say, well, I think they
00:29:51.049 --> 00:29:53.269
say it in two ways. The first thing they try
00:29:53.269 --> 00:29:57.299
to say is, well, The Bible was really written
00:29:57.299 --> 00:30:01.599
by men and it's all man -made. Well, first off,
00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:06.920
these things written by Jeremiah and written
00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:12.619
in Chronicles and in Samuel were thousands, hundreds
00:30:12.619 --> 00:30:17.180
of years before Christ was born. The fulfillment
00:30:17.180 --> 00:30:21.819
happened over many, many, many, many years, and
00:30:21.819 --> 00:30:25.359
man could not keep their story this tight if
00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:29.019
it were written by a single person or if it were
00:30:29.019 --> 00:30:31.799
only human related. And the other point to make
00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:35.579
here is that some people who want us as believers
00:30:35.579 --> 00:30:38.640
to question the validity and the truth of the
00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:41.279
Bible will point to this and say, well, see,
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:45.950
this says this. and it says that, and it's impossible
00:30:45.950 --> 00:30:49.089
to reconcile those two. The answer is no, they're
00:30:49.089 --> 00:30:51.670
very comfortably reconciled in the virgin birth.
00:30:52.269 --> 00:30:57.769
But what we see then is this wonderful matching
00:30:57.769 --> 00:31:04.289
of this Davidic covenant that adheres to God
00:31:04.289 --> 00:31:09.390
essentially passing judgment over David's offspring.
00:31:09.670 --> 00:31:13.750
And yet there's this promise of this future king,
00:31:14.289 --> 00:31:17.329
God calls the righteous branch. And so, while
00:31:17.329 --> 00:31:20.529
we're in Jeremiah, let's turn to chapter 23,
00:31:20.789 --> 00:31:45.299
verse 5 through 6. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ And now turn to chapter 33
00:31:45.299 --> 00:31:49.339
of Jeremiah 14 through 16. The days are coming,
00:31:49.619 --> 00:31:52.059
declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the gracious
00:31:52.059 --> 00:31:54.500
promise I made to the house of Israel and to
00:31:54.500 --> 00:31:57.640
the house of Judah. In those days and at that
00:31:57.640 --> 00:32:00.559
time I will make a righteous branch sprout from
00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:03.440
David's line. He will do what is just and right
00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:06.579
in the land. In those days Judah will be saved
00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:09.589
and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the
00:32:09.589 --> 00:32:12.430
name by which it will be called. The Lord our
00:32:12.430 --> 00:32:15.890
righteous." And then, of course, in Isaiah 1
00:32:15.890 --> 00:32:19.950
through 5, sorry, chapter 11, 1 through 5, it
00:32:19.950 --> 00:32:23.190
says, then a shoot will spring from the stem
00:32:23.190 --> 00:32:26.529
of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear
00:32:26.529 --> 00:32:29.589
fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest on him,
00:32:29.950 --> 00:32:32.369
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit
00:32:32.369 --> 00:32:35.180
of counsel and strength. the spirit of knowledge
00:32:35.180 --> 00:32:38.359
and the fear of the Lord. And he will delight
00:32:38.359 --> 00:32:41.279
in the fear of the Lord, and he will not judge
00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:45.720
by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by
00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:48.900
what his ears hear. But with righteousness he
00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:51.839
will judge the poor and decide with fairness
00:32:51.839 --> 00:32:55.079
for the afflicted of the earth. And he will strike
00:32:55.079 --> 00:32:58.440
the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:01.299
the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:05.119
and righteousness will be the belt about his
00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:10.539
loins, and faithfulness the belt about his waist."
00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:14.940
The nation Israel was looking for this Messiah.
00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:19.299
They just came to the wrong spot, I think. That's
00:33:19.299 --> 00:33:23.339
right. And this root, this root of righteousness,
00:33:23.960 --> 00:33:29.240
this righteous branch, was to come through the
00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:32.710
line of David. because of the covenant that God
00:33:32.710 --> 00:33:36.710
had made with David. And so it was. And so it
00:33:36.710 --> 00:33:40.210
is. Oh, and because Mary was from the line of
00:33:40.210 --> 00:33:44.430
David. And was Joseph also from the line of David?
00:33:44.849 --> 00:33:48.650
That's right. So Joseph was through Solomon's
00:33:48.650 --> 00:33:53.289
line. And so Mary's line was through Nathan.
00:33:54.150 --> 00:33:59.910
So while David The offspring of Joseph was through
00:33:59.910 --> 00:34:05.769
Solomon, David's son. Mary's was the offspring
00:34:05.769 --> 00:34:11.050
of Nathan, David's son. And so the kingly line
00:34:11.050 --> 00:34:15.170
was through Solomon, Rehoboam, and all of those
00:34:15.170 --> 00:34:18.289
kings leading all the way through the lineage
00:34:18.289 --> 00:34:24.409
of Joseph. And Mary through Nathan, David's son.
00:34:24.599 --> 00:34:29.559
who was not a king, nor any of Mary's lineage
00:34:29.559 --> 00:34:34.099
were kings, but they were still from the loins
00:34:34.099 --> 00:34:37.260
of David. Okay, so that's how it fits together.
00:34:37.940 --> 00:34:41.059
Yeah, exactly. So we have a little time left
00:34:41.059 --> 00:34:44.559
here, and I think everybody really knows the,
00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:47.519
if you will, the nativity narrative, but there's
00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:52.480
one more... important part of this providential
00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:55.920
work and miraculous work of God. That starts
00:34:55.920 --> 00:35:00.840
with this betrothal of this Joseph and this Mary
00:35:00.840 --> 00:35:05.920
from Nazareth. And yet there's a prophecy in
00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:10.440
Micah 5 chapter 2. Let's turn to that and read
00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:18.469
that if you will, Anne. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for meout of you will come
00:35:18.469 --> 00:35:21.469
for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose
00:35:21.469 --> 00:35:24.829
origins are from of old, from ancient times."
00:35:24.829 --> 00:35:29.309
How in the world does our great God solve this
00:35:29.309 --> 00:35:34.789
dilemma of this betrothed couple of which a soon
00:35:34.789 --> 00:35:38.150
-to -be wife is pregnant with child from the
00:35:38.150 --> 00:35:40.650
Holy Spirit, but they're in Nazareth. So how
00:35:40.650 --> 00:35:44.880
is this resolved? I think I think some king is
00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.940
gonna call some ruler is gonna call for a census
00:35:47.940 --> 00:35:50.360
and Everybody's gonna have to go back to their
00:35:50.360 --> 00:35:53.739
hometown and that's how we get Mary and Joseph
00:35:53.739 --> 00:35:58.039
to travel to Bethlehem That's exactly right.
00:35:58.179 --> 00:36:04.119
And so we see that Luke chapter 2 verse 1 and
00:36:04.119 --> 00:36:07.659
I'll read that for us now in those days a decree
00:36:07.659 --> 00:36:11.360
went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be
00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:14.800
taken and of all the inhabited earth now make
00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:17.960
this point obviously there are more people that
00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:21.019
were on the earth it wasn't all the inhabited
00:36:21.019 --> 00:36:24.159
earth in the census the part that rome inhabited
00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:27.619
you're right you're right right some people misunderstand
00:36:27.619 --> 00:36:30.320
that and say well you know someone from china
00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:33.800
didn't go well the Bible here is talking about
00:36:33.800 --> 00:36:37.199
the inhabited roman empire this was the first
00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:40.039
census taken while Quinaerius the governor of
00:36:40.039 --> 00:36:43.980
Syria and everyone was on his way to register
00:36:43.980 --> 00:36:47.300
for the census, each to his own city. Joseph
00:36:47.300 --> 00:36:51.139
also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth
00:36:51.139 --> 00:36:54.500
to Judah, to the city of David, which is called
00:36:54.500 --> 00:36:57.659
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family
00:36:57.659 --> 00:37:01.780
of David in order to register along with Mary,
00:37:02.139 --> 00:37:06.079
who was engaged to him and was with child. While
00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:08.559
they were there, the days were completed for
00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:11.920
her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn
00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:15.139
son and she wrapped him in cloth and laid him
00:37:15.139 --> 00:37:18.780
in a manger because there was no room for them
00:37:18.780 --> 00:37:21.579
in the inn. That's a good start. We've all heard
00:37:21.579 --> 00:37:24.440
that and it's great every time you hear it. Yeah,
00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:29.880
so once again what we see is the miraculous nature
00:37:29.880 --> 00:37:33.280
of God and like I always I guess I always like
00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:36.579
to say there are these miracles which are throughout
00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:41.519
scripture, and they are supernatural, and they
00:37:41.519 --> 00:37:44.980
are amazing. And some of that is here in this
00:37:44.980 --> 00:37:48.380
story of the nativity and the virgin birth. And
00:37:48.380 --> 00:37:52.219
at the same time, in our lives today, throughout
00:37:52.219 --> 00:37:54.980
human history, there's what I'd like to call
00:37:54.980 --> 00:37:58.940
God's providence, these millions and millions
00:37:58.940 --> 00:38:04.099
of contingencies that God lines up and causes
00:38:04.099 --> 00:38:08.480
to happen. that brings about His will, what I
00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:11.460
would say is His providential will. And we see
00:38:11.460 --> 00:38:15.219
many of these things also in the Nativity story
00:38:15.219 --> 00:38:17.920
and in the virgin birth. And it's all to say
00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:21.039
nothing is impossible with God. That's true.
00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:25.219
Nothing is impossible. So we hope you've maybe
00:38:25.219 --> 00:38:29.579
seen a little different side of the... Virgin
00:38:29.579 --> 00:38:32.980
birth and the birth of Christ which we celebrate
00:38:32.980 --> 00:38:36.139
each and every year here in December with Christmas
00:38:36.139 --> 00:38:38.699
and hopefully it's giving you a new perspective
00:38:38.699 --> 00:38:42.559
if you weren't aware of it on how God is always
00:38:42.559 --> 00:38:45.800
at work as I like to say God the Father's on
00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:48.840
the Throne Christ is in control and the Holy Spirit
00:38:48.840 --> 00:38:52.159
is on the move and with that in mind and will
00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:55.949
you take us before the Lord? Of course Father,
00:38:56.050 --> 00:38:58.449
we thank you so much for this time that we could
00:38:58.449 --> 00:39:02.110
talk about the Nativity story. And we're just
00:39:02.110 --> 00:39:04.550
so thankful for Mary and Joseph and that they
00:39:04.550 --> 00:39:08.210
were obedient and willing to go along with your
00:39:08.210 --> 00:39:10.570
plan, Lord, even though it presented many challenges
00:39:10.570 --> 00:39:14.349
to them. We're thankful for your scriptures that
00:39:14.349 --> 00:39:18.150
show us how promises in the Old Testament were
00:39:18.150 --> 00:39:20.650
fulfilled in the New Testament by Christ's coming.
00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:24.519
And we're so thankful that Jesus was willing
00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:27.900
to come to be that perfect lamb to be the sacrifice
00:39:27.900 --> 00:39:30.519
for our sin so that we could be saved and spend
00:39:30.519 --> 00:39:33.880
eternity with you in your eternal kingdom where
00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:36.579
you sit on the throne and everyone acknowledges
00:39:36.579 --> 00:39:38.840
your glory and your power and your authority.
00:39:39.900 --> 00:39:42.119
We're looking forward to that day, Lord. where
00:39:42.119 --> 00:39:44.420
we can live in a place where there is always
00:39:44.420 --> 00:39:46.780
peace. But we thank you that even in this world
00:39:46.780 --> 00:39:49.059
today, we can have peace inside of us because
00:39:49.059 --> 00:39:51.880
of your Holy Spirit, because of the fact that
00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:58.039
you indwell us and you give us joy and hope and
00:39:58.039 --> 00:40:00.679
comfort and that we can have peace when the world
00:40:00.679 --> 00:40:04.119
seems to be going crazy. Lord, we pray that as
00:40:04.119 --> 00:40:10.170
we walk closer to Christmas Day and the activity,
00:40:10.449 --> 00:40:13.550
and the bustle, and the hustle, and hairiness
00:40:13.550 --> 00:40:16.309
that sometimes comes along with Christmas that
00:40:16.309 --> 00:40:19.809
we won't forget to pause and remember the manger.
00:40:20.070 --> 00:40:24.329
Remember Jesus whom you sent to be the best gift
00:40:24.329 --> 00:40:27.449
ever for us. Lord, we just thank you. We give
00:40:27.449 --> 00:40:30.570
you praise, we give you glory, and we thank you
00:40:30.570 --> 00:40:36.590
in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, there you have it.
00:40:36.869 --> 00:40:39.070
We've enjoyed our conversation today and hope
00:40:39.070 --> 00:40:42.170
that you feel more equipped to examine scripture
00:40:42.170 --> 00:40:45.050
to find what God has to say about the important
00:40:45.050 --> 00:40:49.250
circumstances you're facing in your life. Until
00:40:49.250 --> 00:40:52.869
next time, examine the scripture, drink from
00:40:52.869 --> 00:40:55.449
the word of life, and let the Bible feed your
00:40:55.449 --> 00:40:55.710
spirit.
